From the museum website: Our main museum, located in historic downtown Frederick, Maryland, contains five galleries, over 1200 artifacts and knowledgeable docents as well as a gift shop and research facility. It is located at 48 E. Patrick Street in the Carty Building, a building that once belonged to furniture maker James Whitehill in 1832, and was the site of his undertaking business, which he sold to Clarence Carty after the Civil War. Nestled in historic downtown Frederick, MD, considered the crossroads of the Civil War, the Museum is surrounded by eclectic museums, shops and restaurants as well as scenic vistas and numerous yearly special events.
The History
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With the support of the Governor of Maryland and the Mayor and Aldermen of Frederick City, in August 1993 the Board chose to locate the NMCWM in Frederick, Maryland. Placing the Museum in Frederick was a strategic decision designed to attract the large number of tourists who visit the area every year. The city is centrally located within a thirty-minute drive to five major Civil War battlefields: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Harpers Ferry, West Virginia; Antietam, Maryland; South Mountain, Maryland; and Monocacy, Maryland. It is also near the major tourist destinations of Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland. The Carty Building, a city-owned building in the heart of Frederick’s historic district, was chosen as the site of the Museum.
Once a location was established, the board began a fund-raising campaign and hired the Museum’s first executive director in March 1994. Local banks, the City of Frederick, Frederick County and numerous private citizens donated to the cause. The board and staff’s efforts received a major boost when the State of Maryland awarded the Museum a $1 million challenge grant for the much-needed renovation of the historic Carty Building.
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In July 1997, the Museum received a $1 million gift from the Judge Edward S. Delaplaine Charitable Trust, fully matching the State of Maryland’s challenge grant. Plans for the major renovation of the building and the design and installation of new exhibits began in earnest, and a temporary location was found so that the Museum’s exhibits, store and research library could remain open to the public.
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On October 21, 2000, the newly-renovated Museum opened its doors to the public. In addition to the two floors of exhibit galleries, the Museum features a large Dispensary Store at the front of the building, the Delaplaine Randall Conference Room on the second floor, a secure, climate-controlled collections room, and a research center and administrative offices on the third floor.
All photos courtesy of The National Museum of Civil War Medicine
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