Quakers Richard Thomas and Deborah Brooke founded
the town of Brookeville in 1794. Thomas named it after Deborah’s
family. That same year he established a mill on Reddy Branch, which
curls moat-like around Brookeville and whose waterpower fueled the
town's prosperity, as did progressive neighboring farms. In 1802 Caleb
Bentley opened a store and post office. In1808, Brookeville was
incorporated. By 1813, the market town throbbed with activity: There
were fourteen houses on quarter-acre lots lining Market and High
Streets, two busy mills, two tan yards with their vaporous vats, two
stores, a smithy, the renowned Brookeville Academy, two doctors, a town
constable, and many other tradesmen and businesses. Within a few
decades of its founding, its proximity to markets and farms and a
growing reputation for education and progressive agronomy made
Brookeville a thriving place
Brookeville had a brief but pivotal role in our nation’s early history.
On August 16, 1814, President Madison and his staff fled Washington
following the British invasion and burning during the War of 1812. They
took refuge in the home of town postmaster and leading progressive
farmer Caleb Bentley. Bentley’s wife, Henrietta Thomas, was a friend of
Dolley Madison. Madison's guard camped in the meadow, and legend has it
that sacks holding the assets of the U. S. Treasury heaped the floor of
the Brookeville Academy.
Today, Brookeville, especially north of the historic district, is an
upscale rural area with the majority of homes situated on a minimum of
two-acre lots.
• The population of Brookeville is
approximately 54.
• The approximate number of families is 21.
• The amount of land area in Brookeville is 0.505 sq. kilometers.
• The amount of surface water is 0 sq kilometers.
• The distance from Brookeville to Washington DC is 18 miles. The
distance to the Maryland state capital is 34 miles (as the crow flies).
• Brookeville is positioned 39.17 degrees north of the equator and
77.05 degrees west of the prime meridian.