The collection features photographs from the Maryland National Guard era of Camp Ritchie. In 1926 the Maryland National Guard was in search of a new training site for its troops. A plot of land in the mountains of Western Maryland was suggested—it had a lake and was close to the railroad—and eventually it was chosen as the location. General Milton Reckord put Robert Frederick Barrick in charge of Camp Ritchie, named after Maryland's governor at the time, Albert C Ritchie. When construction of the camp began, the land still had two ice houses standing from the Buena Vista Ice Company. The camp opened in 1927 while it was still under construction.
The photos were collected by Camp Historian, Becky Dietrich, who allowed us to scan them. They were then collected by the Maryland State Archives where they are housed today.