Gathland State Park is a public recreation area and historic preserve located on South Mountain near Burkittsville, Maryland, in the United States. The state park occupies the former estate of war correspondent George Alfred Townsend (1841-1914), who wrote under the pen name "Gath" during the American Civil War. The estate's few remaining original structures include the War Correspondents Memorial Arch, which sits alongside the Appalachian Trail. The park is operated by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.HistoryIn 1884, Townsend acquired land in Crampton's Gap, the site of the Battle of Crampton's Gap and one of three gaps on South Mountain where the Battle of South Mountain had been fought between Union and Confederate forces in an early encounter in the Maryland Campaign. Townsend purchased the land as a retreat and immediately began designing the buildings that would become Gapland, his estate. His first project, Gapland Hall, an eleven-room house, was built in 1885. It was followed that year by Gapland Lodge, a stone servants' quarters. The large Den and Library Building with a study, library, and ten bedrooms was added in 1890; only its foundation and some fragments remain today. After Townsend's death, Gapland changed hands three times before being acquired by the Department of Forests and Parks and named as a state park in 1949.
"A large stone monument dedicated to the memory of Civil War correspondents is the outstanding attraction of this day-use park. The Appalachian National Scenic Trail traverses the park and passes the monument base. Gathland State Park was once the mountain home of George Alfred Townsend, a Civil War journalist. In the late 1800s, Gathland featured a unique collection of buildings and structures designed and constructed by Townsend. Two of the structures, the main hall and lodge, were partially restored in the 1950s."
