When people think about visiting Frederick, they think about seeing the Barbara Fritchie house and the grave of Francis Scott Key.
But as Frank and Justine Griffin of Newark, Del., discovered during an afternoon stopover here, Frederick is home to a whole lot more, including several unusual museums and a 33-block historic district.
The Barbara Fritchie House and Museum drew the Griffins off Interstate 70 while en route to Berkeley Springs, W.Va.
After touring the Civil War heroine's red brick cottage, the Griffins strolled through the city's historic district -- a mix of stately Greek Revival and Italian Renaissance buildings, 19th-century churches, brick town homes, tree-lined streets and courtyards.
"We really didn't know what was here," Mrs. Griffin says. "We made a special stop in Frederick just to see the Barbara Fritchie house because we've heard about her all our lives."
(In the famous poem by John Greenleaf Whittier, Barbara Fritchie -- or Frietchie -- was said to have snatched the Union banner and defied Confederate troops marching through Frederick with the words:
Shoot if you must this old gray head
But spare your country's flag.)
The Griffins plan to return to see the city's other museums, which include the Roger Brooke Taney House and Francis Scott Key Museum, Rose Hill Manor and the Schifferstadt Architectural Museum.
"Once people come here they go to all the museums," says Kay Graf, a volunteer docent at the Schifferstadt Architectural Museum. "They find out there's more in Frederick than the
Barbara Fritchie house and the grave of Francis Scott Key."
Indeed. Frederick's museums and historic streets make for a pleasant day trip from Baltimore, about an hour away by $H Interstate 70.
The downtown features small specialty shops, antiques stores, art galleries, a variety of restaurants -- everything from Italian to Japanese -- a bed and breakfast and even a small brewery that is open for tours and tastings on weekends.
First-time visitors should check in at the Frederick Visitors Center on East Church Street. Here, sightseers can pick up a walking guide to the city's historic district or join a guided 90-minute tour (tickets are $4.50 for adults; children 12 and under are free).
The Barbara Fritchie House and Museum and the Roger Brooke Taney House and Francis Scott Key Museum are within walking distance of the visitors center. The other museums require some driving.
Two museums worth checking out while visiting Frederick are outside the city but within a short driving distance.
The Brunswick Railroad Museum is about 20 minutes away in Brunswick, southwest of Frederick. The other, the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, is 30 minutes north in Emmitsburg.
Here's a sampling of what you'll find at some of Frederick's museums:
* The Roger Brooke Taney House and Francis Scott Key Museum: The small, brick home of the Supreme Court Justice is a pleasant surprise for those familiar only with Mr. Taney's authorship of the Dred Scott Decision in 1857. The decision -- which later caused Mr. Taney great anguish -- said that blacks had no constitutional rights.
Docents such as Elizabeth Speciale paint an intimate portrait of Mr. Taney, who was the brother-in-law of Francis Scott Key, writer of "The Star-Spangled Banner."
Taney and Key practiced law together in Frederick. Their office still stands on nearby Court Street.
Personal belongings of both men can be found at the Taney house. Of particular interest are 18th- and 19th-century law books used by Taney and a Queen Anne chair used by Key. A second-floor room is devoted to Key, and exhibits display letters and other mementos.
The Taney home, built in 1799, also contains one of the few existing slave quarters in the Frederick area.
* Schifferstadt Architectural Museum: This architectural gem was spared from the wrecking ball two decades ago after preservation-minded citizens mustered financial support to buy the 1756 stone structure, once the home of German immigrants.
The home, the oldest dwelling in Frederick, is considered one of the finest examples of German architecture in Colonial America.
And it's architecture that is on display here. Visitors wander through mostly barren rooms to see exposed walls and other structural details. The sandstone walls, for instance, are 2 1/2 feet thick. Hand-hewn beams in the house are pinned together with wooden pegs.
"A lot of men tend to appreciate this museum," Mrs. Graf says. "They get tired of old houses and polished furniture. They tend to appreciate the workmanship and the condition of this house."
* Rose Hill Manor: This is the place for the kids.
Built in the 1790s, Rose Hill Manor is an example of rural Georgian architecture. The stately mansion was once the home of the first elected governor of Maryland, Thomas Johnson.
