In 1884, novelist and famed newspaper correspondent George Alfred Townsend, better known by his pen name, "Gath," began purchasing lots in Crampton's Gap from various local landholders, amassing a sizable estate which he coined "Gapland." Gath first came to the Middletown Valley as he was writing the novel Katy of Catoctin, a sequel to The Entailed Hat. Between 1885 and the turn of the 20th century, Gath designed and constructed over a dozen buildings comprising the Gapland Estate. There were houses which he named the Hall and Askelon, his rambling Den and Library, the Lodge where the family gathered for meals, a barn, carriage house, and guest houses. Gath also built a mausoleum which was never used. By the time of his death in 1914, Gath had spent most of his wealth building Gapland, and the estate was left indebted and abandoned. After several attempts by various private individuals and organizations to recover the estate, Gapland was purchased by the State of Maryland in 1949 and redeveloped as a park. The most enduring legacy of Gath's estate is his monument to fellow correspondents from the Civil War, known as the War Correspondent's Memorial Arch, which he built in 1896. 
Construction nears completion on the War Correspondents Memorial Arch in 1896. Gath canvased his wide network across the country, including President McKinley, Andrew Carnegie, and Mark Twain, to raise funds for completing the arch. Visible on the left side of the photograph is Askelon, the first house completed by Gath on the estate. Photograph donated by Bill van Gilder. 
This turn-of-the-century view of the arch offers a detailed view of Gath's peculiar design for the monument. Tradition dictates that Gath's concept for the arch was inspired by two buildings in Hagerstown: the Antietam Fire Company Hall on Summit Avenue and the original Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Station which stood across the street. The use of Roman, Moorish, and Medieval architectural elements is blended with allegorical relief sculptures and brick and stone panels with inscriptions throughout the structure. Photograph donated by Merle and Becky Guyton​.
When this view of the arch was captured about forty years after the previous photograph, the grounds around the monument had evolved with the addition of trees, an iron fence, and a second monument to the First New Jersey Brigade, which was one of the U.S. regiments engaged in the Battle of South Mountain which took place in Crampton's Gap on September 14, 1862. ​Photograph donated by Bill van Gilder.
Visitors to Gapland approaching the estate from Burkittsville would be treated to this view of the arch as the road turns to complete its ascent of the mountain. The stone walls on either side of the road have been preserved today through the land is now largely forested around the arch. To the right of the monument are the carriage house, barn, and Askelon House. ​Photograph donated by Bill van Gilder.
Another view from the road ascending to Crampton's Gap from Burkittsville, the structure seen in this photograph is Gapland Hall, the primary residence on the estate for Gath and his wife, Elizabeth Evans "Bess" Rhodes Townsend. 
​Photograph donated by Merle and Becky Guyton. 
In his design for Gapland Hall, Gath blended Queen Anne style with Dutch-inspired stepped gables. Broad porches extended around the front of the hall and across the east side to offer sweeping views of the valley below. From the museum collection​.
This detailed view of Gapland Hall demonstrates how Gath continually rebuilt and changed elements of his estate. Between the time of the preceding photograph and this one, the porches on the front of the hall were extended outward while the open pavilion was removed. Photograph donated by Jody Brumage.
This early photograph of the estate shows Gapland Hall (in the center) and the Lodge (left), a building which served as the Townsend family's dining room. In addition to a dining room and kitchen, the Lodge was also the quarters for the resident chef. Photograph donated by Bill van Gilder.
This sweeping view of Gapland taken from the north looking south shows the meeting of Gapland and Arnoldstown Roads in front of the arch. On the ridge beyond, Gapland Hall (left), the Lodge (center behind the arch), and the Den and Library (right) are visible. Gath's gardens are also visible in the lower right corner of the photograph. ​Photograph donated by Bill van Gilder.
The Den and Library was the heart of Gath's estate, housing his extensive library as well as collections of artwork, sculpture, and historical artifacts. The building's design is a blending of Queen Anne and Romanesque design. Photograph donated by Merle and Becky Guyton.
Another view of the Den and Library, taken from the opposite perspective, shows more details of Gath's peculiar design for the rambling structure. To the right of the building, the arch can be spotted through the trees as well as the Lodge. ​Photograph donated by Bill van Gilder.
Gath's eccentric lifestyle was on full-display within the Den and Library. Lush Victorian furnishings and drapery accompany nooks filled with books, prints, and sculpture. Visitors to the estate could see historical artifacts as well, including pikes from the U.S. Arsenal at Harpers Ferry captured by John Brown during his ill-fated raid of 1859. 
​Photograph donated by Bill van Gilder.
Gath reads within the labyrinth of his Den and Library in this rare photograph. Tiles depicting heraldic symbols adorn the mantel piece which is surrounded with sculptures and artwork. Photograph donated by Bill van Gilder.
