Ironsides is an unincorporated community or "post village" in Charles County, Maryland, United States with zip code 20643. The Post Office was established in 1897 and remained open until at least 1976.. Today Ironsides area residents have Indian Head or Nanjemoy addresses. The nearby historic post offices of Nanjemoy and Doncaster, dating from 1800 and 1855, are often associated with historical records of Ironsides. The elevation is 126 feet. The origin of the name of the town is unclear; it's either a reference to the Frigate USS Constitution, known as "Old Ironsides", or to iron siding on a house renovated there in 1886. Nearby, Old Durham Church (est. 1692) is a local landmark; originally a log structure, it was replaced with brick in 1732 and renovated in 1791. Revolutionary War General William Smallwood and colonial Governor William Stone are buried there. Smallwood was elected vestryman at Old Durham Church in 1788, and built a road from his home at Mattawoman Plantation in modern Rison, to the church. "Smallwood Church Road" today is a paved two-lane road running from Rison to Ironsides. During the colonial period, the Ironsides area was divided up into small farms with colorful names: Ward's Delight, Ward's Addition, Wards Trouble, Ingerthorpe/ Ingerstone/ Angerstone/ Ingolthorpe (variously spelt), Charlestowne, Ragged Chance, Randolphs Addition, Senas Delight, Dembar Addition, the Land Resurveyed, Franklins Beginning, Expectation, and Moles Adventure. The most prominent public buildings in Ironsides today are the tiny Ironsides Store, the Ironsides Volunteer Rescue Squad Company 58, and the historically black Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. In 1966 the Ironsides Rescue Squad Inc. was declared by the State of Maryland to be in forfeiture for payment of taxes or filing an annual report. The town is at the crossroads of Maryland Route 6 (Port Tobacco Road) and Maryland Route 425. Route 425 is called Ironsides Road south of Ironsides, and Mason Springs Road to the north. This latter section of road, running to Pisgah, was known as the "Johnnie Cake Road" in 1918. The concrete arch bridge on Route 6 over nearby Wards Run was built in 1929 and rehabilitated in 1987. The town is along Maryland Scenic Byways Number 16, the Religious Freedom Byway, on the way to Durham Church. The Charles County Genealogical Society Cemetery Transcription Project has inventoried the Gray family cemetery at Mansion Hall in Ironsides, which is a ruin dating from 1700 at a site called "The Mistake", which consisted of 227 acres in 1732. In 1914, a wealthy retired stockbroker, Thomas W. Poole, made the news when he committed suicide at his estate in Ironsides. In 1953, a 27-year-old volcanologist who grew up in Ironsides, Dr. Rolf Werner Juhle, vanished in the "Valley of 10,000 Smokes", Katmai National Monument, Alaska. His body was never found. His family owned a tobacco and cattle farm in Ironsides.

What is constitutional law?

Constitutional law attorneys handle cases involving the construction and interpretation of federal and state constitutions, including individual rights and governmental powers. Constitutional law cases can involve issues like First Amendment rights -- such as freedom of speech, press, and religion -- and the checks and balances on authority among different branches of government. Most of the federal constitutional rights are found in the Bill of Rights, that was created originally as a limitation on the action by the federal government, but many of those rights are also applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.

Answers to constitutional law issues in Maryland

The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution says that you have a right to be free of unreasonable police searches and...

The general criteria for making an arrest is what is referred to as probable cause. Probable cause arises when there...

There are two different types of warrants that may be issued:

  • arrest warrants - an order issued by a...

The Miranda decision relates specifically to the rights of a criminal suspect after he has been detained by the...

Bail is typically set by a magistrate or a judge who considers the seriousness of the offense and the likelihood of...

In certain kinds of cases, lawyers charge what is called a contingency fee. Instead of billing by the hour, the...

Gambling is subject to legislation at both the state and federal level that bans it from certain areas, limits the...

After conviction and sentencing, a defendant has the opportunity to file an appeal of his sentence. If the conviction...

Students have certain rights depending on whether they are attending a private or public school or university. A...

Federal court opinions concerning constitutional law in Maryland