Burkittsville, Maryland

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Burkittsville, Maryland
settlement_type = Town
nickname =
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mapsize = 250x200px
map_caption = Location of Burkittsville, Maryland


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subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_name1 = Maryland
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = Frederick
government_footnotes =
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unit_pref = Imperial
area_footnotes =

area_magnitude =
area_total_km2 = 1.1
area_land_km2 = 1.1
area_water_km2 = 0.0
area_total_sq_mi = 0.4
area_land_sq_mi = 0.4
area_water_sq_mi = 0.0

population_as_of = 2000
population_footnotes =
population_total = 171
population_density_km2 = 160.6
population_density_sq_mi = 415.8

timezone = Eastern (EST)
utc_offset = -5
timezone_DST = EDT
utc_offset_DST = -4
elevation_footnotes =
elevation_m = 179
elevation_ft = 587
latd = 39 |latm = 23 |lats = 29 |latNS = N
longd = 77 |longm = 37 |longs = 38 |longEW = W

postal_code_type = ZIP code
postal_code = 21718
area_code = 301
blank_name = FIPS code
blank_info = 24-11400
blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
blank1_info = 0589853
website =
footnotes =

Burkittsville is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. The population was 171 at the 2000 census.

Geography

Burkittsville is located at coor dms|39|23|29|N|77|37|38|W|city (39.391459, -77.627099)GR|1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.4 square miles (1.1 km²), all of it land.

History

Burkittsville was first founded by two property owners: Major Joshua Harley and Henry Burkitt. The western half was first founded as "Harley's Post Office" in 1824. After Harley's passing in 1828, Burkitt renamed it Burkittsville. Over the next thirty years it grew as a community with stores, shops, blacksmiths, a schoolhouse, and a tannery.

On September 13, 1862, Confederate cavalry under command of Colonel Thomas Munford (under General J.E.B. Stuart) occupied Burkittsville. On Sunday, September 14, the forces of the Union and Confederate armies engaged in the Battle of Crampton's Gap, a bloody prelude to the Battle of Antietam. The Reformed and Lutheran churches and adjacent schoolhouse were used as hospitals for the more than 300 wounded of both sides. These buildings still stand today.

Routinely characterized as the trigger to Antietam, victory at Crampton’s Gap embodied Union Gen. George B. McClellan’s strategic reaction to his acquiring the legendary “Lost Order” at Frederick which disclosed Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s campaign movements. It was McClellan’s intention to “cut the enemy in two and beat him in detail”.

After seizing Crampton’s Gap Gen. William B. Franklin failed to relieve the besieged Union garrison at Harpers Ferry, and more importantly to prevent Confederate generals James Longstreet and “Stonewall” Jackson from reuniting at Sharpsburg. There Lee hastily stood his ground in the mammoth battle of Antietam, the war’s bloodiest day. President Abraham Lincoln then used the marginal Union victory at Antietam as a springboard to his Emancipation Proclamation which changed war aims. Without the fall of Crampton’s Gap there would have been no Antietam.

"The Blair Witch Project"

Burkittsville gained notoriety with the 1999 release of the film "The Blair Witch Project", and its follow-ups: a film sequel (""), a series of video games, a Showtime special ("The Burkittsville 7") [Dempsey, John (July 10, 2000). "Showtime to pitch 'Witch' with doc". "Variety" 379.7.] , and many Internet fan sites. "The poor town of Burkittsville suddenly found itself overrun with "Blair Witch" groupies, wandering around in the woods, trying to find the 'real' places where the story had happened." [Lyman, Rick (September 10, 2000). "Film: Evil Lurking; Trying to Be Brilliant, Scary and Thrifty. Twice." "New York Times".] Contrary to popular belief, however, the majority of the film was not filmed in Burkittsville but in Maryland's Seneca Creek State Park [Goldman, Michael (August 1999). "Digital Production News; Behind the Blair Witch Project". "Millimeter".] , and the events depicted in the film and the legend of the Blair Witch itself were entirely fabricated by the producers themselves. ["The Blair Witch Cult: Two young filmmakers have set the summer--and the box office on fire with a creepy tale audiences love or hate. The making, and marketing, of a stealth smash". (August 16, 1999). "Newsweek" 134.7.] Furthermore, other potentially identifiable landmarks from the Blair Witch story - Coffin Rock, the Black Hills, Black Rock Road, and the local convenience store - are not found in the real Burkittsville or the immediately surrounding area. A Black Rock Road and Black Hills can, however, be found in Montgomery County, Maryland, which is very possibly not a coincidence as Blair Witch filmmaker Eduardo Sanchez grew up there [O'Sullivan, Michael (July 22, 1999). "Makers of 'Blair Witch' romp through chilling fields". "The Topeka Capial-Journal"] and is an alumnus of Montgomery College.

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 171 people, 72 households, and 49 families residing in the town. The population density was 415.8 people per square mile (161.0/km²). There were 76 housing units at an average density of 184.8/sq mi (71.6/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 94.74% White, 1.17% African American and 4.09% Asian. Zero percent of the population is Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 72 households out of which 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.1% were married couples living together, 5.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.9% were non-families. 26.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.92.

In the town the population was spread out with 22.8% under the age of 18, 2.3% from 18 to 24, 38.6% from 25 to 44, 28.1% from 45 to 64, and 8.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 85.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.6 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $50,313, and the median income for a family was $53,125. Males had a median income of $45,833 versus $30,417 for females. The per capita income for the town was $24,919. About 4.1% of families and 4.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under the age of eighteen and 5.6% of those sixty five or over.

References

External links

* [http://www.burkittsville.com burkittsville.com] Introduction to the town
*dmoz|Regional/North_America/United_States/Maryland/Localities/B/Burkittsville/|Burkittsville, Maryland
* [http://www.hollowhill.com/misc/blair1.htm The Real 'Blair Witch' Ghosts] Burkittsville's haunted sites