Fort Ritchie - Abandoned Military Base drone tour

Built in 1926; Fort Ritchie at Cascade, Maryland was a military installation southwest of Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania and southeast of Waynesboro in the area of South Mountain. Following the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, it closed in 1998.
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[@kaamazing4601]

I was stationed there from 1989 - 1992/3. It was beautiful and close to Amish country. I lived on base my first year, then got married. My ex husband and I lived in Hagerstown, MD, then moved to Waynesboro, PA when we had our first child. We were then able to move on base. I was an Administrative specialist there, working at the post office and then worked in the office to help with the base's newsletter. I will never forget this place. It was also around the time of the Persian-Gulf War. I almost was assigned to go, but another soldier went instead. Thank you for sharing this because so much bittersweet memories are there.

[@MrMadmines]

I was a Chaplin Assistant from 86-88. Seeing the Church brought so many memories back to me. Father Walsh was a good Chaplin to work for.

[@larryharlow3434]

I was an MP assigned there from March 1966 thru Dec 1967. I was newly married and it was our first Post. We enjoyed our tour very much. I still have very fond memories of our tour there. Thanks for the beautiful drone pictures. I hope to return next year with my family to show them were me and their mother spent our first two years in the Military. I Ieft the Military after my tour at Ft. Ritchie but ended up going in the Air Force as a Security Police and retired after 22 years in the Air Force.

[@mymaryland]

Its a pretty special place to visit. I wish I could have seen it while it was still being used. Thanks for visiting the page and checking out the video!

[@ralph5450]

I was an MP also there in 1969. Stood inside the main gate directing traffic many times.

[@mymaryland]

@@ralph5450 Oh wow. It sure is a neat place!

[@ralph5450]

@@mymaryland Also did a lot of guard duty at Site R

[@vipond616]

As she slowly turns to rubble, she will always be home to me. I lived there from 85 to 90. The friends I made there as a kid are my brothers and sisters to this very day. Unless someone lived on Ft. Ritchie, people can not understand the magic on that mountain.

[@mymaryland]

It surely is a beautiful place.

[@dragondancer1814]

My husband and I worked security there when they were first converting the base to civilian property-we worked the roadblocks for the buried ordnance removal project, and I remember the barracks buildings and townhouses that have since been removed along with the base’s swimming pool. We were there on 9/11, and I’ll never forget the way the day’s work slammed to a halt as everybody was trying to make sense of what was going on and the shock we all felt when we realized we were under attack. It’s nearly 20 years later, and our town’s fire department still has an annual parade on that day to remember and honor the lives lost on that fateful day. Sorry, got lost in flashback country there for a minute. Great video, and nice to see you up in my part of the state!

[@mymaryland]

It’s a pretty neat place. I would have loved to have see it when it was active.

[@dhblan8591]

No one can or should ever forget that day - 9/11. Thanks for sharing.

[@MrMadmines]

I was stationed at HQ company from 86-87. Beautiful post.

[@garyjeskie1782]

My name is Gary Jeskie. My father sfc Stanley Jeskie and my cousin Lt Rudy Kalmar were stationed there in the mid to late 1950s.

[@TheTerryGene]

I served at Fort Ritchie from 1985 to 1988. It saddens me to see the disrepair into which it has fallen. I believe it was not abandoned but turned back over to the state or local government. You cannot deny, however, the lush beauty of the surrounding area.

[@mymaryland]

It sure is a great place!

[@radog1028]

Very sad to see such a beautiful place rotting

[@jessrehbein5]

I was also stationed there from 1993-1996/7. I had a very hard time leaving. If I could have stayed I would have but of course BRAC closed it so even had I stayed I would have been forced to leave anyway. My unit was ISEC-CONUS. No other assignment compared to it afterward.

[@dowagiac52]

I was stationed there as a photographer from Oct 72 - to the beginning of Aug 74. I was drafted, so to end up at Fort Ritchie I felt grateful then and very grateful, now. Shooting on post and also at Site R along with a few trips to Camp David and the Pentagon. I drove through about 10 years ago and my wife said it's like being stationed at a country club. I agreed. Thank you for uploading this wonderful drone footage. One of my buddies from Fort Ritchie, also a photographer, sent me the link.

[@mymaryland]

Thank you for the kind words.. and thanks for checking out the video!

[@drewlosch]

I was stationed there in 78-79 and went back in 2018 to get video (see my page: the video has over 12K views and tons of comments) but I did a walk-thru video. Such a beautiful Fort. These drone shots are amazing! GREAT JOB!!!

[@mymaryland]

Thanks so much. Ill stop by and check out your video.

[@chedebnam6025]

So I am able to walk the grounds and see the beauty? I'm interested.

