Historic Washington County

HISTORIC 

WASHINGTON 

COUNTY 

The Story of Hagerstown & Washington County 

by Dennis E. Frye 

A publication of the 

Hagerstown-Washington County 

Chamber of Commerce

Thank you for your interest in this HPNbooks publication. 

For more information about other HPNbooks publications, or information about 

producing your own book with us, please visit www.hpnbooks.com.

HISTORIC 

WASHINGTON 

COUNTY 

The Story of Hagerstown & Washington County 

by Dennis E. Frye 

Commissioned by the Hagerstown Washington County Chamber of Commerce 

Historical Publishing Network 

A division of Lammert Incorporated 

San Antonio, Texas

CONTENTS 

3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

4 INTRODUCTION 

5 CHAPTER I Legacy’s Lure and Lore 

9 CHAPTER II We Make It… 

27 CHAPTER III We Break It… 

32 CHAPTER IV We Mend It… 

56 CHAPTER V We Defend It… 

61 CHAPTER VI We Grow It… 

69 CHAPTER VII Their Legacy…Your Legacy…Our Legacy 

73 SHARING THE HERITAGE 

120 SPONSORS 

121 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

122 ABOUT THE COVER 

First Edition 

Copyright © 2010 Historical Publishing Network 

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without permission in writing 

from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Historical Publishing Network, 11535 Galm Road, Suite 101, San Antonio, Texas, 78254. Phone (800) 749-9790. 

ISBN: 9781935377276 

Library of Congress Card Catalog Number: 2010938968 

Historic Washington County: The Story of Hagerstown & Washington County 

author: Dennis E. Fyre 

cover artist: Rebecca Pearl 

contributing writer for sharing the heritage: Garnette Bane, Britt Fayssoux 

Historical Publishing Network 

president: Ron Lammert 

project managers: Violet Caren 

administration: Donna M. Mata, Melissa G. Quinn 

book sales: Dee Steidle 

production: Colin Hart, Evelyn Hart, Glenda Tarazon Krouse 

2 ✦ HISTORIC WASHINGTON COUNTY

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

No complete history of Washington County has been written since 1906. Fortunately, Washington County has its own encyclopedia 

of history in the mind of John Frye. “Dad”—and I’m the only male in the country that can call John Frye “Dad”—has been the 

unofficial county historian since the late 1950s when he began researching deeds and land patents, preparing property tax maps for 

the state while working at the court house. Then in 1968 he became the curator of the Western Maryland Room of the Washington 

County Free Library, where he has spent the last forty years answering history questions from tens of thousands of inquirers. I suspect 

I’ve been the Number One Inquirer, since I’ve been asking Dad history questions my entire life. This book has benefited from those 

queries, and I am blessed to have the Frye history gene. 

Doug Bast is the greatest private collector of Washington County ephemera in the county’s history. His Boonsborough Museum of 

History is astonishing in its depth and astounding in its volume. Doug, himself, is a treasure among treasures. He spent hours guiding 

me through his immense collection, and the result is dozens of previously unpublished images appearing for the first time in this book. 

Every county citizen is indebted to Doug for his half-century of collecting and preserving the material culture of Washington County. 

Jill Craig, digital archivist and creator and sustainer of “Whilbr” for the Western Maryland Regional Libraries, offered immense 

assistance throughout this project. Jill enthusiastically scanned dozens of illustrations, including selections from Dad’s enormous 

postcard collection. As I kept making discoveries in the Western Maryland Room, I skipped to Jill with my “find,” and she promptly 

performed her digital magic over and over again. Jill’s behind-the-scene contribution is responsible for many of the scenes in this book. 

I wish to express appreciation to nephew Wil Sowers, whose youthfulness guided me through the mysteries of digital technology 

and who recorded many of the images from the Bast collection. Carol Appenzeller, newspaper historian at the Washington County 

Free Library, eagerly assisted, along with librarian/archivist Elizabeth Howe, who did a good job answering my questions when I could 

not track down Dad. Special thanks also to Michael Kyne, curator of the Washington County Historical Society, who assisted in 

gathering illustrations from that outstanding collection. My friends at the Antietam Battlefield—historian Ted Alexander, curator Alann 

Schmidt, and ranger Keith Snyder—provided some wonderful jewels as well. 

I extend my appreciation to Brien Poffenberger, president of the Hagerstown/Washington County Chamber of Commerce, for 

suggesting me as the historian and author to publisher Ron Lammert. Brien and I share many interests, along with our lifelong passion 

for Washington County, and I’m honored to have his faith in my abilities. I also express gratitude to Mercedes de la Cruz for carefully 

reviewing the manuscript. My thanks also to Ron Lammert, whose team brought this idea to our business community, suggesting we 

had a story to tell that for too long went untold. 

I’ll save the best for last. To my wife Sylvia and our canine companion Gizmo, I owe special gratitude. Hundreds of hours normally 

spent with them were diverted to research and writing, but they graciously and unselfishly consented to share their time and permit 

me to pursue this endeavor. The time we missed together will never be replaced, but their gift of time enabled me to generate a history 

that I hope will be timeless. 

Dennis E. Frye 

Antietam Rest 

February 2010 

Acknowledgments ✦ 3

INTRODUCTION 

WE VALUE OUR WORKERS AND OUR WORKERS’ VALUES 

We celebrate the businesses and workers of Washington County within these pages. Theirs is a 

rich and diverse story—largely untold, until now. 

This is a book about people. People who dare. People who share. People who care. It’s about 

people with vision and conviction of mission. It’s about values, not valuations. It’s about standards, 

not statistics. It’s about service with sincerity and products with pride. It’s about an ethic encouraging 

what we believe, what we conceive, and what we receive through our work. 

Business creates work, but workers define the business. The farm family, for instance, may own 

hundreds of acres, but it’s the farmers’ commitment to hard work that tills their fields and produces 

their yields. The mechanics may tune our motors and repair our rotors, but it’s their dedication to 

precision that makes clients content. Tradesmen and craftsmen may build their models, but it’s their 

quality, not quantity, that renders them true models. Retailers rocking with goods galore may have 

buyers flooding their stores, but only if we feel welcome and wanted and well served. 

Businesses create names and brands and identities; but it’s the people of each business—whether 

owner or operator, manager or maintenance man, supervisor or sales clerk, accountant or cashier— 

that determine first the values of the business, and second the business value. 

A personal experience with two Washington County businesses demonstrates our community’s 

esteem for worker values. My wife Sylvia’s and my closest companion for years, our fourteen-year old 

Boston Terrier “Gizmo,” suddenly collapsed with catastrophic kidney failure. We were emotionally 

shattered when we arrived at the Cumberland Valley Veterinary Clinic on Virginia Avenue, but 

without a word from us, caring staff covered the cold, hard steel examining table with a warm blanket 

and brought in a box of tissues. Two very small gestures—but two large and meaningful actions as 

we shared our final moments with our canine companion. Then we traveled south to nearby 

Williamsport to Valley Pet Cemetery, the family business established by Marty and Mary Snook that 

has served our community (and now veterinary hospitals in four states) for more than three decades. 

Even though we arrived after hours on a Friday evening, when we rang the doorbell, Greg Snook 

greeted us, invited us in, comforted us, and escorted us to his manager Dave Drury—who at the last 

hour at the end of his work week—compassionately helped us through our difficult moment. 

Personalized. Meaningful. Sincere. The customer care that Sylvia and I experienced is a hallmark 

of Washington County’s businesses and workers. It’s present today because it was present yesterday. 

It’s in our legacy. 


CHAPTER I 

LEGACY’ S LURE AND LORE 

What have I done that’s made a difference? 

We all ask the question. Sometimes it hammers us daily. Other times, long times pass before it 

knocks upon our souls. On occasion it taunts us; maybe even haunts us. Regardless of when the 

question comes, it comes. And when we answer, we respond with legacy. 

Legacy. We all have it. We all want it. We all create it. We all seek it. We all need it. We all leave 

it. Legacy comes in many different forms. It may be your family. It may be your business. It may be 

your charity. It may be your integrity. Whatever the form, we often define legacy by the moment— 

but we assess legacy through posterity. 

❖ 

Do you know their legacy? 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF WESTERN MARYLAND 

ROOM, WASHINGTON COUNTY FREE LIBRARY. 

Legacy’s Lure and Lore ✦ 5

❖ 

Legacy Evolves. This 1880 charcoal 

drawing by Claggett Spangler, 

illustrating 5th Maryland Regiment 

Day, is the earliest known depiction of 

the Great Hagerstown Fair. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF DOUG BAST, 

BOONSBOROUGH MUSEUM OF HISTORY. 

This is a book about legacy. It is not a tome 

about history. The two are distinctly different. We 

personalize legacy. We date history. We embrace 

legacy. We divorce ourselves from history. We 

harmonize with legacy. We patronize history. 

Legacy appears. History disappears. Legacy 

surrounds us. History confounds us. We share 

the stories of legacy. Details of history we disdain. 

When legacy comes to mind, we often think 

of our children. Is there any greater personal 

legacy? Look at the kids in the old glass 

photograph (yes, photographers originally used 

cut class to replicate their images). Share their 

happy moment. Gaze into their eyes. What do 

they tell us? Their clothes are from a different 

time, but their expressions are timeless. Their 

smiles span centuries, defining humanity rather 

than history. They draw us closer. We want to 

discover more. Questions come to mind. What 

are your names? Where do you live? Who are 

your parents? What are your dreams? 

