Frederick County Historic Preservation Plan

Frederick County, Maryland

WHY

Frederick County has an extensive history of historic preservation efforts. Decades of community-led effort and advocacy have resulted in the County undertaking strong preservation planning and regulatory efforts in the last 30 years. As of 2026, Frederick County is the fastest-growing county in Maryland, boasting an annual population growth rate of over 2%. Although a marker of economic vitality and desirability, this accelerated growth represents both a critical opportunity and a significant threat to the County’s invaluable historic resources. The outcome of Frederick County’s growth-whether preservation or loss-is entirely dependent on how effectively and thoughtfully this growth is managed, guided by robust planning and historic preservation policy. 

The Frederick County Historic Preservation Plan is a functional planning document intended to assist the County in addressing important issues related to cultural and historic resources. The main goal of the Historic Preservation Plan is establishing an actionable strategy for identifying, protecting, and managing a community's heritage resources while also providing a long-range guide for educating about our shared heritage, better integrating preservation with development, and promoting the economic and sustainability benefits of revitalizing historic resources.

HOW

The Frederick County Historic Preservation Plan is built on strong community and stakeholder engagement, including in-person pop-ups, targeted focus groups, an open house, and a digital survey, that has guided the overall planning process and the vision, goals, strategies, and actions contained within. 

Based on community engagement feedback, stakeholder input, and an equity framework developed with the Frederick County Equality and Inclusion Office, the planning team created the core of this plan: a series of goals, strategies and actions. The goals serve as the organizing principles for the future version of the preservation program. The strategies define the approach for achieving these goals. The actions details how the program can operationalize the goals and strategies by identifying specific opportunities for implementing the plan.

WHAT

The Frederick County Historic Preservation Plan was developed as a functional guide to help the County identify, protect, and manage its historic and cultural resources. It reflects an evolving approach to community growth, preservation, and local heritage.

The plan creates a long-range framework to systematically identify, evaluate, and safeguard heritage resources across the County—ranging from historic farmsteads and bridges to rural villages and archaeological sites. As a result of regional growth pressures (particularly from the nearby Baltimore and Washington, D.C. metro areas), the plan also establishes guidelines to better integrate historic preservation directly into modern development and planning processes. The plan emphasizes the financial and environmental benefits of historic revitalization. It promotes adaptive reuse of historic structures to minimize demolition waste, encourages energy-efficiency upgrades, and connects historic property owners with tax incentives and grant opportunities.

Another core goal is protecting the visual and cultural character of local communities while expanding preservation efforts to include a broader, more diverse range of cultural stories, non-traditional historic spaces, and underrepresented local histories. It serves as an educational tool to raise public awareness and lower barriers for property owners. Furthermore, the plan outlines strategies to make regulations less intimidating, provide clear digital mapping resources, and engage residents across generations.