In the 1890s, Gath partnered with local businessmen and farmers in Burkittsville to build an improved road from the top of the mountain down to Clagget's Station (now called Gapland) where the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad had a depot on its Washington County Branch line. The "Gapland Turnpike Company" operated this road which was one of the shortest turnpikes in the United States for nearly twenty-years before it was transferred to a county road. This photograph, taken on the turnpike looking up to the gap shows Mount Gath Lodge, one of the estate's guest houses, under construction. 
​Photograph donated by Bill van Gilder.
The Gapland Turnpike provided critical access to the railroad for Burkittsville's residents and business owners. Many of the Victorian furnishings and decorative millwork that adorn the town's houses arrived by the train as well as the goods that stocked the shelves of the town's stores. The Baltimore and Ohio's Washington County Branch also served many fruit growers of Pleasant Valley who relied on the train to deliver their crops to market. Photograph donated by Bill van Gilder​.
Even before Gath's death in 1914, visitors from far and wide were drawn to the mountaintop for the views and to see Gath's eclectic creation. Through the 1910s, while the estate stood in limbo before it was sold by the Townsends, Gapland remained a popular stopping point where folks gathered for picnics and reunions. This postcard, dating approximately to 1915, shows two visitors enjoying the shade of the lawn in view of the War Correspondents Memorial Arch. Much of Gapland's landscape, its stone fences and plantings, were still intact. By the late-1920s and especially in the 1930s, the condition of the estate rapidly declined as lack of maintenance and pilfering of the stone and other building materials led to the disappearance of many of the estate's structures. Photograph from the Charles Graham Arnold Collection. 
Though many of Gapland's buildings fell to ruin, the War Correspondents Memorial Arch was maintained. Gath had deeded the monument to the U.S. Federal Government in 1904, separating the triangle of land on which it sits from the rest of the estate. During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps carried out restoration work on the arch. By the time this photograph was captured in the 1950s, much of Gapland had disappeared, but the arch remained an attraction. In 1962, the arch was rededicated in observance of the centennial anniversary of the Battle of South Mountain. Within a few years, the entire estate was purchased by the state of Maryland and became a public park. Photograph donated by Vernon Grams.
In 1916, Rev. Harry C. Erdman, pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, initiated a series of summer vespers services held on Sunday evenings at Gapland. In time, the services grew to be very popular, attended by hundreds of people and led by the pastors of many of the churches around the Burkittsville area. This scene was captured in 1926 of people gathered on the estate for a service. The building seen in the background is the Lodge and the top of the arch can be seen beyond. Photograph from the Brethren Church Historical Society​.
In the 1940s, many visitos to Gapland met Thomas F. Grams and his family who lived in this log cabin situated just a few hundred yards down the road from the arch. One of Grams' visitors was a reporter from The Baltimore Sun who interviewed Grams as they walked the grounds of the old estate. 
​Photograph donated by Vernon Grams.
Gapland quickly deteriorated after Gath left the estate in 1911 to live with his daughter in New York. The picturesque ruins of Gapland Hall attracted area teenagers who wandered the site as well as pilferers who removed brick, stone, terracotta, marble, and other valuable materials from the buildings. This view of Gapland Hall was taken in the 1940s for a newspaper article that appeared in The Baltimore Sun lamenting the past glory of Gapland. Photograph donated by Jody Brumage​.
By 1958, only a few fragments of Gath's rambling Den and Library remained standing. This is one of the building that has since completely disappeared from the estate, along with the Askelon House. From the museum collection​.
Askelon House, Gath's first building completed on the estate, is seen here as an empty ruin. "Askelon" is a name used in II Samuel 1:20, "tell it not in Gath, publish it not on the streets of Askelon." This is the same verse from which Townsend derived his pen name. Photograph donated by Vernon Grams​.
This picturesque view of the arch was taken from inside the abandoned Askelon House. Photograph donated by Vernon Grams.
A view of the neglected Lodge building. Fortunately, the stone portion of the Lodge with its characteristic gambrel roof, has been preserved and serves as one of the two museums for Gathland State Park. The other museum is located in the front portion of Gapland Hall which was salvaged when the state purchased it in 1949. ​Photograph donated by Vernon Grams.
Gath's unused mausoleum was built along the bank of the ridge behind the Den and Library, adjoining a small area intended to serve as a family cemetery. The mausoleum itself is a stone structure topped with a barrel vaulted roof. The front of the tomb is decorated with terracotta relief sculptures of urns and a stone, set above the wrought iron gate, inscribed "Goodnight, Gath." This photo of visitors at the mausoleum in the early-20th century also shows two features which do not survive: a marble tablet on the side and a stone dog which sat atop the structure (in the photo, a man is sitting on top of the dog). Photograph donated by Merle and Becky Guyton​.
This later view of the mausoleum shows the abandoned structure with its decorative stones removed. Behind the mausoleum on the hill, the stone archway leads to the site intended to be a family burial ground. The mausoleum has since been restored. ​Photograph donated by Jody Brumage.