Ready for the answers? Truth be told, I know 

almost nothing about these youngsters. Their 

names are unknown. Their parents are 

anonymous. Their home is invisible. Their dreams 

are untold. They lure us toward them, but we 

have no lore about them. Their legacy is mystery. 

Legacy is no mystery for the industrious 

people of Washington County. 

This book shares their stories…and their 

legacies. And what a story! People here in 

Washington County have changed our world, 

sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. A 

Danish immigrant cabinetmaker transformed the 

sound of music here. One hundred thousand 

strangers soaked the soil with bloodshed here. 

An inventor and a pilot altered the course of 

flight history here. We acknowledged, as the 

first, the father of our country here. 

Legacy often is not apparent, but rather 

transparent. I purposely selected the McCardell 

Brothers photograph to illustrate this point. It is 

faded, not clear—just as legacy often diminishes 

with time. The picture tells us much, though its 

hazy veil disguises its past. It shows us six 

dapperly dressed men before the store, but it 

does not identify which, if any, are the McCardell 

brothers. We see large boxes stacked on the 

sidewalk, but their contents are a mystery. We 

view a handsome cast-iron storefront, with doors 

wide-open, inviting customers inside. It appears 

so permanent, but does it exist today? In the two 

stories above, we see a curiosity—the windows 

are closed and shutters all drawn, blocking light 

and air on a seemingly sunny day. We see a pipeframe 

awning spanning the store’s full length, 

but the canvas cover is rolled. The photo asks 

us questions, answers some, and leaves many 

without response. This ghostly glimpse into 

Washington County’s past illustrates the purpose 

of this book—to share legacies gone, but not to 

be forgotten. 

Legacy sometimes results from an accident. It 

is not planned, nor envisioned. It can radically 

alter life. Ask the Dunkers at Sharpsburg. 

One week these devout religious people are 

prosperous, self-sufficient farmers tending the 

fertile fields along the Antietam Creek. The next 

week they are destitute—their farms destroyed, 

their crops trampled, their livestock dead, their 

orchards ruined, their fences burned, their 

fields now graveyards. How did these people of 

peace suddenly become violent victims of war? 

It was an accident. Someone, still unknown, lost 

Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s orders. 

Ultimately, the carelessness of this single 

unidentified person produced the bloodiest 

one-day battle in American history—hosted by 

pacifist Dunkers along the Antietam. 

Legacy can be lineage. Lineage runs both 

backward and forward. My father, John Frye, for 

more than fifty years, has been the unofficial 

historian of Washington County. For four 


decades he has served as the curator of the 

Western Maryland Room of the Washington 

County Free Library. He has hosted tens of 

thousands of people searching for their roots in 

Washington County. But for me, he is my roots. 

As a kid, I accompanied dad on tours, where he 

enthralled total strangers with stories and 

showed them special places. I was mystified by 

these strangers listening intently to my father’s 

tales (we didn’t listen that closely at home). 

Apparently I heard and absorbed something, 

for I began leading county tours too when I 

reached high school. Then there’s my Dunker 

connection on dad’s side. The Fouch and Hahn 

families of Pleasant Valley baptized in Israel 

Creek, “dunking” completely beneath the water 

three times in the name of the trinity. One 

hundred years later, I launched my career as a 

National Park Service historian volunteering in 

the Dunker Church at the Antietam Battlefield. 

My Washington County lineage can’t seem 

to escape the Civil War. My mother, Janice 

Poffenberger, is a descendant of the Poffenberger 

immigrant who established Smoketown two 

miles north of Sharpsburg a few years prior to 

the American Revolution. Smoketown derived 

from Poffenberger’s work as a blacksmith. Two 

hundred years later, I was apprenticing in a 

blacksmith shop at Harpers Ferry National 

Historical Park, totally unaware of my greatgreat-great 

(and on and on) granddaddy’s 

occupation. I did know, however, that three 

different Sharpsburg Poffenbergers (all distant 

relatives) involuntarily hosted, in part, the Battle 

of Antietam on their farms. And I only recently 

learned that I am a direct descendant of Peter 

Beachley, who owned much of the land on South 

Mountain near the Reno Monument where the 

Battle of Fox’s Gap occurred. Is it any wonder 

that I became a Civil War historian? 

Legacy can evolve. Changes over time at the 

Great Hagerstown Fairgrounds illustrate this 

perspective. Beginning in 1880, the Fair became 

the first major tourist attraction in Hagerstown. 

This didn’t just happen. City leaders with vision 

created an event that capitalized on the rich 

agricultural tradition of the Great Valley of 

Maryland. They grasped geography, fully 

understanding Hagerstown’s central location on 

the eastern seaboard. They optimized their 

transportation advantage, knowing they could 

❖ 

Legacy Lingers. The McCardell Brothers clothier, tailor, and shoe business on North Potomac Street, 

seen here c. 1890, operated in Hagerstown for more than fifty years. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF DOUG BAST, BOONSBOROUGH MUSEUM OF HISTORY. 

HALF A CENTURY HERE. 

GONE EVEN LONGER. 

“Hagerstown’s grand old men in business, two brothers who have been 

dominant factors in this community’s growth, will next Monday celebrate fifty 

years in business in the same location. It was April 3, 1883, that W. H. and 

O. D. McCardell opened a small clothing store in a room in what was then the 

William F. Orndorff building on North Potomac Street. As their business grew, 

they took the entire floor of the building, and in 1897 purchased the building. 

In 1908 they replaced the building with a handsome new one. 

In reminiscing, W. H. McCardell told of the great changes that have taken 

place in the clothing business. His firm, he said, thought nothing of 

purchasing in a single order 100 cases of leather boots. Now not a single one 

is handled, for there is no longer a demand for them. He said that several 

pairs of copper toed shoes were still in the store, kept as mementos of the 

days when they were in great demand. 

In the days when the firm first operated, paper collars with neckties 

attached were the rage. The popular prices of good quality heavy shoes for 

men were $1. Now these same quality of shoes sell for $3. The best grades 

of women’s shoes fifty years ago retailed for $2.75. Now the price is $8.50. 

The highest grade ready made suits for men retailed for $5 up to $10. The 

same quality suits today retail for from $10 to $25. He recalled an order he 

placed during his firm’s early business days for 300 suits of men’s clothing at 

$3.75, which were retailed for $4.50.” 

—Excerpt from Hagerstown newspaper, April 1, 1933. 

utilize four different railroads (from each 

direction of the compass) to attract visitors here 

from long distances. The result—a legacy: an 

annual extravaganza that captivated hundreds 

of thousands of tourists and lasted nearly 100 

years, beyond the era of passenger rail and into 

the age of the auto. 

Legacy’s Lure and Lore ✦ 7

❖ 

Legacy Discovered. Legacy Preserved. 

The Wilson Bridge before 

its restoration. 



Alas, by the 1980s, the fair had become passe 

and no longer a grand attraction. Fairgrounds 

infrastructure became expensive to maintain, 

buildings began decaying, and the property 

looked forlorn and abandoned—a ghost of 

its former self. Enter new city leaders with a 

new vision. They determined to convert the 

fairgrounds into recreational open space to serve 

the needs of Hagerstown’s growing and diverse 

population. A new legacy was born. 

Legacy occasionally comes as opportunity, or 

a surprise. Washington County’s oldest stone 

bridge demonstrates this principle. Builder 

Silas Henry completed the Wilson Bridge across 

the Conococheague Creek in 1819 at a cost of 

$12,000. What a deal! For nearly 120 years, this 

graceful, five-arch span, boasting walls of native 

limestone two feet thick, carried traffic on the 

National Road. Finally in 1937, the original 

road was realigned (US 40), and the stately 

bridge went into retirement. No longer on the 

job, the bridge slowly sagged from despair and 

disrepair. No one needed it. No one wanted it. 

No one cared for it. Abandoned by its own 

heritage, the bridge suffered a near collapse in 

1972 when the savage waters of Tropical Storm 

Agnes almost drowned it. Battered and broken, 

the noble bridge faced its future—ruined…its 

grandeur reduced to a ruin. 

But rescuers arrived. First came the county’s 

bridge lovers, who admitted their very first 

“born” was on life support. Then came the 

historians, who protested loudly that turning 

away was unacceptable. Then came the 

preservationists, who declared the bridge was 

our community legacy. The preservationists 

personalized those spans of stone, telling us 

that if we lost the Wilson Bridge, we lost part of 

ourselves. Despite feverish public interest, 

whose temperature rose and fell as the 1970s 

passed by, the bridge became more ill. Distress 

dove into desperation, but finally—after ten 

anxious years—the savior came forth. Clear 

Spring contractor Leroy Myers, Sr., a mason 

by trade and an experienced Washington 

County stone bridge repairman, accepted the 

challenge, offered the lowest bid, and proceeded 

laboriously and methodically—stone after heavy 

stone—to cement the bridge back together. 

Leroy likely suffered a financial loss, but 

through his love for the bridge, he and the 

whole community profited. 

Wilson Bridge stands as a testament to legacy 

in Washington County. It offers a legacy with 

multiple meanings. For the original builder, 

his bridge is a legacy of art—in form—and 

indefatigable in function. For a century of 

travelers, their bridge is grace and grandeur 

subduing its utilitarianism. For the historians 

and preservationists, the bridge’s stylistic arches 

are an unbroken spanning of time, connecting 

the heritage of past with the present of respect 

and the future of admiration. For the tourist, the 

massive structure is a photogenic marvel that 

begs this question—how did they do that? And 

the Wilson Bridge legacy for Leroy Myers? He 

adopted an orphan, mended its wounds, and 

left an inheritance for us all. 

