Texas, Culberson County, near Pine Springs
![]()
Guadalupe Peak, Texas' highest mountain at 8,749 feet above see level, dominates one of the most scenic and least-known areas of the state. It lies behind and to the right of El Capitan (8,078 feet), the sheer wall that rises more than 3,000 feet above this spot to mark the south end of the Guadalupe Range. The starkness of the mountainside belies the lushness that the Guadalupes conceal. Tucked away in their inner folds are watered canyons shaded by bigtooth maples, velvet ash, junipers and ponderosa pines. Just beyond the ridge lies a forest of douglas fir and pine that is home for black bears, mountain lions and deer.
Legends of hidden gold in the mountains go back to Spanish rule. One relates that Apache Chief Geronimo believed the richest gold mines in the western world lay hidden in the Guadalupes. The true value of the area is the scenery and associated life that resemble the same landscape experienced by early inhabitants. Excavators have found spearheads, pictographs and human remains together with the bones of long-extinct bison, dire wolf and musk ox in cliff caves, and carbon-14 dating of remains indicates humans occupied the area 12,000 years ago.
Geologically, the Guadalupe Mountains present spectacular exposure of the Capitan reef, formed by algae and sponges along with other ancient marine life during the Permian period (over 200 million years ago), when much of west Texas and New Mexico was part of the Permian Sea. For centuries, El Capitan has acted as a guidepost for native Americans, Spanish explorers, the U.S. Cavalry and geologist. Today, visitors to Guadalupe Mountains National Park use the same guidepost to explore the timeless wilderness surrounding it, the hidden oasis found in the mountains.
(Anthropology • Environment) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
Guadalupe Peak, Texas' highest mountain at 8,749 feet above see level, dominates one of the most scenic and least-known areas of the state. It lies behind and to the right of El Capitan (8,078 feet), the sheer wall that rises more than 3,000 feet above this spot to mark the south end of the Guadalupe Range. The starkness of the mountainside belies the lushness that the Guadalupes conceal. Tucked away in their inner folds are watered canyons shaded by bigtooth maples, velvet ash, junipers and ponderosa pines. Just beyond the ridge lies a forest of douglas fir and pine that is home for black bears, mountain lions and deer.Legends of hidden gold in the mountains go back to Spanish rule. One relates that Apache Chief Geronimo believed the richest gold mines in the western world lay hidden in the Guadalupes. The true value of the area is the scenery and associated life that resemble the same landscape experienced by early inhabitants. Excavators have found spearheads, pictographs and human remains together with the bones of long-extinct bison, dire wolf and musk ox in cliff caves, and carbon-14 dating of remains indicates humans occupied the area 12,000 years ago.
Geologically, the Guadalupe Mountains present spectacular exposure of the Capitan reef, formed by algae and sponges along with other ancient marine life during the Permian period (over 200 million years ago), when much of west Texas and New Mexico was part of the Permian Sea. For centuries, El Capitan has acted as a guidepost for native Americans, Spanish explorers, the U.S. Cavalry and geologist. Today, visitors to Guadalupe Mountains National Park use the same guidepost to explore the timeless wilderness surrounding it, the hidden oasis found in the mountains.
(Anthropology • Environment) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
Imagine this scene on August 22, 1814, when explosions erupted on the Patuxent! The U.S. Chesapeake Flotilla scuttled their own vessels when British pursuers approached. With the flotilla destroyed, the British landed about 500 troops at Mount Calvert. From here they marched to Upper Marlboro to join the main British invasion force. 
Nottingham was the Chesapeake Flotilla’s base in July and early August 1814. The town was hastily abandoned on August 21 as the British moved in. An enemy rear guard protected this important landing while the main force invaded Washington. British vessels here took on wounded soldiers and artillery as the Washington campaign ended.
Tobacco was a target along the Patuxent in 1814. The British raided places stocked with hogsheads of tobacco ready for shipment. Filled with dried tobacco leaves, the wooden barrels burned easily. Imagine the spectacle on June 17 when 1,100 hogsheads went up in flames at Moil and Magruder warehouse, located north of here at the end of Magruders Ferry Road.
Dr. William Beanes, who opposed the war, cooperated with the British when they occupied Upper Marlboro August 22–23, 1814. Beanes reportedly dined with Major General Robert Ross. 
British soldiers allegedly camped at Trinity Episcopal Church and tore pages from the church registry when they passed through in August 1814. Rector Thomas John Claggett also served St. Thomas Parish in Croom, another church on the British invasion route.
John Hodges, the wealthy merchant who owned Darnall’s Chance, jailed the British soldiers that his neighbor William Beanes and other citizens arrested on August 27, 1814. The British threatened to “lay the town in ashes” unless their men were freed. Hodges reluctantly arranged their release. He was subsequently indicted for treason—the only known treason case from the War of 1812.
On August 22, 1814, American Brigadier General William Winder spotted the enemy invasion force approaching this church, then called Page’s Chapel. The British marched west toward Bellefields, Woodyard, and Fort Washington, then doubled back before heading north to Upper Marlboro.
Exhausted from marching, battling at Bladensburg, and invading Washington, British soldiers stopped to rest. Many slept on Northampton Plantation property on August 26, 1814, before resuming their march to Upper Marlboro.
American and British forces prepared for combat. American troops gathered at nearby Woodyard Plantation. They then marched northwest to an encampment at Long Old Fields.
This is the site of the Battle of Bladensburg . It was here that Commodore Barney and his marines were defeated in the war of 1812. The British moved on to burn the Capitol and White House.
Founded in 1954 after a fire had 
A well-known Tucson architect, H. O. Jaastad, designed this imposing neo-classical revival structure in 1920. Snell & Harvey of Phoenix erected the building for around $50,000. The concrete foundation is capped by brick construction. Two terra cotta engaged columns adorn the front. The entry originally featured a transom over the door.
National Register
Built for A.R. Abrahamson; furnished rooms upstairs; businesses and Abe's Chop House downstairs.
Beatty's Brigade.
