KEY POINTS
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Frederick County, Maryland, officials broke ground on a new museum facility to house a historic collection of carriages.
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Plans for advanced climate control and multi-layered doors were designed to prevent moisture infiltration and directly address problems of the former structure.
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Officials said the new structure will enhance the visitor experience with educational exhibits on early American transportation.
The Frederick County Division of Parks and Recreation in Maryland broke ground on a 6,000-square-foot, single-story museum facility to house a historic collection of antique carriages on August 25, 2025, WYPR Baltimore reported.
The new Rose Hill Manor Carriage Museum will nearly double the size of its predecessor. Construction plans call for advanced climate control and multi-layered doors designed to prevent moisture infiltration, directly addressing problems of the former structure.
Preserving History, Educating Generations
The new commercial building is part of the Rose Hill Manor Park and Museums, which preserves and presents local heritage from 1746 to 1950.
About an hour northwest of Baltimore, the site is a historic estate in Frederick County, Maryland, once home to the state’s first governor. It opened its doors as a museum in 1972, providing a glimpse of early American life, such as farming practices and transportation.
Rose Hill Manor Park includes a manor house (pictured above, image from Frederick County), icehouse, log cabin, blacksmith shop, barns, and the carriage museum.
Temperature and Historic Preservation Drives Project
The new museum will replace the original carriage museum, which has faced structural and environmental challenges that threaten the preservation of the 25 carriages. Officials said many of these items are made with environmentally vulnerable materials such as wood, leather, and upholstery.
Public documents for the construction project noted, “The current Carriage Museum is housed in an outdated Morton building which cannot maintain the proper HVAC levels required for the valuable 18th-century carriages that are on permanent loan to Frederick County.”
The new building will showcase antique carriages while adding classroom space, restrooms, and storage in a “new temperature/humidity controlled facility.”
The museum’s construction cost is projected at $3.4 million. Public documents show funding of $500,000 from a state grant, $111,000 from general obligation bonds, and the remainder from the county’s capital improvement program.
Plans for the new Rose Hill Manor Carriage Museum from an August 25, 2025, groundbreaking ceremony are pictured. The project aims to offer enhanced protection for the museum’s antique carriages, sleighs, and wagons. Image: WYPR, Nathanael Miller
According to the Frederick County Division of Parks and Recreation, the public construction project aims to improve long-term preservation, enhance the visitor experience with educational exhibits on early American transportation, and support the site’s broader mission of historic interpretation.
Completion of the new museum structure is targeted for August 2026.
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