Leroy Myers, Sr., does not stand alone in legacy 

in Washington County. The stones he rebuilt are 

not just stones of history, but of legacy. Countless 

other Washington County residents—through 

their factories, their businesses, their professions, 

their schools, their churches, their hobbies, 

their playgrounds, and their governments—have 

likewise left their legacies. 

We are not born with legacy. We create it. 


CHAPTER II 

WE MAKE IT… 

There is one reward that nothing can deprive me of, and that is the consciousness of having done my duty 

with the strictest rectitude and most scrupulous exactness. 

—George Washington 

We were born with a defect. No one knew how long we would live. 

Two months and two days after our Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, 

Washington County was born. Our mother was Frederick County. Our father was selected by 

Maryland’s revolutionary legislators. They chose George Washington. An interesting choice. 

General Washington was commanding the Continental Army in the American Revolution, but 

he not yet had won a battle. In fact, in September 1776 the British defeated Washington in 

the Battle of Long Island, forced him to abandon New York City—a major morale blow to 

the independence movement—and chased him across New Jersey into Pennsylvania. This was 

our namesake? 

Despite the uncertain future, the residents of Washington County were honored to be the first 

county in the fledgling United States to be named in honor of Washington. If we lost the war, all 

the King’s men would return, and Washington would be deemed a traitor. The Crown likely would 

revise our name, or perhaps, just shorten it to “George County” (in honor of King George III). 

Fortunately for our posterity, King George eventually tired of chasing the other George, and 

Washington became “The Father of our Country.” We thus applaud the prescient courage of our 

revolutionary parents. No other Washington County can claim number one. 

❖ 

The star-shaped bastions and walls of 

Fort Frederick were reconstructed 

during the Great Depression by a 

company of the Civilian Conservation 

Corps. The CCC also conducted 

archeology to determine the locations 

of the interior barracks. Most French 

and Indian War forts disappeared 

long ago because they were made of 

wood and earth. Maryland’s colonial 

leaders decided upon permanence, 

using local limestone to construct the 

imposing eighteen’ high walls, thus 

leaving us one of the oldest colonial 

forts in British America—turning a 

one-time protector into a profit-maker 

for today’s county’s tourism industry. 



We Make It… ✦ 9

❖ 

Above: George Washington portrayed 

as a reverse glass painting—original 

vernacular art by twentieth century 

Funkstown resident Ruth Beckley (of 

Ruth’s Antiques fame). The first 

known visit of Washington occurred at 

present-day Hancock when he was 

age fifteen and an apprentice 

surveyor. “[F]inding y. River not much 

abated we in y. Evening Swam our 

horses over and carried then to 

Charles Polks in Maryland for 

pasturage till y. next morning.” 

—Washington Journal, 

March 20, 1747. 



Below: Ruined walls of Fort Frederick 

greeted visitors in 1922 when the site 

was established as Maryland’s first 

state park. The state purchased the 

ruin and surrounding acreage from 

the descendants of Nathan Williams, 

an African-American freedmen and 

farmer who acquired the fort just 

prior to the Civil War. Williams 

incorporated the fort into his farm, 

tearing down one corner to build a 

stone barn and utilizing the fort’s 

walls as a “superlatively fenced-in 

barnyard.” Following the state’s 

acquisition, the Daughters of the 

American Revolution established a 

“Memorial Forest” around the fort— 

the first of its kind in America—with 

white pine trees planted in memory of 

patriots of Maryland. 



Washington was well known here prior to 

the War for Independence. In fact, he served as 

an officer for The Crown in our earlier war for 

“dependence” upon the Mother Country. Better 

known as the French and Indian War, 

Washington had attained hero status 23 

years prior to our county’s birth, trekking 

through 300 miles of wilderness to report 

on threatening French functionaries at Fort 

Duquesne (now Pittsburgh). When the British 

determined to stop the French incursion, 

Washington accompanied General Edward 

Braddock as his aide-de-camp. Young George 

escorted Braddock and his Redcoats across our 

narrow, muddy roads leading from Fox’s Gap at 

South Mountain to a river ford at the mouth of 

the Concocheague (nearly 30 years before the 

establishment of Williamsport). Braddock’s 

expedition eventually ended in dismal and 

deadly disaster in the mountains of western 

Pennsylvania, but Washington escaped and was 

promoted to commander of all Virginia militia. 

In this capacity, he began establishing forts 

along the western frontier, and Maryland soon 

joined this line of defense. 

Fort Frederick became our first protector. 

Fort Frederick also was our first public 

works project. Concerned that Braddock’s 

defeat “had much alarmed and thrown our 

distant inhabitants [that would be us] into 

great consternation,” Governor Horatio Sharpe 

convinced the Maryland assembly to 

appropriate 6,000 pounds to build a fort to 

provide “for the defense and security of the 

western frontier of this province.” Although the 

smallest colony threatened, we built perhaps 

the largest fort; designed it according to the 

latest in military engineering (ironically a 

French design); and christened the star-shaped 

stone-walled structure after the last Lord 

Baltimore. Two years after its commencement, 

the money was gone, the fort was unfinished, 

and a frustrated assembly cut off more funding. 

The mighty fort never was tested in war, but by 

today’s standards, we would judge it a success— 

as a deterrent. Two hundred and fifty years later, 

Annapolis still hasn’t forgotten the lesson of Fort 

Frederick, making it a habit to withhold funds 

from the state’s western frontier. 

After seven years of more fright than fight, 

the French finally abandoned their notion that 

we preferred Comment allez-vous? over “How ya 

doin?” The two empires ceased their tug-of-war 

in their Appalachian playground, and suddenly, 

the foreboding, forbidding mountains of the 

west became a magnet beckoning westward. 

Peace in our Great Valley, retired between the 

hills, attracted people to our valley. Soon it 

became a valley of great value. 

Real estate acquisition in our county started 

first with one owner—Lord Baltimore. Nearly 

one hundred years after Maryland’s 

establishment, Charles Calvert, the Fifth Lord 

Baltimore, commenced selling land in our 

county. Like our present-day vanity tags, names 

of the earliest land patents offered us insights 

into the original buyers. “Sweed’s Delight” 

referred, perhaps, to a buyer of Swedish descent 


OUR FIRST REAL ESTATE AD— 

GOOD LAND, GOOD PRICE, GOOD TERMS 

We, being desirous to increase the number of honest people within our province of Maryland 

and willing to give suitable encouragement to such to come and reside therein, do offer the 

following terms: 

1st. That any person having a family, who shall within three years come and actually settle 

with his or her family, on any of the back lands on the northern or western boundaries of our 

said province, not already taken up…where, we are informed, there are several large bodies of 

fertile lands, fit for tillage, which may be seen without any expense, two hundred acres of said 

lands, in fee simple, without paying any part of the forty shillings sterling, for every hundred 

acres, payable to us by the conditions of plantations, and without paying any quit rents in three 

years after the first settlement, and they paying for shillings sterling for every hundred acres to 

us, or our heirs, for every year after the expiration of the said three years. 

2nd. To allow to each single person, male or female, not above the age of thirty, and not 

under fifteen, one hundred acres of the said lands, upon the same terms as mentioned in the 

preceding article. 

3rd. That we will concur in any reasonable method that shall be proposed, for the ease of 

such new-comers, in the payment of their taxes for some years and we do assure all such that 

they shall be as well secured in their liberty and property, in Maryland, as any of his Majesty’s 

subjects in any part of the British plantations, in America, without exception. 

❖ 

Agriculture became the first industry 

in Washington County. Early 

European settlers brought their 

farming skills with them, growing 

and harvesting corn and wheat in the 

fertile Great Valley by the mid 1700s. 

Englishman Francis Baily, traveling 

through the county in 1796, exalted 

our workers as “an industrious race of 

men [he failed to include the women, 

so I will] and excellent farmers. 

Their exertions have made this 

Valley…assume the appearance of a 

highly cultivated country.” Two 

centuries later, agriculture continued 

its reign supreme, as demonstrated by 

these endless rows of stacked stalks 

near Boonsboro. 

PHOTOGRAPH AND QUOTATION COURTESY OF 

DOUG BAST, BOONSBOROUGH MUSEUM 

OF HISTORY. 

—Charles, Lord Baltimore, March 2, 1732 

We Make It… ✦ 11

❖ 

Above: This dam on the Antietam 

Creek, located near modern day 

Poffenberger Road, channeled 

waterpower to Claggett’s Mill, one of 

the largest flour-producing nineteenth 

century gristmills in the county. 

Several dozen dams built during the 

eighteenth and nineteenth centuries 

blocked the natural flow of the 

Antietam, creating reservoirs of 

hydraulic power that turned water 

wheels and turbines in flour mills, 

foundries, and factories. 



or a reminder of the Swedish countryside. “Dear 

Bargain” probably represented a good deal 

(or the owner’s spouse). “Long Meadows” likely 

described endless natural grasslands and 

wildflowers. “None Left” could mean no more 

land or no more money. “Jack’s Bottom”…I’ll 

permit you to conjure your own imagery. 

Re-read your deeds. Any property you own in 

Washington County will start with a land patent. 

The advertisement worked. The acreage 

was large enough to support self-sufficiency. 

