BGuthrie Photos: MD -- Seneca Creek State Park

MD -- Seneca Creek State Park:

Bruce Guthrie Photos Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie Photos home page.

Recognize anyone? If you recognize specific folks (or other stuff) and I haven't labeled them, please identify them for the world. Click the little pencil icon

underneath the file name (just above the picture). Spammers need not apply.

Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

Accessing as Spider: The system has identified your IP as being a spider.
IP Address: 52.14.150.55 -- Domain: Amazon Technologies
I love well-behaved spiders! They are, in fact, how most people find my site. Unfortunately, my network has a limited bandwidth and pictures take up bandwidth. Spiders ask for lots and lots of pages and chew up lots and lots of bandwidth which slows things down considerably for regular folk. To counter this, you'll see all the text on the page but the images are being suppressed. Also, some system options like merges are being blocked for you.
Note: Permission is NOT granted for spiders, robots, etc to use the site for AI-generation purposes. I'm sure you're thrilled by your ability to make revenue from my work but there's nothing in that for my human users or for me.
If you are in fact human, please email me at guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can check if your designation was made in error. Given your number of hits, that's unlikely but what the hell.

Help? The Medium (Email) links are for screen viewing and emailing. You'll want bigger sizes for printing. [Click here for additional help]

Share: Facebook Twitter Digg
[1] SENECA_090816_02.JPG	[2] SENECA_090816_07.JPG	[3] SENECA_090816_09.JPG
[4] SENECA_090816_14.JPG	[5] SENECA_090816_18.JPG	[6] SENECA_090816_22.JPG
[7] SENECA_090816_40.JPG	[8] SENECA_090816_46.JPG	[9] SENECA_090816_51.JPG
[10] SENECA_090816_55.JPG	[11] SENECA_090816_59.JPG	[12] SENECA_090816_70.JPG
[13] SENECA_090830_04.JPG	[14] SENECA_090830_10.JPG	[15] SENECA_090830_22.JPG
[16] SENECA_090830_50.JPG	[17] SENECA_090921_002.JPG	[18] SENECA_090921_015.JPG
[19] SENECA_090921_027.JPG	[20] SENECA_090921_045.JPG	[21] SENECA_090921_052.JPG
[22] SENECA_090921_056.JPG	[23] SENECA_090921_069.JPG	[24] SENECA_090921_071.JPG
[25] SENECA_090921_088.JPG	[26] SENECA_090921_103.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. SENECA_090816_09.JPG: Grusendorf Log House: The Grusendorf Log House is one of a few remaining per-Civil War structures in the Germantown/Gaithersburg area. The cabin was relocated to its present site next to the Seneca Creek State Park Visitor Center in the 1990s to preserve it from encroaching development. Its original location was on Clopper Road, just west of Great Seneca Highway. Simple Lifestyles: One room housed the whole family. The loft was used for sleeping. Family activities centered around the hearth. The house was lighted by one two windows, making it dark and dreary in the winter. Notice that there is no landscaping. That was a luxury for which the early settlers had no extra time. Their time was devoted to the essentials of life. Although the log house is no longer part of "Old Germantown, its preservation will always allow us to imagine the past, and the German immigrants who settled at the crossroads of Clopper Road and Route 118. Today, on its new site, the log house is used for historical and educational programs. Utilizing Local Materials: Jacob Snyder, a German immigrant, built the house in 1855. In 1860, he sold it to Franz and Hanna Grusendorf. Franz Grusendorf was a stone mason who built the foundations and walls of many houses and farm buildings of the time in the Germantown area. The Grusendorf house is typical of early 19th century homes built by German farmers who settled in the region. The cabin has V-notched logs which were once chinked with fieldstone and clay (however, the preserved structure utilizes a formula that includes modern-day concrete.) The original fieldstone foundation was made from local fieldstone. Like most log houses of its time, it had lapped siding made of milled wooden boards. When siding was not available -- or affordable -- exposed logs were whitewashed using a paint based on lime, for protection from weather and insects.
