A Walking Tour of Frederick, Maryland - The Crossroads of Maryland
Duration: 2 hours
Start at the Courthouse Square, or "Peace Park" as it's locally known. This is one of the best places to get your bearings in this Colonial City. The second floor of the courthouse includes a museum which features Civil War memorabilia and historical artifacts. From here, you can also visit Historic Downtown, Maryland Avenue, and Market Square Shopping Center for shopping and dining options.
The tour also takes you past the new Frederick Towne Mall with 170 stores and restaurants; open 7 days a week from 10 AM to 9 PM. It is the first and only 'super mall' in a historic downtown setting. The mall contains a JCPenney Outlet store, which is open on Sundays, but many other stores are closed on Sunday.
Judith Kipfler House: A National Register of Historic Places Site includes the home of Frederick's tallest resident - Judith Kipfler. This is an early "fine arts factory" for sculptors, painters, students and artisans who worked at her home during the Great Depression between 1926 and 1944. In addition to being an art teacher for elementary students, she also set up classes in water color painting for children during this era.
Activities include include tours and lectures about the local arts community during the Great Depression, guided tours of the house, a studio and garden museum. Art lessons are also available in oil painting, watercolor painting and acrylic painting. At her side were always four or five artistically talented students who were still in their teens or early 20s.
Besides Judith Kipfler, other artists who worked at her home during the Great Depression included noted sculptor, William Zorach (1901-1966) and Alan Hindle (1891-1953) a noted muralist. Zorach was one of America's most widely known modernist sculptors during that period. He created sculptures that were deeply rooted in native folk art traditions.