The down payment was zero. The price was 

affordable. The terms were excellent—no 

payments required for the first three years, and 

Right: The Antietam Flour Mill at 

Funkstown typified one of several 

dozen grist mills adjacent to the 

county’s creeks that utilized water 

powered machinery to grind wheat 

into flour. Originally constructed in 

1859, this imposing brick mill was 

destroyed by fire seventy years later. 

Today, ironically, the Funkstown 

Volunteer Fire Company occupies 

the site. 




❖ 

Above: The Antietam Iron Works 

furnace. At its zenith, it employed 

over 200 white laborers, utilized the 

labor of 60 enslaved African- 

Americans, and amassed nearly 

17,000 acres as a “charcoal 

plantation.” The furnace produced 

40-60 tons of metal a week, with the 

nail factory churning out 400-500 

kegs of nails weekly. Do you own a 

late eighteenth-early nineteenth 

century house or barn in the 

southeastern county? If so, it likely is 

held together by nails from the 

Antietam Iron Works. 



Below: The Mt. Aetna Furnace 

operated during the American 

Revolution, producing cannon for 

George Washington’s Continental 

Army. This massive iron tube, 

weighing more than 1,100 pounds, 

was cast with a defect. Instead of 

smelting it again, it was dumped near 

the furnace site, where it remained 

buried until nearly two hundred 

years later. 




❖ 

Top: An elegant painted iron dial from 

the tall clock signed “John Reynolds, 

Hagerstown,” dating between 1797- 

1808. Four smaller dials show the 

hour, date, day of week, and month. 

Above the dials is a revolving graphic 

showing the phases of the moon—thus 

its description as an “astronomical 

clock.” Reynolds’ shop was located on 

the Square, and this advertisement in 

the Maryland Herald newspaper 

in 1806 reveals his dedication to 

customer service—“makes and 

repairs horizontal, repeating, and 

plain watches, and warrants them to 

perform with accuracy. Also clocks of 

every description, elegantly executed, 

with the best imported faces, and 

warranted for ten years.” Clock 

making was just one of the crafts 

that commenced the count’s service 

industry. Other specialty trades 

included gunsmiths, blacksmiths, 

leathersmiths, cobblers, hatters, 

tailors, tanners, and tobacconists. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF WASHINGTON 

COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

no interest charged. Even taxes were negotiable! 

Just as remarkable, in a gesture generations 

ahead of its time—an offer equal to both single 

men and single women. Lured by the land and 

Lord Baltimore’s generous deal, dozens of new 

settlers merrily migrated into Maryland. Most of 

them traveled from Pennsylvania, bumping 

along the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road until 

they came upon our Great Valley. We became a 

county of immigrants. 

“Conococheague” Creek was the location of 

the first white settlements made in our county.. 

Considering the Native Americans of the Great 

Valley never consented to nor received any 

payment for the lands they called home, it’s 

appropriate that our first European settlement 

acknowledged their previous presence. But that 

name! How do you say that name? Even worse, 

how do you spell it? As the county’s first 

historian discovered: “Every writer spelled it to 

suit his own views and whenever he had 

another occasion to write the word forgot how 

he had spelled it the last time.” 

In the week before Christmas, 1739, an 

ambitious immigrant of German descent 

acquired a 200-acre patent in the heart of the 

Great Valley that he titled “Hager’s Choice.” 

Jonathan Hager well represented the early white 

settlers of the county. Many were not of English 

descent, and many could not speak English. 

Most were recent immigrants from the 

principalities of Deutschland, arriving at the 

port of Philadelphia to escape church-inflicted 

Bottom: The earliest map showing 

present-day Washington County dates 

to 1794. Produced by Dennis Griffith 

as part of a larger map of Maryland, 

the color-shaded drawing illustrates 

primitive geography like streams and 

mountains and highlights man-made 

features such as roads, towns, and 

early water-powered gristmills (along 

the Antietam Creek, in particular). 

Can you locate Hagerstown and 

Boonsboro on the map? (Hint—they 

had different names then). 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF MARYLAND 

STATE ARCHIVES. 


eligious persecution. Others did speak English, 

but with an accent. Scot-Irish settlers also came 

to America in search of religious freedom, and 

these proud Presbyterians soon migrated into 

Maryland to take advantage of Lord Baltimore’s 

offer—land a plenty for the many. 

Indian corn, beaten in a mortar, and 

afterwards baked or boiled, forms a dish 

which is the principal subsistence of the 

indigent planter. …This, when properly 

prepared, is called homony, and when salt beef, 

pork, or bacon is added, no complaints are 

made respecting their fare. 

—William Eddes, Commissioner of the 

Lands Office at Annapolis, 1772. 

The French and Indian War scared settlers, 

stalled settlement, and scuttled Lord Baltimore’s 

population plan. Once it ended, however, 

fear faded, migration recommenced, farmers 

returned to their fields, and enterprising county 

citizens confidently began to plat their towns. 

Jonathan Hager, in a gesture of gentlemanly 

deportment, established Elizabeth Town as a 

testament to his wife. Joseph Chapline, the 

wealthiest and largest single landowner in the 

county (he amassed 19 land grants totaling 

13,400 acres), created Sharpsburg in honor 

of his friend and colonial governor Horatio 

Sharpe. Jacob Funck (original spelling) 

bestowed his religious conviction when he 

named his settlement “Jerusalem.” 

Each of the first three towns shared one 

common feature—proximity to the Antietam 

Creek. Waterpower was the greatest energy 

source of the eighteenth century. The gradual 

gravity drop of the Antietam, snaking its way 

from southern Pennsylvania to the Potomac, 

created a powerful flow of water. Entrepreneurs 

who acquired land along the Antietam, and who 

purchased water rights on the stream, became 

the first industrialists in the county. Those who 

harnessed the power of the Antietam Creek 

accounted for the first manufacturing in the 

county, and ultimately, the first exports—barrels 

of flour and stoves of iron. 

Waterpower, alone, was not the county’s only 

natural resource. Early explorers discovered gold! 

Well, not literally. These rocks were not gold 

dust, but reddish rust. For frontiersmen, the 

mineral they stumbled upon near Mt. Aetna at 

South Mountain could help keep them warm. 

The rusty rocks they encountered along the 

Potomac in “south county” could help them build 

homes. The veins they unearthed near Indian 

Springs equaled the equivalent of gold—iron ore. 

Iron manufacturing was a centuries old 

technology. Basically, it required four natural 

resources. Wood charred into charcoal to melt 

rock into iron. Limestone for furnace stacks and 

lime for the flux. Water to power bulging 

bellows at the blast furnace. And finally iron 

ore—the rarest of the resources and the most 

difficult to discover. When veins of ore were 

located in different sectors of the county, eureka! 

❖ 

The turnpike between Boonsboro and 

Sharpsburg depicted the deplorable 

condition of the county’s “main” roads, 

even after the Civil War. A mixture of 

gooey clay and scattered crushed 

limestone constituted the road 

surface—a quagmire if it rained or 

snowed. The level was not graded, 

and every bump would jolt your 

rump. Though the parallel fence rows 

denoted the right-of-way, weeds 

crowded the uneven shoulder, making 

the road barely wide enough to permit 

two wagons to pass. To add further 

insult, you paid tolls to the private 

turnpike company for the privilege to 

travel on this! Let this image cross 

your mind (rather than a four-letter 

word) the next time you pound a 

pothole. Today, the centerline of 

modern Maryland Route 34 tracks 

down the middle of the old wagon 

path. You will recognize the 

eighteenth-century Orndorff house 

still standing to the left, and the bank 

barn on the right yet remains. 

The modern highway bridge across 

the Antietam Creek—historically the 

three-arch stone span called the 

“Middle Bridge”—is just out of sight 

around the distant bend. 




❖ 

Clear Spring was conceived with the 

National Road. Farmer Martin Myers 

sensed a business opportunity as he 

watched the new byway bisect his 

land. He speculated that if he 

established a stage stop mid-way 

between Hagerstown and Hancock, it 

would suit the needs of thousands of 

expected travelers. Myers guessed 

right. Christening his new town after 

the nearby “clear spring,” Myers’s 

farm fields soon transformed into 

Cumberland Street and three blocks of 

bustle—seven hotels, six tailors, 

twenty-five shoemakers, and endless 

storekeepers. The National Road 

gifted Martin Myers and many other 

entrepreneurs with the truism of 

location, location, location. 



Iron industrialists soon followed. Just as the 

French and Indian War was ending, iron 

entrepreneurs created the first factory industry 

in Washington County. The first furnace, 

appropriately, was christened “Antietam” 

(although situated miles from the creek). 

Perched on the western slope of South 

Mountain, the area soon became known as “Mt. 

Aetna” in honor of the mountain of fire. Here 

Barnabus Hughes and sons melted iron ore into 

iron plates for one of the newest inventions— 

the stove. Further south at Frederick Forge 

VISION AND PATIENCE 

(later renamed the Antietam Iron Works, and 

truly located on the creek at its mouth with the 

Potomac), investors Chapline and Semple and 

Ross converted iron into nails at one of the 

largest nail factories on the continent. Further to 

the west, French Huguenot Lancelot Jacques 

partnered with eventual Maryland governor 

Thomas Johnson, obtaining a patent for 15,000 

acres, where he developed and operated the 

Green Spring Furnace. Iron became king. Iron 

became the parent of factory manufacturing in 

Washington County. 

