Old Germantown

In the 1830s and 1840s, the central business area was focused around the intersection of Liberty Mill Road and Clopper Road. Several German immigrants set up shop at the intersection and the town became known as "German Town", even though most residents of the town were of English or Scottish descent.

Germantown gained notoriety for the capture of George Atzerodt, a co-conspirator in the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Atzerodt had come to the town with his family from Prussia when he was just eight  years old. About five years later, his father moved the family to Virginia, but Atzerodt still had many friends and relatives in Germantown. As an adult, he opened his own carriage repair business in Port Tobacco, Maryland. Despite having lived in the United States for most of his life, Atzerodt could not speak English fluently. After his capture, he was brought to Fort McNair where he was tried, sentenced to death, and executed. https://patch.com/maryland/germantown/the-lincoln-assassination-connection

The image shows the old Clopper Mill, which was owned by German immigrant Robert Kinder.