John Hanson and Philip Thomas once lived side by side here: the Hanson-Thomas Houses. These were two adjoining three-story, brick dwellings, notable for their Federal-style details. They served as the homes of two Maryland patriots: John Hanson (1715-1783), who was President of the United States In Congress Assembled from 1781 to 1782, and the adjoining house belonged to his son-in-law, Dr. Philip Thomas (1747-1812), a prominent physician in Frederick County.
Picture the paired façades, the shared walls and the solidity of brick rising three stories, a statement of status and style in this town. The houses’ national recognition came in 1972, when they were listed on the National Register of Historic Places. That designation changed in 1982, when the structures were delisted after being partially demolished for reconstruction.
What remains today is a site layered with those names, dates, and the memory of two linked households — one political, one medical — that once stood side by side. Only the street and the lot remain to mark where two brick households, one political and one medical, once stood side by side.