Leaders of Washington County envisioned a road linking Hagerstown and Baltimore during 

George Washington’s second term as president. In an extraordinary gathering at the Court 

House, visionary residents fancied collaboration rather than competition among the counties, 

and they advocated for cooperation among citizens to advance the public interest over personal 

interest. They then petitioned the General Assembly: 

[We believe] such an establishment would produce advantages of the first magnitude in our 

Agricultural and Commercial pursuits, that by improving the opportunity and ability of the Counties 

in their intercourse with Baltimore, will enlarge the scale of Commerce in that growing City, and create 

powers in both which will be exercised to their mutual advantage; that it is conceived the 

establishment will be of general utility, and that it cannot injure the interest of a single individual, 

either in his property [or] privileges; that an institution which injures none but benefits all, not only 

deserves but demands the support of every citizen who wishes for the prosperity of this Country. 

Twenty-seven years would pass before this vision became a functional reality. Most of the 

original proponents had passed away, but through the patience and perseverance of the 

community, their dream continued forward. 


THE GLOBE TAVERN AND STAGE OFFICE 

The above establishment will be conducted by the subscriber, who has laid in a large assortment of 

The Choicest Liquors. His table will always be furnished with the best the markets can afford; his 

bedding, furniture, etc., will be of the first quality; and his house will be attended by the best of 

servants—In short, no pains will be spared to make the Globe Tavern as comfortable a stopping place 

as any other in the country, and on terms suited to the times. To Stage Passengers the subscriber would 

say, that every thing that he can do to make them comfortable will be done; a sober and attentive hand 

is engaged, whose duty it will be to attend the stage passengers, arranging the baggage, and to guard 

against exchanges and loss of baggage, which so frequently happen at stage offices when the different 

Stages meet. 

— Daniel Schnebly, March 12, 1825 

The Globe Tavern, the oldest inn in Hagerstown, was demolished before the Civil War to 

make way for Hagerstown’s first skyscraper—the Washington Hotel—a four-story building that 

included 46 chambers and “the finest hotel in the State outside of Baltimore.” The Washington 

Hotel burned about twenty-five years after the Civil War and was replaced by the Baldwin 

House, home today to the University of Maryland System in Hagerstown. 

These massive “iron plantations” in the 

northeast, southern, and western sections of 

the county dramatically altered the landscape. 

The hardwoods of South Mountain, Elk Ridge, 

Red Hill, and North Mountain—virgin forests 

of chestnuts and oaks that were hundreds of 

years old—collapsed to the axe. Hundreds of 

acres of trees were needed to produce enough 

charcoal to fuel the furnaces. Harvesting the 

hardwoods and charring the charcoal required 

hundreds of laborers, many of them building 

roads—up, down, and across the mountains— 

leading ultimately to the furnaces. Many of 

these roads became principal arteries through 

the wilderness, and are roads that we travel 

still today. The iron industry was the county’s 

first mass employer, first corporate capitalist, 

first large developer, and first mass exploiter 

of resources. 

Fifty years after Jonathan Hager had 

purchased his first tract, Washington County 

had changed dramatically. Where there had 

been no European culture, cultures now mixed 

and melded. Where there had been no notion 

of property, property lines now crisscrossed the 

land. Where there had been meadows of wild 

flowers, wheat and corn and rye and soy now 

filled the fields. Where the creeks had flowed 

❖ 

Bottom, left: The National Road 

brought a thriving stagecoach business 

to Clear Spring. During the highway’s 

apex two decades before the Civil 

War, as many as twenty-four 

stagecoaches stopped every day in 

Clear Spring. Companies like The 

People’s Line, The Good Intent Stage 

Company, The June Bug Line, and 

The Shake Gut Line delivered and 

retrieved dozens of passengers daily. 

Lewis Blair owned and operated the 

last local stage line from Clear Spring. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF CLEAR SPRING 

HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

Bottom, right: The National Road 

created jobs. In Clear Spring alone, 

where no town and no businesses 

existed prior to the road’s arrival, the 

National Road attracted four 

blacksmiths, three wheelwrights, three 

wagon makers, and three saddlers. 

The Charles B. McDonald Carriage 

and Blacksmith Shop, shown here in 

the early twentieth century and 

located at the western edge of Clear 

Spring, thrived on repairing vehicles 

and shoeing horses. 


HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 


❖ 

Above: Lewis Blair exemplified the 

flexibility and dexterity of a local 

businessman by adapting to new 

technology, trading his stage horses for 

the horsepower of his first motorized 

bus as early as 1910. His iconic road 

warrior “Miss Clear Spring” followed 

in the early 1920s. 


HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

Below: The year-round stone surface 

of the National Road differentiated it 

from the typical dirt roads of its time 

period. Known as “macadam,” the 

road plane (we call it pavement 

today) consisted of multiple layers of 

crushed stone, progressively 

diminishing in size from base (larger 

stone) to surface (stone dust). Here a 

c. 1900 road crew between Hancock 

and Clear Spring smashes and grinds 

local limestone—an ideal natural 

resource for “macadam” application. 



unimpeded, flow transformed into power with 

dams and millraces and waterwheels and 

spillways. Natural resources had converted into 

capital resources. Farmers coexisted with factory 

workers. Towns were named as the wilderness 

was tamed. In less than half a century, our 

county had become our community. 

Fifty years after Hager’s arrival, George 

Washington placed his hand on the Bible and 

affirmed his oath as the first President of the 

United States. We beamed with pride. Since we 

dared to name ourselves first for the Father of 

Our Country, we felt a patriotic bond to the 

new nation and its new leader. In esteem of 

Washington, we named our first newspaper the 

Washington Spy. With respect for Washington, 

we named Hagertown’s main street in his 

honor. Our admiration was so strong that we 

even offered to host the new capital 

“Washington” here, presenting Williamsport as 


the ideal location (with all due respect to 

wonderful Williamsport, thank goodness that 

didn’t succeed). 

In the year Washington became our 

president, Washington County changed— 

literally, we became smaller. When first carved 

out of Frederick County at the outset of the 

Revolution, our western boundary extended to 

the farthermost western edge of Maryland. In 

1789, the residents west of Sideling Hill Creek 

determined they wanted their own county and 

their own government, and Allegany County 

was born. The next year—the year of our first 

national census—almost 16,000 people resided 

inside our peculiar geographic triangle, 

including almost 2,000 enslaved persons. 

Nearly eighty more years would pass before the 

population would double. 

❖ 

Above: The National Road from 

Cumberland to Baltimore was a toll 

road. Users paid fees to utilize 

different sections of the road, and the 

tolls differed dependent upon the type 

of use. Turnpike companies, chartered 

by the state and inspired by 

opportunities for profit, were 

responsible for the collection of the 

fees and maintenance of the road. 

If companies ceased operations or 

declared bankruptcy, long-term 

maintenance of the road 

became problematic. 



Below: At the eastern end of the 

county, Boonsboro’s residents 

celebrated the arrival of the National 

Road by completing the first 

monument in honor of George 

Washington. Built in the shape of a 

jug, the stone memorial perched upon 

a boulder field atop South Mountain, 

greeted travelers or wished them 

farewell as they entered or left the 

county via the National Road. This 

depicts the Washington Monument as 

it appeared near the close of the 

nineteenth century. 




❖ 

Above: The Washington County Court 

House on West Washington Street 

announced the community’s pride to 

passerbys on the National Road. 

Opened in the spring of 1820, it was 

deemed “equal in elegance and taste 

to any in the country.” The design 

included a central hall for the 

courtroom, flanked on each side by a 

wing for the offices of the Clerk of 

Court and the Register of Wills. The 

county’s second courthouse replaced 

its first, located in the square, which 

was “in ruinous decay, too small, and 

public records not safe.” The second 

courthouse was destroyed by fire in 

1871. This original oil painting was 

by Civil War artist William Ireland 

during the first Federal occupation of 

Hagerstown in the early months of 

the war. 



Below: Boonsboro boomed during the 

apogee of the National Road, 

boasting, among many vibrant 

businesses, Bentzes’ Coffee Mill 

Factory (the county’s first Starbucks), 

which churned out 300 coffee mills 

each day in the heyday of the pike. 

Then “Boones Town” witnessed bust 

town, and its busy streets became lazy 

streets following the decline of the 

traditional thoroughfare. This view, 

taken during the early twentieth 

century, shows former inns lining the 

town square. The Commercial Hotel, 

recently restored by famed author 

Nora Roberts, is the only inn in 

town today. 


BOONSBORO MUSEUM OF HISTORY. 


❖ 

Left: The B&O Railroad’s early 

prosperity did nothing to prosper 

Washington County. Only three miles 

of the original B&O line touched the 

extreme southeastern tip of the county 

at Weverton (shown here). The 

railroad’s original design planned its 

route through the heart of the county, 

spanning the country from east to 

west. Because of the mountain 

obstacles, near Frederick the railroad 

turned abruptly south, intending to 

use the Potomac bank as its 

passageway. This alternative produced 

incessant right-of-way fights with the 

C&O Canal; thus the railroad 

temporarily severed its ties with 

Maryland, crossing the river into 

[West] Virginia. Ultimately, 

Washington County was the only 

Maryland county between 

Cumberland and Baltimore that did 

not benefit from the original 

B&O Railroad. 



There were so many [gunsmiths] in 

[Hagers]town that the trials of guns in their 

yards became a source of public danger, and 

an ordinance had to be passed to suppress it. 

