Frederick is a city in west-central Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2009 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city has a total population of 59,644, making it the third-largest incorporated area in Maryland, behind Baltimore and Rockville.

Area, 20.4 sq mi (52.9 sq km)
Pop. (2009) 59,644
Density, 2,584/Sq mi.
County Seat, Frederick
Largest city, Frederick

Maryland Facts:
Motto, Fatti Maschii, Parole Femine [Manly Deeds, Womanly Words].
State bird, Baltimore oriole.
State flower, black-eyed Susan.
State tree, white oak. 

“Frederick Town” was laid out by Daniel Dulany (a land speculator) in 1745, and settled by a German immigrant party led by a young German Reformed schoolmaster from the Rhineland Palatinate named Johann Thomas Schley (d. 1790), who came to the Maryland colony with his wife, Maria Winz. They built the first house of the new town which into the 20th century stood at the northwest corner of Middle Alley and East Patrick Street.

The settlement was founded upon a tract of land granted by Daniel Dulany on the banks of Carroll Creek. Within three years the settlement had become the county seat of Frederick County. It is uncertain which Frederick the town was named for, but the likeliest candidates are Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore and one of the proprietors of Maryland, Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales, and Frederick "The Great" of Prussia. Most sources agree it was named for Frederick Calvert.

The city served as a major crossroads from colonial times. British General Braddock marched west through Frederick on the way to the fateful ambush near Fort Duquesne during the French and Indian War. To control this crossroads during the American Revolution, the British garrisoned a Hessian regiment in the town during the war (the barracks still stand).

From these beginnings, Frederick grew to an important market town, but by the first third of the 19th century, the town had also become one of the leading mining counties of the United States, producing gold, copper, limestone, marble, iron and other minerals. As early as the American Revolution, Catoctin Furnace near Thurmont had been a significant site for iron production.In 1831 the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) completed its Frederick Branch line from Baltimore to Frederick.

Frederick's status as a major crossroads put the town at the center of the Maryland campaigns of the Civil War, during which both Union and Confederate troops marched through the city. General Stonewall Jackson led his light infantry division through Frederick on his way to the battles of Crampton's, Fox's and Turner's Gaps and Antietam in September 1862, leading to an incident with Pennsylvania Dutch resident Barbara Fritchie commemorated in the poem by John Greenleaf Whittier. Major General Jesse L. Reno's IX Corps followed Jackson's men through the city a few days later on the way to the historic Battle of South Mountain.

Frederick is well-known for the "Clustered Spires" skyline of its historic downtown buildings. These spires are depicted on the city's seal and many other city-affiliated logos and insignia.