The Middle Ford Ferry Tavern Project, Monocacy NB NPS
archeologists work at the site of Monocacy's Middle Ford Ferry
Tavern. (NPS photo) In 2003, NPS archeologists began a multi-
year archeological study of the Thomas Farm, located between
Frederick, MD, and Washington, DC within the boundaries of
Monocacy NB. The farm, named for its Civil-War owner, C. K.
Thomas, figured prominently in the Battle of Monocacy, fought on
July 9, 1864. One of the most important results of the Thomas
Farm study, however, relates to the farm’s pre-Civil War history
– the discovery of the Middle Ford ferry and tavern, both of
which were in operation by the middle part of the eighteenth
century on an important route through Frederick County. The
results of both archeological and historic research at the site
provide insight into the earliest settlement and occupation of
Frederick County and the surrounding region, chronicling over 80
years of expansion and transformation. Vital trade and
transportation routes transformed Frederick C