—Thomas J. C. Williams, early county historian 

As the nineteenth century dawned, 

Washington County faced one serious hurdle to 

its future—transportation. 

Despite its wealth of resources, its industrious 

people, and its diversity of culture, the county 

Below: Weverton—Washington 

County’s eastern portal—viewed 

looking upstream (west) along the 

Potomac. This 1920s photograph 

illustrates the narrow passage 

between the river and the mountains 

that the C&O Canal (drained in this 

picture) and the B&O Railroad were 

forced to share. Following court 

battles by the canal designed to block 

the railroad’s progress, the B&O tired 

of judges and bridged the Potomac at 

Harpers Ferry, rapidly laying its rails 

to Cumberland through [West] 

Virginia. By the time the canal finally 

reached Cumberland, the B&O was 

tapping its toes at the Ohio River. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF C&O CANAL 

NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK. 


❖ 

The C&O Canal created 

new enterprises and new jobs. 

Williamsport, seen here at Cushwa 

Basin, grew into the county’s second 

largest town, and it became the third 

busiest port on the canal—behind 

only the terminals at Georgetown and 

Cumberland. A single canal boat 

could haul 120 tons (dwarfing the 

train tonnage on the early B&O 

Railroad cars), but its mule power 

averaged less than three miles per 

hour. The canal proved indispensable 

to the county’s agricultural industry, 

shipping exports to Georgetown at an 

unprecedented rate. In 1848 alone, 

canal boats carried flour (61,390 

barrels), wheat (3,158 bushels), corn 

(7,000 bushels), and whiskey (1,057 

barrels) 100 miles to port. Just as 

important, it imported coal—coal 

from the mountains of Western 

Maryland. The mass availability of 

coal as a new fuel transformed life 

throughout the county. Coal replaced 

charcoal at iron furnaces and forges. 

Coal substituted for wood for heating 

and cooking. Coal began to heat 

boilers and produce steam. Coal 

became the choice fuel for people of 

esteem. From Cushwa’s Basin, coal 

was shipped throughout the Great 

Valley and across state lines— 

marking Williamsport as the county’s 

first mass distribution center. The 

C&O Canal and coal transformed 

Williamsport into Maryland’s first 

interstate interior port. 



was isolated—at least from the major port cities 

of Baltimore, Alexandria, and Philadelphia. These 

were the cities of true commerce. These were the 

cities that generated wealth. These were the cities 

whose ports passed the exports. Our producers 

could thrive if their products could arrive. 

We lacked transportation infrastructure. Our 

roads were mud bogs. Our river—often rapids of 

rock. Our mountains—barriers to the rising sun. 

Our creeks—all went the wrong direction— 

north to south rather than east toward the ports. 

Our bridges—none did we have. We could 

produce, but we couldn’t move our produce. 

Our namesake Washington recognized this 

problem. Following his victory at Yorktown and 

his retirement to Mt. Vernon, the general became 

a president, not of his country, but of a company. 

Washington envisioned the Potowmack Canal 

Company as the solution to moving goods from 

the interior to the exterior. Through a system of 

skirting canals (to pass around rapids like at 

Harpers Ferry) and locks, Washington envisioned 

transforming the Potomac into a transportation 

corridor. This scheme helped Washington County 

export its goods, transforming Williamsport into 

the county’s first “port.” By the last decade of the 

eighteenth century, county producers were 

shipping hay, flour, whiskey, and pig iron down 

the Potomac, using the current to float to port in 

only three days. One boat, about 70’ long, with 

two people, could convey 160 barrels of flour. 

Compare that with one wagon, with six horses, 

transporting only 14 barrels—and taking twice 

the amount of time. 

Despite the success of the Potowmack Canal, it 

constituted a primitive remedy because it was 

based upon one principle—gravity. The water 

current carrying the goods went one way— 

downhill. Almost nothing came back the reverse 

direction because boatsmen had to pole upstream. 

This bothersome flaw was magnified by the failure 

to breach the stubborn Appalachians, thwarting 

Washington’s vision of connecting the 

Northwestern Territory (Ohio, not Oregon) with 

the Chesapeake. Finally, the Potowmack project 

maddened some people, especially powerful 

commercial interests in Baltimore. The 

Potowmack Canal enriched merchants and 

shippers in Georgetown and Alexandria, but the 

port of Baltimore gained nothing. In fact, 

Baltimore’s loss of substantial commerce created a 

competition that benefited Washington County. 

Baltimore wanted our products for Baltimore’s 

profitability. And Baltimore wanted something 

more—it had an exalted vision (then Baltimore 

contributed to Maryland rather than Maryland 

contributing to Baltimore)—it would become the 

port city for the great Ohio Valley. 

To make this happen, Baltimore needed a 

great road. Therein was the problem. Although 

by the second decade of the nineteenth century, 

many roads traversed Maryland, they 

functioned as a tangled web, most often as 

dysfunctional. For Baltimore to realize its daring 

dream, old roads needed improvement; separate 

roads demanded connection; new roads 

required construction; and the final single 

road—perhaps most important—must be 

dependable every day, every way, regardless of 

weather. Despite these challenges, Maryland 

banks—sensing cents, and with the State’s 

insistence (otherwise no charter renewal)— 

commenced investing in a series of roadway 

improvements, and the “Bank Road” became the 

umbilical cord between Baltimore and its 

western sisters. 

Fortunately for Washington County, 

geography placed us right in the heart of 

Baltimore’s grand scheme. The Ohio to 

Chesapeake compass pointed directly through 

us, earning us advantage from our peculiar 

position at the narrowest squeeze in the State of 

Maryland. As an unexpected bonus, the Federal 

government—for the first time in our nation’s 

30-year existence—decided to partner in a 

multi-state internal improvement (the states, 

of course, were squabbling over selfish interests, 

so the national government determined to 

declare a national interest). The US treasury 


❖ 

Above: The C&O Canal, seen here 

opposite Harpers Ferry in the late 

1870s, was the largest building project 

in Washington County before the Civil 

War. Excavation of more than 70 

miles of earth—60 feet wide in most 

places and at least six feet deep— 

involved hundreds of laborers (mostly 

Irish immigrants) using picks and 

shovels. Construction of 25 of the 

canal’s 74 lift locks required blasting 

tons of stone, using gunpowder 

(dynamite was 50 years from 

invention), and shaping and fitting 

thousands of rocks into locks. The 

erection of five of the canal’s 11 

aqueducts demanded engineering 

skills and the defiance of gravity 

through massive stone arches. Four of 

the canal’s seven dams blocked the 

Potomac’s normal flow, diverting 

water from the river to float the boats. 

The canal operated for 90 years in 

Washington County, falling victim 

finally to the flood of 1924. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF HARPERS FERRY 


provided the funding to build the road from 

Cumberland through western Pennsylvania 

and northwestern Virginia. Thus was born “The 

National Road”—the first public interstate 

highway in America. It revolutionized travel. 

The National Road, completed by the mid- 

1820s and stretching 268 miles from Baltimore 

to Wheeling, revolutionized travel. A freight 

wagon carrying 24 barrels of flour could now 

make the trip to Baltimore and back in seven 

days (remember that the next time your roundtrip 

commute takes seven hours). It also 

brought great fortune to Washington County. 

Hotels sprang up in Hancock. Business boomed 

in Boonsboro. Fancy inns flourished in 

Funkstown. Hagerstown hummed with stages 

and freight wagons and liveries and herds, and 

its population expanded by twenty percent. The 

Rising Sun Tavern became the teamsters’ resort 

Below: The Round Top Cement Mill, 

located near Hancock, demonstrated 

the economic power of the C&O 

Canal. Quarries, kilns, mills, 

warehouses, wharves, and stores were 

thriving by the time the canal had 

reached Hancock in 1842. The natural 

rock cement discovered at Round Top 

had hydraulic characteristics, making 

it ideal for the canal’s construction and 

maintenance. At its apex, the mill 

produced up to 300 barrels a day of 

natural cement, shipped conveniently 

up and down the Potomac Valley via 

the canal. Some of the 50-100 

employees tended the limestone kilns 

(sheltered behind the wooden structure 

at the upper right) where 1800-degree 

fire burned limestone into quicklime. 

The mill burned three times, and the 

company officially closed in the first 

decade of the twentieth century. 




(where most probably had a headache with 

the rising sun). The Columbian Inn greeted 

guests near the Court House. The Swan Tavern 

brought visitors to North Potomac Street. 

The Union Inn graced the southwest corner of 

the Square. And the Globe Tavern on West 

Washington Street became Hagerstown’s place to 

host the rich and famous, like politician Henry 

Clay and folk hero Davey Crockett. Names of 

note who stayed in town while traveling the 

National Road included Presidents Andrew 

Jackson, James K. Polk, Zachary Taylor and 

William Henry Harrison. When “Tippacanoe” 

Harrison arrived en route to his presidential 

inauguration, Hagerstown residents greeted him 

with a 112-pound cake (no typo, 112 pounds!) 

“surmounted by a pyramid two and a half feet in 

height…iced…[and] inscribed with appropriate 

mottoes and decorated with flowers.” 

We might divide into the First, Second, and the 

Third Estate, the different classes doing regular 

business on the National Road. To the last would 

belong the drovers, and all those taking herds of 

cattle, sheep, and hogs for long distances over it. 

