Fort Ritchie topographic map
Click on the map to display elevation.
Fort Ritchie
The geography of Ritchie, and more broadly Cascade, Maryland played an extensive role in the settlement of the area. The elevation of nearly 1,400 ft in a "high valley" surrounded by elevations surpassing 2,000 ft at Fort Ritchie allowed for the Buena Vista Ice Company to successfully create and sell naturally cut ice to larger cities such as Baltimore and Washington, D.C. in the late 1800s until 1903. Buena Vista was the southernmost ice company in the United States. It was the original infrastructure of Buena Vista which ultimately influenced the Maryland National Guard to approve the site for its use.