2. SENECA_090816_22.JPG: The Woodlands: The Land: Francis Cassatt Clopper began assembling The Woodlands in 1812 by purchasing a patchwork of neighboring farms. An assessment of Montgomery County properties in 1783 listed a variety of framed houses, log cabins, and tobacco and corn sheds existing on those parcels. The rolling land had cleared farmlands and was surrounded by hardwood forests. The Great Seneca Creek traversed the farmlands and was surrounded by hardwood forests. The Great Seneca Creek traversed the farmland and provided waterpower for mills. A gristmill existed on the Great Seneca Creek at the time of the purchases on 1812. Clopper also purchased the Long Draught Mill from the Benson family that had been built in 1784 by Zachariah Mackubbin. It was renamed the Francis C. Clopper Woolen Manufactory and made wood blankets that were sold to the armies during the Civil War. The mill's location is now under the upper section of Clopper Lake. The Families: Francis Cassatt Clopper was born in 1786 to Dutch parents. He worked as a tobacco merchant in Philadelphia. Once a year, while on business travels, he stopped in the Seneca region. Seneca became one of his most beloved areas of the country. He married Ann Jayne Byrne and they moved here to live. Francis and Ann Clopper had five children. In 1855, daughter Mary Augusta married William Rich Hutton. They resided at The Woodlands. William Hutton became a well-known surveyor and engineer. He was Chief Engineer from 1871 to 1874 for the construction of the C and O Canal, as well as numerous other projects of railroads, bridges, tunnels, and aqueducts. This was the beginning of generations of Clopper, Hutton, Caulfield, and Madine families to call The Woodlands home. The History: The Woodlands house was similar to many of the oldest homes in this area. It started as a small log cabin constructed around 1800. It was later enlarged to a substantial country estate; as the landowners became better off financially. The house was destroyed by an arsonist's fire in 1963. Francis Clopper reconstructed the gristmill along the Great Seneca Creek in 1834. It ground wheat, corn, barley and rye for local farmers for over 100 years. Its ruins can be seen along Clopper Road, across from the intersection of Waring Station Road. In 1853, he joined with others to organize the Metropolitan Railroad Company. They surveyed to find the best route from the Georgetown area of Washington DC to Hagerstown via Frederick. Considerable capital was raised but the Depression of 1857 and the later Civil War caused the company to fail. Clopper immediately sought interest from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to carry out his plans. Clopper died in 1868, five years before the first train made its initial run along the Metropolitan Branch of the B and O Railroad. The Stories: Many stories exist from The Woodlands history. Some are documented, and others have been passed down through personal memories and story telling. Native American inhabitants left their history behind, including evidence of soapstone quarries and carvings. The images from old log structures, fences, gardens, gristmill ruins, and old roadways, allows today's visitor to begin to image what life may have been like living at The Woodlands. Many of the stories revolve around events occurring during the Civil War. One story related when a Confederate soldier, named William Scott, was wounded, and escaped to arrive at The Woodlands. The soldier asked, "Can I die on your porch?" He was given care, only to later die and to be buried in the St. Rose Cemetery. Deserting Union soldiers exchanged their blue coats with gold buttons for the homespun clothes of the African American farm workers at The Woodlands. Confederate soldiers fired on the workers, thinking they were Union soldiers until members of the Clopper family interceded.
3. SENECA_090816_70.JPG: There was a shedded snake skin by the old cabin
4. SENECA_090830_04.JPG: Watkins Mill: A water-powered grist mill was located here on Seneca Creek as early as 1783 on property known as Gray's Neck owned by Adin Gray. In the mid-19th century, it was operated first by Levi Snyder, then by Remis Snyder as both a grist and saw mill and the road was known as Snyder's Mill Road. In 1877, the mill was bought by Levi Watkins operated it was destroyed by fire in 1908. The nearby Miller's House burned down in 1920. The mill pond was on the east side of the road and part of the mill race (ditch) can be still be seen on the west side of the bridge. Watkins Mill was located near the mill race on the north bank of the creek.
5. SENECA_090830_10.JPG: Open letter to a dog walker: There is an unbelievably inconsiderate dog owner leaving bags of dog-doo all along the trail. This is not acceptable. PLEASE STOP! Volunteers remove 50 to 100 pounds of trash from this trail every year. There is NO reason why this should include your stinky dog droppings, even if you are gift-wrapping them in plastic bags. And no, throwing the bag off the trail is not an acceptable alternative. Either use the trash barrel at Watkins Mill Road or take your bag with you. Or, here's a thought, since all dogs are supposed to remain on leash at all times, just pay attention, and when your dog is ready to go, pull it 3 or 4 feet OFF the trail and let it go. No bags, no fuss, no mess. But please, no more bags 'o crap left behind!!!!!! THANK YOU ON BEHALF OF ALL TRAIL USERS WHO PREFER A CLEAN TRAIL.
Wikipedia Description: Seneca Creek State Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Seneca Creek State Park encompasses approximately 6,300 acres (25 km�) in Montgomery County, Maryland.

