Historical Significance:
The Hessian Barracks were erected by British and Hessian prisoners of war in 1777. The Hessian Barracks held prisoners from the Revolutionary War battles of Saratoga, Trenton, and Yorktown. Two historians of Frederick, Maryland, Lucy Leigh Bowie (in 1939) and J. Thomas Scharf (in 1882) maintained that the Hessian Barracks were built during the French and Indian War (1754-1763). The first principal (William D. Cooke) of the Maryland School for the Deaf currently located on the barracks grounds stated in his history of the institution that he was unable to date the barracks exactly, but stated "It is known, however, that they were built during the reign of George II, and that they were occupied by General Braddock and his troops on their route to Fort Dusquene." The State of Maryland contracted to build "a" barracks in Frederick in the summer of 1777, but this structure was not completed in 1781. A letter from a British officer, a prisoner of war, to Governor Thomas Sim Lee, dated January 30, 1781, reveals the condition of the then-incomplete barracks, being at that time used as a prison.
During the War of 1812, the barracks provided a mustering point for militia headed to Annapolis and other points along the Chesapeake Bay and Baltimore Harbor. The barracks also housed British prisoners of war.
In the 19th century the Barracks served several state and community needs, including a state armory and a silk worm production site, and the barracks yard served as the Agricultural Fairgrounds from 1853 to 1860. After the Battle of Antietam in 1862, the Barracks building served as a hospital for the wounded from both North and South. Every available space in Frederick from hotels to high schools, including the Barracks, was taken up for the estimated 4,000 wounded hospitalized there. The State of Maryland chose the Barracks grounds for the location of a new school, the Maryland Institution for the Deaf and Dumb (1867). Before the construction of the first building in 1871, the school met in the barracks. The Industrial Department of the Maryland Institution for the Deaf and Dumb continued to use the barracks for a few years after the construction of the 1871 school building. The school's Board of Directors authorized demolition of the western of the two original barracks buildings.
Historic Marker:
- Marker Organization: National Star-Spangled Banner Centennial Pilgrimage and The Frederick Chapter NSDAR
- Marker Date: 14 Sept 1914 and 1976
- Marker Text: 1776 - 1814 These Barracks Mark the course of the struggle for American Independence Built in 1777 by the British and Hessian prisoners of the Revolutionary War, here were detained those taken at the Battles of Saratoga, Trenton, and Yorktown, also the French prisoners captured from the frigate “L’Insurgent” by the United States frigate “Constellation” the first capture of the Navy in 1799, also the British prisoners taken in War of 1812 at Bladensburg, and during the attack upon Baltimore at North Point and Fort McHenry, September 12-14, 1814, the gallant defense of which inspired Francis Scott Key to write the American national anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner” Erected by members of the National Star-Spangled Banner Centennial Pilgrimage September 14, 1914 and 1777 Built at direction of Maryland General Assembly 1778-79 Quartered Hessian and Convention prisoners captured at Bennington and Saratoga 1782 Quartered Hessian and Bayreuth Yager Regiments following Cornwallis' surrender 1799 Quartered French sailors of the L'Surgent captured by U.S.S. Constellation 1802-03 Served as staging center for Lewis and Clark Expedition 1812 Quartered U.S. troops during War of 1812 1824 Visited by General LaFayette 1840-42 Used as silk work cocoonery 1853-60 Used for Frederick County Agricultural Society fairs 1861-65 Housed wounded Confederate and Union troops 1868 Became Maryland School for the Deaf Placed by Frederick Chapter, NSDAR 1976.
