Old South Mountain Inn

 Sitting atop the summit of South Mountain at Turner’s Gap, Confederate Brig. Gen. Daniel Harvey Hill made his headquarters in the inn during the Battle of South Mountain.

Situated at a prominent mountain pass, or “gap,” the inn was an important stop for travelers. It is possible that the first inn was in operation at this location in the mid- to late Eighteenth Century as land records indicate that an innkeeper acquired the property in 1769. Although it is likely that the present Old South Mountain Inn was built after 1800, it is possible that an earlier building existed that was later incorporated into the present structure. Among the prominent people who stayed at the inn in the early Nineteenth Century were Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and Abraham Lincoln. One local resident reported meeting Captain John Cook, one of John Brown’s conspirators, at the inn.

During the Civil War Confederate Brig. Gen. Daniel Harvey Hill made his headquarters in the inn during the Battle of South Mountain, from which point he directed the defense of both Turner’s and Fox’s gaps. In order to capture a Union garrison of 12,000 men at Harpers Ferry, in his Special Orders No. 191, Confederate General Robert E. Lee had divided his army into a number of different pieces, which made it vulnerable. Hill’s task, although greatly outnumbered, was to hold the passes until Harpers Ferry surrendered and the Confederate army could be reunited. Although the Confederates vigorously resisted the assaults at the gaps, Union troops gained possession of both on September 14, 1862.

In 1876 the inn was bought by Madeleine V. Dahlgren, widow of Admiral John A. Dahlgren who served as an officer in the U.S. Navy during the Civil War and who invented the Dahlgren gun. She used the property as a private residence and constructed a stone chapel across the street. In 1925 the property was again used as a tavern. From 1971 to 2023, under a number of different owners, the property served as a restaurant. In 2023, the property was purchased by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to be managed by the Maryland Park Service.