Rose Hill Manor was once a center of social activity, but now it's a center of activity for children, who can dress up in period clothes, play with replica toys and explore the grounds, which feature a log cabin, blacksmith shop and ice house.
On the day we visited with a class of second-graders, the docents mesmerized children with tales of early American life and work.
* Barbara Fritchie House and Museum: Whether Barbara Fritchie really waved a flag at Confederate troops in 1862 is of no matter. The 95-year-old widow, as visitors will learn, was a spunky, patriotic woman, who, given the chance, probably would have defiantly waved the flag at the Rebels.
She was reportedly bedridden at the time of the alleged incident. Here, you can see the bed on which she died and peer out a window where her alleged flag-waving took place.
Docent Harriet Arthur regales visitors with her tales of Fritchie's 20th-century guests -- who come from all over the world and have included Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The home, a replica of the original, contains some of "Dame Barbara's" personal belongings, including a prized tea set she used to serve George Washington when he was visiting here.
* Brunswick Railroad Museum: Kids will enjoy this museum, too. Brunswick is one of the few Maryland towns to have many of its turn-of-the-century railroad buildings intact, including a 1907 brick roundhouse, an 1891 train station, railroad yards and company housing. The museum exhibits depict what life was like for Brunswick railroaders in the early 1900s.
A famous HO scale-model railroad exhibit is of particular interest for children, who can push buttons to sound whistles, move a train and operate crossing gates and lights.
* National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton: Most people visit the Grotto of Lourdes -- a replica of the famous grotto in France -- above Mount St. Mary's College but fail to take the time to stop in Emmitsburg to see the home of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American-born saint.
This is a contemplative affair. A museum adjoining the Basilica of the National Shrine, where St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is buried, chronicles her life before and after her conversion to Catholicism.
During her time in Emmitsburg, St. Elizabeth founded the first free parochial school in North America and established the Sisters of Charity, a religious organization that still exists.
Visitors can stroll the tree-shaded and well-kept grounds and tour the two homes in which Mrs. Seton, her children and companions lived and attended school during the early 19th century.
IF YOU GO . . .
Frederick is about an hour's drive west of Baltimore via Interstate 70.
Your first stop should be the Frederick Visitors Center, 19 E. Church St., (301) 663-8687, for maps and brochures about Frederick historic sites, museums, shopping and events.
To get to the visitors center, take Interstate 70 west to Exit 54. Turn left onto Market Street and continue into downtown. Turn right at Church Street. The visitors center will be on the left.
Maps for self-guided walking tours of the historic district are available at the visitors center for 50 cents. Guided walking tours highlight the district's architectural styles, local heroes and heroines. Tours are at 1:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Cost is $4.50 for adults. Children 12 and under are free.
Frederick Museums:
* The Barbara Fritchie House and Museum, 154 W. Patrick St., (301) 698-0630.
* The Schifferstadt Architectural Museum, 1110 Rosemont Ave., (301) 663-3885.
* Rose Hill Manor, 1611 N. Market St., (301) 694-1648.
0 * Roger Brooke Taney House/Francis Scott Key
Museum, 121 S. Bentz St., (301) 663-8687.
* Historical Society of Frederick County, 24 E. Church St., (301) 663-1188.
Other museums:
* National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, 333 S. Seton Ave., Emmitsburg, (301) 447-6606.
* Brunswick Railroad Museum, 40 W. Potomac St., Brunswick, (301) 834-7100.
Frederick Eateries:
Try a cozy pub, Jennifer's Restaurant, 207 W. Patrick St., a block from the Barbara Fritchie House and Museum; or a European-style bistro, the Province, 131 N. Market St.; pizza baked in a wood-burning stone oven, Tauraso's, 6 East St.; or German-Swiss cuisine, Alpenhof, 137 N. Market St.
Other fare:
Try the hand-twisted soft pretzels at CK's Pretzel Works, 210 N. Market St.; homemade chocolates and fudge at Candy Kitchen, 52 N. Market St.; Blue Ridge beers at the Frederick Brewing Co., 103 S. Carroll St. (The microbrewery is open for tours and tastings at 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. Sunday.)