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Research dossier · Places & Architecture

Fort Tonoloway State Park

State park in Washington County, Maryland

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 4, 2026
Entity authorityQ5472188 ↗
Source-derived summary

Fort Tonoloway State Park is an undeveloped Maryland state park located near present-day Hancock. Fort Tonoloway was a frontier fort built in 1755 by Lt. Thomas Stoddert and men from the Maryland State Militia. The fort was also known as Stoddert's Fort. It was abandoned in 1756 when Fort Frederick was constructed.

The state park was at one time leased to the Boy Scouts. An archaeological investigation conducted by Rivanna Archaeological Services for Preservation Maryland was published in 2020.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Fort Tonoloway State Park” as state park in Washington County, Maryland. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Fort, Tonoloway and State.

Editorial reviewMost useful as a place-based finding aid connecting the present description to earlier jurisdictions, maps and built evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1755, 1756, 2020—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Fort, Tonoloway and State providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Fort Tonoloway State Park”, the useful work is to connect “state park in Washington County, Maryland” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5472188. Authority coordinates are 39.696, -78.167. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1755, 1756 and 2020.

Critical limits

Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Fort Tonoloway State Park”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Fort Tonoloway State Park primary sources, Fort Tonoloway State Park archive and Fort research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Fort Tonoloway State Park”?
  2. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
  3. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Fort Tonoloway State Park” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.