Prospect Hall

Prospect Hall was the site of the transfer of command of the Army of the Potomac from Union General Joseph Hooker to General George Meade before the Battle of Gettysburg.

Prospect Hall was built during the early 19th century, possibly as early as the late 18th century, with several later additions and alterations to its structure. During the Civil War, it was the home of Colonel William P. Maulsby, the commanding officer of the First Regiment of the Potomac Home Brigade. Stephen Douglass, the Democratic candidate for the 1860 presidential election, is known to have visited here. In 1862, Confederate troops camped at the Hall prior to the Battle of South Mountain. On June 28, 1863, just days before the Battle of Gettysburg, Union General George G. Meade assumed control of the Army of the Potomac on the grounds of Prospect Hall, relieving General Joseph Hooker.

During the winter of 1861-62, Colonel and Mrs. Maulsby hosted a ball at Prospect Hall.  One of the guests, Septima Collis, the wife of a Union general, described the event:

The pièce de résistance of the season, in the way of amusement, was a ball given by Colonel and Mrs. Maltby [Maulsby], who lived in the suburbs of the town. The Colonel, if I remember rightly, then commanded a Maryland regiment or brigade. Their very large and well appointed residence was admirably adapted to gratify the desire of our hostess to make the occasion a memorable one; the immense hall served as the ballroom; the staircases afforded ample sitting room for those who did not participate in, or desired to rest from, the merry whirl, while the ante-rooms presented the most bountiful opportunities of quenching thirst or appeasing appetite. I shall never forget one little French lieutenant who divided his time with precise irregularity between the dance and the punch-bowl, and whose dangling sabre, in its revolutions in the waltz, left as many impressions upon friends as it ever did upon foes; yet it had the happy effect of giving the gentleman and his partner full possession of the field, whenever he could prevail upon some enterprising spinster to join him in cutting a swath through the crowd.”

Prospect Hall now houses a private school.