The other day my co-worker Morgan Wall got an interesting e-mail from a teacher from some school that we had never heard of asking if she would come cover the school’s Jump Rope for Heart event. After some investigation and talk amongst ourselves, we figured out that there is another Mount Airy, only this one is in Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia to be exact. So this got me wondering, just how many Mount Airy’s are there?

I know for sure that there is a Mount Airy in Maryland that is in Carroll and Frederick counties. After learning about the one in Pennsylvania, I decided to do a little more research.

Through a little more digging, I learned that with the name Mount Airy, which until now, I thought was pretty darn special, is the name for cities in Georgia, New York, Ohio and there are two unincorporated areas of Virginia with the same name.

Ironically, the Mount Airy that is located in New York is near a city called White Plains. The population there is speculated to be around 1,500 residents.

Mount Airy also is the name of a few historic homes. One is located in Anne Arundel County, Md. According to information I found on Wikipedia, it is a two-story, cube-shaped brick Georgian-Federal style, late neo-classical dwelling with a Doric portico on a central hall plan, that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

There is another home in Richmond County, Va., built in 1758-62, which is a mid-Georgian plantation house, the first built in the manner of a neo-Palladian villa. It was constructed for Col. John Tayloe, perhaps the richest Virginia planter of his generation. The architect responsible for the design of the Mount Airy is thought to be John Ariss, a notable architect in colonial Virginia.

Another home, called Mount Airy, is located in Sharpsburg, Md. It is a two-and-a-half story Flemish brick house, built around 1821 with elements of the Federal and Greek Revival styles.

On Oct. 3, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln and Gen. George McClellan visited that home. It was an event recorded photographically by Alexander Gardner.

These places and homes might all be named Mount Airy, but one thing is for sure, we are an original. There are so many things about where we live that makes our town unique. And while I toyed with the idea of visiting another Mount Airy just to check things out, I think I’m okay with sticking close to home.

Mondee Tilley is a staff reporter with The Mount Airy News. She can be reached at mtilley@mtairynews.com or at 719-1930.