Accident, MD

Accident is a Garrett County town on Maryland's Appalachian plateau, with a name that comes from a tract surveyed for Brooke Beall in 1774 and patented to William Deakins Jr. in 1786. The town incorporated in 1916, and the unusual name has stayed long enough to give residents their own demonym: Accidental. That bit of local vocabulary is part of the place's orientation, right alongside the old survey lines and mountain setting.

Town life gathers around a handful of specific places. Town Park West has a pavilion and picnic facilities; Town Park East adds a ballfield, quarter-mile walking trail, tennis and pickleball courts; the community pond is stocked by Maryland; and Veteran's Park holds a memorial walk. The annual calendar includes Fourth of July Homecoming, a town-wide yard sale, Concert in the Park, a fishing rodeo, Fall Festival, and Breakfast with Santa. Accident's local pattern is a mountain town where civic events, volunteer fire activity, parks, and the town pond turn a memorable name into an everyday community map.