Reisterstown Rewinds
Who Was John Reister?
Historic accounts help paint a picture of what Reisterstown’s founder was like.
John Reister was described as a “pioneer, wilderness clearer and town founder,” in Lillian Bayly Marks’ book Reister’s Desire. Reisterstown’s founder was an adventurous man, leaving his home country of Germany for the U.S. at the young age of 23. The industrious and independent Reister preferred farming his own land in Frederick County than working at his father-in-law’s public house in York Town. After buying 20 acres in what would become Reisterstown in 1758, in his entrepreneurial nature, John Reister opened an inn in the underdeveloped town, which travelers would pass through thanks to Native American trails that would later become roads. The inn was expanded to include a blacksmith shop and other businesses, which became the center of…
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maggie herman
10:20 am on Thursday, December 8, 2011
The Philip Reister home circa 1777 log cabin is still standing & located at 234 Main Street. more ›