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Community Corner

Henderson Corner

The history of Henderson Corner, at the intersection of Frederick Road and Ridge Road, includes a reverend, hoboes and ghosts.

Most of you have seen the “Henderson Corner” sign at the intersection of Ridge and Frederick roads, across from Applebee's. But who is “Henderson”? The history of this corner offers more than a name and hint at the land’s prior owner. The story behind this sign includes tales of ghosts and even hoboes.

We will begin with the Rev. James Sebastian Hamilton Henderson, who once owned the land at Ridge and Frederick roads. Henderson was born in Frederick, Md., in 1815. He earned a degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1842, and in 1843 he married Roseanna Jane Neel, daughter of Neelsville founder Joseph Neel. Her dowry was a tract called Londonderry, which straddled Fredrick Road.

The Hendersons built a home at Londonderry after the reverend was purportedly dismissed from a Newville, Pa., parish in 1862 due to his Southern sympathies. Henderson was appointed as the reverend of Neelsville Church in November 1864, after the church’s prior pastor died. During Henderson’s time, the little white church was built and his house acquired a new wing. It was also during his leadership that the Neelsville Church broke from the Darnestown Church, and Boyds Presbyterian Church was formed.

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The Rev. Henderson died from a heart attack in 1883, but his name lives on at the intersection, on a plaque at the little white church, and in the house he built, which still exists but has been moved.

At Londonderry, the Hendersons had six sons and one daughter. Many of their descendents still live in the area.

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But there were other legacies to follow.

From the home, a large red barn across Frederick Road served as a landmark for many jobless men who walked from the north and west in search of employment in Washington during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Old-timers have said that many of these homeless men, sometimes referred to as hoboes, sought shelter in the barn and were given food by the local people. This may have been why the intersection got the name “Henderson Corner.” 

More than one person reported seeing strange lights and hearing the ghosts of children singing and playing in the ruins late at night. The barn would have been where McDonald’s is now.

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