Searching for the
SNALLYGASTER
BY MELISSA HENEMYER, PROGRAM COORDINATOR, HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF FREDERICK COUNTY
From Bigfoot to the Chupacabra, unusual creatures or cryptids, as they are sometimes
called, are part of American folklore. Most areas have some kind of boogeyman
or monster that has been passed down through tales and sightings for generations,
and you will find Maryland is no different.
While there are several legends in the state,
here in Frederick County you can find one
of the oldest, and some may say strangest,
creatures lurking in the woods. That is
because Frederick County is home to the
legend of the Snallygaster.
ghost.” Since the earliest population of
Frederick in the 1700s was about 40 percent
German, it is no wonder that this phrase
became the basis for the name of a beast
that could fly quickly through the forest
but was rarely seen.
This fearsome beast is often described
as having a dragon-like body with large
wings, a long tail, a metallic beak and one
eye at the center of its head. But how did
the folklore surrounding the Snallygaster
begin and what could lead to the creation
of such a fantastical beast? The only way
to answer those questions is to delve into
the myth itself.
The most interesting chapter of the
Snallygaster’s story doesn’t begin until
1909, when suddenly the beast goes from
backwoods folktale to media sensation as
sightings in the South Mountain area and as
far as Shepherdstown, W.Va., are published
in the “Middletown Valley Register.” In
these articles a few new aspects of the
creature are recorded: it has a screeching
call like a train whistle and it is reportedly
laying eggs in the area. The stories reach a
fevered pitch and it is said that it receives
nationally attention even piquing the
interest of the Smithsonian Institution
and President Theodore Roosevelt (though
The name, Snallygaster, is probably one
of the oddest attributes of this creature
and the origin of the word can be traced
back to the old German phrase Schneller
Geist, which can be translated to “quick
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FREDERICK COUNTY GUIDE | FALL 2016
much of this may have been embellished
by the newspaper). Despite all this
excitement and nearly a month of
newspaper articles, the Snallygaster is
said to have been chased from the area by
a group of men and was last seen heading
for Emmitsburg.
It was never seen again, that is until
November 1932, when articles were
published claiming a strange creature had
been seen flying over the region. Again the
“Middletown Valley Register” was there
to tell the tale. It is speculated that this
Snallygaster has hatched from the egg left
behind in 1909.These sightings continued
for a month before the death of the beast is
reported in a fantastic tale in which the beast
is overcome by the fumes of an illegal still
and drowns in a massive vat of moonshine
before the body and the still is blown up by
Hagerstown Prohibition agents.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF FREDERICK COUNTY
HI STORY