[@darkvanilla7320]

I lived here from 78 to 80. Was hoping it would show more of the quarters instead of the same street over and over again

[@ImtHE1ne54]

What memories! Mom Dukes was stationed there 91-93. Went to Cascade Elementary School. Swam at the pool. Visited the cliff. The hills were tons of fun. Quite a contrast when we moved back to Chicago.

[@mymaryland]

Its a great place. I'm glad its still in pretty good shape considering its not used.

[@mannyhall6689]

Was a MP there 1975 76 Was like a picture Book when on Post Patrol like Mayberry no trouble safe

[@ronmiller9572]

it’s sad to see it like this remembering how it looked just back to 95 when i was in high school all of my friends lived up there as there parents were stationed there and went to smithsburg middle and high school

[@mymaryland]

Its a neat place. I'm glad they didnt demolish all of the buildings.

[@stephanieg4535]

The homes in the back (not featured in the video) are all under renovation. The new owners started leasing it Oct 1 2021. Several families live there now.

[@ByGraceIGo]

I wouldn't really call it abandon it was decommissioned in the late nineties and moved to Fort Detrick and a local resident by the name of John Krumpotich bought it for the sum of 1.8 million dollars. So after spending that kind of money it would take more Millions to restore many of these buildings and many were knocked down. And like side Hall is used for weddings and stuff and there are other buildings that are still in use so it's not abandon oh, it's just not used by the military anymore. I was just there yesterday. Nice Drone footage. I hope with the leaves being beautiful like that you went up to High Rock.

[@mymaryland]

Thanks for checking out the video. I did go to High Rock. It was a little foggy but I got some decent footage. It would have been neat if they would have been able to keep the fort in good shape for tours. I love seeing history like this!

[@thomasmuhammad9504]

High rock was one of my favorite spots to go until someone fell to their death

[@kitcarsoncarson615]

Ft Ritchie is one of my childhood memories in 1957-1959. Some of it good, some of it not so good. The woods and rivers were our playgrounds. I'm trying to find out the school's name that the post used for the service member's children. It was a catholic school outside the post because there was no school on post at that time. I was in the second grade at the time. Teddy was the name of the dog I had then. He was a Spitz who was the best dog ever. It feels like part of your childhood has been canceled when they close an Army post down. We went to Germany from there, in 1959. That was a whole other experience on it's own.

[@mymaryland]

It’s a neat place. Sounds like you had some good fun there!

[@sacthel-pt1fc]

I was there from August 86 to April 89 as a mp

[@gordonames1892]

BEING AIR FORCE THERE, WE HAD TO GO TO WASHINGTON DC ON BUSINESS. THE SUMMERS WETE BRITALY HOT!! COULDN'T WAIT TO GET BACK TO FORT RITCHIE!!

[@mymaryland]

They sure are hot. I bet it was a bit cooler at Fort Ritchie in the elevation.

[@gordonames1892]

@@mymaryland ONLY PROBLEM WAS WINTER TIME. THE ROADS WERE REALLY ICY!!

[@gordonames1892]

FUNNY EXPERIENCE. WAS THERE FROM 77 TO 79. ALONG THE ROAD TO WAYNESBORO, ON THE RIGHT THERE WAS AN ADULT DRIVE IN. ONE DAY DRIVING BACK TO RITCHIE, JUST SO JAPPENS THERE WAS A RADIO COMMERCIAL FOR THE DRIVE IN. THE COMMERCIAL SAYS PINNOCIO: ITS NOT HIS NOSE THAT GROWS!!! I NEARLY LOST IT, I WAS LAUGHING SO HARD!!

[@mymaryland]

@@gordonames1892 I bet. I'll be back out that way in a couple of weeks. I'm going to try to stop by again and do some more exploring.

[@reginadrayton8374]

My grandfather was stationed here, he was a Ritchie Boy, said it was a psychological training site, and said it was used to test Asian Orange...

[@mymaryland]

Wow...I wasn't aware of that. Thank you so much for sharing!

[@dowagiac52]

Not Asian Orange - Agent Orange. And yes it was tested there in the early 60s.

[@joer8759]

I lived here from 1994-96

[@Razoul-xf1wt]

Any tech controllers reading this? 80-83 site R.

[@scottlette]

So has everything from Cold War America been reduced to a rotting ruin of its former self?

[@mymaryland]

I sure hope not.. there is a lot of history in these structures.

[@thomasmuhammad9504]

I lived there for 14 months

[@thomasmuhammad9504]

Sad it had to be closed because of the water contamination

[@mymaryland]

I wasn’t aware that is why it closed. Thank you for the info!

[@ritchiemuseum8849]

@@thomasmuhammad9504 This is not why it closed. In 1995, the US Gov in an attempt to save money closed many Army posts including this one.

[@thomasmuhammad9504]

@@ritchiemuseum8849 were you able to drink the water