The developed portion of the park centers on 90-acre Clopper Lake. This is the Clopper Lake Day Use Area; it is the most well known portion of the park. Located in Gaithersburg, MD, it is a very popular recreational area for picnicking, hiking, biking, fishing, and boating. (Please note: for the 2007 season, the Boat Center will be closed after Labor Day, due to staffing shortages.)

The Clopper Lake Day Use Area is bounded by Clopper Road (to the north), Longdraft Road (to the east), Great Seneca Highway (to the south), and Riffleford Road (to the west). A service charge is charged per person ($2 for an MD resident, $3 for an out-of-state resident), on weekends and holidays from the beginning of April through the end of October. Service charge revenues are deposited into the Maryland Park Service's general fund that goes toward operating expenses.

The park contains many miles of trails, some of which are in the Clopper Lake Day Use Area. Some are also in the Schaeffer Farm Trails Area. The longest one is the Seneca Creek Greenway Trail, which follows Great Seneca Creek for 16.5 miles (27 km), from Route 355 down to the Potomac River.

Hunting is also available in several areas of the park. See the Department of Natural Resources website for detailed information, and for maps of each hunting area.

Also see the Department of Natural Resources website for more information on undeveloped portions of the park (including the Schaeffer Farm Trails Area, and most of the Seneca Creek Greenway Trail).

Several annual special events are held at the park. One of them is the Winter Lights Festival. Since 1995, the Winter Lights Festival has featured a drive-through holiday light show from November through early January, in the Clopper Lake Day Use Area.

Additionally, the park was one of the filming locations of The Blair Witch Project horror movie.

The park is managed by the Maryland Park Service, a unit of the MD Department of Natural Resources. Currently, the staff consists of 2 LEO (Law Enforcement Officer) Rangers, as well as several civilian permanent (a Park Service Associate, a Maintenance, and an Administrative Specialist) and seasonal employees (maintenance and operational staff). The current park manager (an LE0 ranger) is about to retire at the end of Sept. 07. The Maryland Park Service is currently trying to fill the position through an internal promotion of another employee.

The public may find out information about the park by checking its website hosted on the MD DNR webpage or by calling the Park Offices at 301-924-2127.

The park relies heavily on the assistance of volunteers and volunteer groups who perform a variety of services ranging from park operations to trail work to trash pickup.
Bigger photos? To save server space, the full-sized versions of these images have either not been loaded to the server or have been removed from the server. (Only some pages are loaded with full-sized images and those usually get removed after three months.) I still have them though. If you want me to email them to you, please send an email to guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can email them to you, or, depending on the number of images, just repost the page again will the full-sized images.
Connection Not Secure messages? Those warnings you get from your browser about this site not having secure connections worry some people. This means this site does not have SSL installed (the link is http:, not https:). That's bad if you're entering credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal information. But this site doesn't collect any personal information so SSL is not necessary. Life's good!
Photo Contact: [Email Bruce Guthrie].