Of the Second, would be the wagoners, whose 

freighters carried the trade of the country East and 

West. The First would be easily represented by the 

stage drivers, carrying the mails for the 

government, and the traveling public. 

—Helen Ashe Hayes 

The National Road was the first completed 

infrastructure project connecting the Ohio 

Valley with the East Coast. It was not the last. 

Concurrent with the construction of the 

National Road, New York State was building 

the Erie Canal, hoping to draw commerce 

through the Great Lakes and the Hudson River 

Valley to New York City. Pennsylvania eyed a 

transportation network leading from Pittsburgh 

to Philadelphia. Concerned by this competition, 

entrepreneurs in Maryland chartered the 

Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Company to replace 

the antiquated and deficient Potowmack Canal. 

About the same time, high-risk investors in 

Baltimore embraced the newest transportation 

fad—the railroad—betting that travel by rail— 

never attempted before in America—was the 

future. Their dice became gold nuggets. 

When the B&O Railroad reached Cumberland 

in 1842, freight time to Baltimore was two 

days. The same journey via the National 

Road required two weeks. Revolution by rail 

had arrived. 

Unfortunately for Washington County, 

business on the National Road dropped 

dramatically due to the B&O Railroad’s faster 

timetables and cheaper rates. When the railroad 

reached Wheeling and the Ohio River in 1853, 

it spelled the death knell of the National Road. 

The county’s economic road rage became 

economic road kill as freight and passengers 

❖ 

Williamsport flourished from the 

commerce generated by the C&O 

Canal, growing into the county’s 

second largest town. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF JOHN FRYE 

POSTCARD COLLECTION. 


from the west went elsewhere. Even though the 

new and handsome C&O Canal boosted 

commerce along the Potomac—helping 

Hancock and Williamsport thrive—sister towns 

like Clear Spring, Funkstown, Boonsboro—and 

even Hagerstown (where the population 

declined ten percent)—all dependent upon the 

National Road, began a study decline. 

As Washington County approached its 

eightieth birthday, its people experienced the 

conveniences of modern living. The telegraph 

opened the county to the miracle of 

instantaneous communication, with the first 

Western Union telegram arriving in Hagerstown 

in 1854. Night turned to light that same year, as 

the novelty of gas lighting first appeared, with 

the gas manufactured locally from rosin oil. 

The gas resulted in a gaseous argument in 

Hagerstown over street lighting. “Absolute 

darkness brooded over the town” claimed one 

observer; but when an election was held in 1858 

to determine if streetlights should be installed, 

the “yeas” won, but barely (236 for, 212 

against). The oldest continuous business in the 

❖ 

Above: The College of Saint James 

opened as an all-boys private 

boarding school twenty years before 

the Civil War as the diocesan school 

of the Episcopal Church in Maryland. 

The college prospered until the Civil 

War nearly destroyed it, especially 

when the Union army occupied the 

buildings and grounds during the 

pursuit of the Confederates following 

Gettysburg. The first free schools were 

established in the county in 1847. By 

the time the Civil War erupted, 123 

public schools (and you thought our 

school board was out of control!) had 

blossomed across the county. 



Left: This imposing structure was a 

school for women called the Lutheran 

Female Seminary, completed in the 

decade before the Civil War. The 

school changed its name to Kee-Mar 

College during the last quarter of the 

nineteenth century. At the beginning 

of the 1900s, the school became the 

second Washington County Hospital. 

The hospital expanded, but remained 

at this location for more than 

100 years. 




❖ 

Backyards of Boonsboro, looking east 

toward South Mountain. These people 

of peace and prosperity never 

predicted that their homes, their 

churches, their inns, and their yards 

soon would become wartime 

hideaways, hospitals and graveyards. 



county was J. Gruber’s Hagers-Town and Country 

Almanack, which had published its first edition 

while George Washington was president. 

Speaking of Washington, country residents 

established an artistic way to remember their 

founding father: “For many years there was a 

fashion of whiskey bottles, blown into a likeness 

of Washington, and nearly every man in this 

county had his ‘George Washington.’ “ 

At the half-century mark in the 1800s, the 

population topped 30,000 inhabitants—more 

than double the number in the first census. But 

not all the people were defined as “people.” 

Maryland was a slave state; and in the year 

Lincoln ran for president, 1,435 enslaved 

humans were legal property in Washington 

County. That was half the number in 1820 when 

the slave population reached its zenith (one 

person out of every eight in the county was a 

slave). Washington County had become a 

magnet for conductors of the Underground 

Railroad—not as a place for hiding refugees, but 

a place for passing them through. As the 

narrowest point in Maryland, only a few miles 

separated slave soil from free soil; and the 

Mason-Dixon Line beacon cast its light brightly 

over Washington County. The flow to freedom, 

conversely, attracted out-of-town business 

interests—the slave catchers—who could snare 

a hefty profit if they could snatch a runaway 

slave. Dark nights in Washington County 

produced race and chase dramas that history 

never recorded. Then came the largest drama 

of all—John Brown. 


CHAPTER III 

WE BREAK IT… 

John Brown entered Hagerstown as a wanted man. Charged as a criminal for his freedom-fighting 

activities in “Bleeding Kansas” before the Civil War, Brown and two sons arrived at the Washington 

Hotel on June 30, 1859, and promptly signed in under the alias “I. Smith and sons.” Days later, they 

were in the Harpers Ferry area, scouting for a headquarters for their new mission—to launch war 

against slavery in the South. He discovered an isolated cabin and farm under the shadow of the Elk 

Ridge about five miles north of the Ferry, which he leased for one year. But Brown’s anti-slavery slate 

did not intend to wait. By fall, he had transported rifles and pistols and powder and pikes from 

Chambersburg through Washington County to his hideaway—and no one knew. He gathered his 

warriors—21 young men who walked our roads—and no one knew. He planned his attack upon 

the Harpers Ferry arsenal—warehouse to 100,000 rifles and muskets—and no one knew. Slavery’s 

greatest enemy lived in our midst—and no one knew. 

❖ 

The Kennedy Farm, near modern-day 

Dargan, served as John Brown’s 

headquarters prior to his attack upon 

the Harpers Ferry armory and 

arsenal. This illustration depicts the 

cabin following its expansion after the 

Civil War. To disguise his appearance 

while here, Brown had shaved his 

Moses-like beard, and all of his 

local acquaintances knew him as 

Isaac Smith. 



We Break It… ✦ 27

❖ 

Left: This massive cannon monument 

greeted passengers arriving at the 

Sharpsburg train station in the late 

nineteenth century. No cannon of this 

size participated in the Battle of 

Antietam, but their belligerent bulk 

symbolized the deadly force that 

resulted in America’s bloodiest single 

day. The monument was the first seen 

by many Civil War veterans (arriving 

via the Norfolk & Western Railroad 

that did not exist during the war), 

who were returning to Antietam 

for the dedication of their 

own memorials. 



Right: An infantry company of 

Pennsylvania volunteers stands in 

ranks in front of its temporary 

bivouac at the Junior Fire Company 

Hall on North Potomac Street during 

the first Civil War military occupation 

of Hagerstown in the summer of 

1861. William Ireland, an artist 

accompanying the Quaker State boys, 

painted this image with attention to 

detail, including a hand-operated fire 

pumper just inside the station. 


BOONSBORO MUSEUM OF HISTORY. 

“Men, get on your arms!” ordered the 

confident captain on a dreary, rainy Sunday 

evening on October 16, 1859. “We shall 

proceed to the Ferry.” With those eleven words, 

John Brown launched irreversible civil war. 

Brown failed…at least at Harpers Ferry. 

Surrounded by local militia and captured by 

United States Marines, Brown’s venture ended 

less than 40 hours after he departed his south 

county hideaway. What they soon discovered 

at the abandoned Kennedy Farm terrified 

the country. Boxes of rifles. Crates of pike-like 

spears. Barrels of gunpowder. Letters of 

incriminating correspondence with Northern 

conspirators. Brown’s constitution, establishing 

a new nation free from slavery. How did we 

miss this? How did he do this? How did he fool 

us? A revolutionary—right here—who hurled 

our nation into hysteria—and no one knew. 

I, John Brown, am now quite certain, that the 

crimes of this guilty land, will never be purged 

away, but with blood. 

No one knew the consequences either. No 

one could predict the outcome. Except John 

Brown. He envisioned the battalions and battles. 

He prophesized the disunion of the union. He 

expected the United States to decay into the 

TERROR IN THE COUNTY 

About 9:00 this evening (Oct. 19), I received a report from Mr. Moore, from Pleasant Valley, Maryland, that a body of men had, about 

sunset, descended from the mountains, attacked the house of Mr. G[arrett], and from the cries of murder and the screams of the women 

and children, he believed the residents of the valley were being massacred. The alarm and excitement in the village of Harpers Ferry was 

increased by the arrival of families from Sandy Hook, fleeing for safety. The report was so improbable that I could give no credence to it, 

yet I thought it possible that some atrocity might have been committed, and I started with 25 marines, under Lt. Green, accompanied by 

Lt. [JEB Stuart], for the scene of the alleged outrage, about 4 ½ miles distant. I was happy to find it a false alarm. The inhabitants of Pleasant 

Valley were quiet and unharmed, and Mr. G[arrett] and his family safe and asleep. 

— Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee, US Army 

The threat of slave insurrection terrified the South. John Brown’s plan depended upon a slave uprising. Following Brown’s 

failure at Harpers Ferry, rumors rampaged, especially in the counties surrounding Brown’s initial target. Terrorized citizens like 

those in southern Washington County—closest to the affair—called upon the army officer in charge at the Ferry, Robert E. Lee, 

to save and protect them. County residents remained frightened for weeks following Brown’s attack. 


ombardment of Fort Sumter. Within days raged 

riotous bloodshed in Baltimore. And soon came 

the armies. Thousands of men wearing United 

States blue. Dozens of regiments wearing 

Confederate States gray. Washington County 

residents were stressed—fractured—broken— 

on what to say and which side to weigh. 

It was literally a fratricidal strife and a 

fratricidal strife is always the most embittered. 

—Thomas J. C. Williams 

Four years of the Civil War converted 

Washington County from farm grounds to 

battlegrounds. The war changed fence rows 

to death rows. The red of the clay soil mixed 

with the blood of each battle’s toil. Barns became 

barracks. Homes became headquarters. Churches 

became hospitals. Gardens became graveyards. 

Whereas Washington County’s position in the 

heart of the Great Valley boosted its settlement and 

its economic development, the advantage of 

geography turned to disadvantage during the war 

years of 1861-1865. Washington County was that 

tiny sliver that separated the United States from 

the Confederate States. The Potomac River became 

an international boundary between two countries 

at war. Our county became an avenue of invasion 

for nations North and South. Back and forth across 

our borders marched men and mules and martial 

materials. It started early. Within the first ninety 

days of conflict, Hagerstown became a launch pad 

❖ 

Left: Antietam Battlefield Relic Post. 

Hundreds of Civil War artifacts—all 

picked up from the grounds of the 

Antietam Battlefield within twenty 

years after the battle—demonstrated, 

in visual miniature, the ferocity of the 

fighting. It also represented the trash 

of war that wrecked, for years, the 

farm fields of the Dunkers. This relic 

post belonged to Sgt. Samuel Wright, 

a Medal of Honor recipient who 

fought at Bloody Lane. 



Below: Dunkers, better known today 

as members of the Church of the 

Brethren, conduct a memorial service 

within the foundation of the original 

Dunker Church on the Antietam 

Battlefield. Although damaged during 

the battle, the wartime church was 

repaired, but then destroyed during a 

severe windstorm about sixty years 

after the Civil War. The Washington 

County Historical Society acquired the 

historic site eleven years before the 

battle’s centennial. The National Park 

Service completed a replica church in 

time for the 1962 commemoration. 



“divided states.” John Brown’s soul became 

slavery’s last solstice. 

Brown’s soul also savaged Washington County 

during the resulting civil war. Brown unleashed 

a series of events that catapulted the country into 

collapse. First came Lincoln’s election. Then 

followed the South’s secession. Next brought the 


NEIGHBORS, NOT 

NOOSES 

Following the abandonment of Washington County by the Confederate army during the retreat from Gettysburg in mid-July, 

1863, the ministers of Hagerstown feared retribution against Southern sympathizers who had done nothing to protect Unionists 

against Rebel depredations. Urging peace and moderation, the Hagerstown ministers printed and posted this plea on walls 

throughout the town. 

The undersigned having always avowed themselves as hearty and thorough Unionists; as men who from duty to their country and to 

themselves, could allow no mistake on this point among their fellow citizens. As such they desire now, earnestly and respectfully to appeal 

to those with whom they may have any influence. The appeal is made to the hearts and consciences of Christian men in this community, 

who are thoroughly loyal to the United States…obey the law, rise superior to the passions of the hour, be kind and forbearing to those who 

differ from you, even to those who may have wronged you and your country.…[N]o unauthorized acts of violence nor any angry threats 

can be either right, wise, or loyal. The charity which religion enjoins, the cause of the Union is strong enough to afford. As the teachers 

among you of religion, as loyal fellow citizens, we humbly, earnestly adjure you, obey the laws and maintain the charity which others seem 

to you to reverence too little. 

John B. Kerfoot, Rector, College St. James 

Henry Edwards, Rector, St. John’s Parish 

J. Evans, Pastor of the Lutheran Church J. H. Wagner, Pastor of the 1st German Reformed Church 

W. C. Stitt, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church George Seibert, Pastor of 2nd German Reformed Church 

H. B. Winton, Pastor of the United Brethren Church George W. Heyde, Pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church 


for invasion into Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley 

(no West Virginia existed yet). And it just didn’t 

stop. Both sides coveted Williamsport as a river 

crossing. Both sides fortified Maryland Heights 

overlooking Harpers Ferry. Both sides clogged our 

roads. Both sides trampled our crops. Both sides 

burned our fences. Both sides stole our horses. 

Both sides butchered our beef. Both sides ruined 

our orchards. Both sides—fighting for their 

countries—nearly killed our county. 

Collision—the dreaded collision of two 

armies in our county—produced the really bad 

days. South Mountain started it. Three road 

gaps changed into three battle gaps. Antietam 

quickly followed—forevermore a stream of 

blood instead of just a stream. During the 

Gettysburg Campaign, the combatants spent 

more days fighting in Washington County than 

at Gettysburg. A clash at Smithsburg stopped a 

pursuit; a bash at Boonsboro protected a retreat; 

a fight at Funkstown punished the pursuer; 

street fighting for days sprayed bullets through 

Hagerstown; and Williamsport was transformed 

into a fortified position. 

The ugly face of war turned faces ugly in 

Washington County. Neighbors who argued 

over cause blamed neighbors for causing their 

barn fires. Parents of sons who went opposite 

ways ended their friendships and parted their 

ways. Fathers and brothers who shared similar 

eyes divorced their relations—seeing not eye to 

eye. We even began to murder our own citizens. 

DeWitt Clinton Rentch—twenty-four year old 

son of Andrew Rentch (who lived near Mt. 

Moriah Church in the Tilghmanton district and 

was the wealthiest farmer of the county)— 

became the first casualty of the sectional strife— 

stoned and shot and killed in Williamsport after 

expressing his support for the South. A band 

of Union fanatics invaded the office of 

the Hagerstown Mail newspaper, hurling the 

printing press and type out into the Square after 

the mayor refused the publisher protection. 

What had become of our sanity? How did we 

devolve from prosperity and affluence to an 

unruly mob of lunatic truants? 

The Civil War brought economic hardship to 

county businesses and residents. Inflation raised 

prices dramatically. Gold and silver became 

scarce. Banks stopped lending and borrowers 

ceased paying. “The banks would part with no 

specie which once got into their vaults, and all 

that the people had went into old stockings.” 

Commodity values for a bushel of wheat and a 

barrel of flour tumbled, particularly harming the 

two biggest county industries—agriculture and 

gristmills. The federal government levied taxes to 

pay for the war, ranging from $10 for professional 

men up to $100 for banks and wholesale dealers 

(the average wage of a worker in 1860 was $1 per 

day). The C&O Canal—the county’s most vital 

economic link—became its most vulnerable. 

Confederates operating along the war-time 

border worked deliberately to destroy dams, 

topple locks, break aqueducts, collapse culverts, 

breach the berm, seize cargo, and burn boats. 

Fortunately, the workmanship of the original 

canal engineers and builders frustrated 

Confederate efforts to inflict permanent damage; 

but keeping water in the grand ditch throughout 

four years of war became a serious challenge. 

After four years of uncertainty and 1,400 

days of incivility, the Civil War mercifully ended. 

Washington County needed healing and its people 

wanted healers, not haters. The North won. The 

Union had been preserved. The United States 

once again was united. Slavery was abolished, 

just as old John Brown had admonished. Tens 

of thousands of strangers—soldiers wearing 

uniforms of North and South—had marched here, 

encamped here, fought here, and died here. 

Thousands remained…as remains…buried here, 

many in unknown graves with unknown names, 

always to be alone, never to be home again. 

For those who called this home—together— 

we had to rebuild our home. 

❖ 

Opposite: Dedication of “Old Simon” 

at the Antietam National Cemetery, 

eighteen years after the battle. Before 

arriving at his permanent home, the 

“Private Soldier” appeared on exhibit 

at the Philadelphia Centennial 

exposition in 1876. His 250-ton 

granite frame, composed of 27 pieces, 

was shipped to near Shepherdstown 

via the C&O Canal, then pulled to 

Sharpsburg over a series of wooden 

rollers. The moniker “Old Simon” 

personalized the “Private Soldier,” 

along with this engraving—“Not for 

themselves, but for their country.” 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF ANTIETAM 

NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD, NATIONAL 

PARK SERVICE. 

Below; The War Correspondents 

Memorial under construction in 1896 

at the Crampton’s Gap Battlefield on 

South Mountain. George Alfred 

Townsend, a reporter for a New York 

newspaper during the Civil War and 

an acclaimed novelist afterward, 

acquired the summit of the battlefield 

and turned it into his personal estate. 

As veterans were erecting monuments 

elsewhere, Townsend believed the 

correspondents and writers and 

photographers who covered the war 

deserved a memorial as well. 




❖ 

A passenger train stops at Trego 

Station on the “Valley Branch” of the 

B&O Railroad in the early twentieth 

century. The 24-mile rail line trekked 

northward through Pleasant Valley 

into Keedysville, then further north 

past Roxbury and Claggett’s Mill into 

Hagerstown. The new line brought the 

transportation revolution to a large 

and fertile section of the county, 

spurring the development of hamlets 

like Gapland, Trego, Mt. Briar, and 

Eakle’s Mill, and converting 

Keedysville into a south county trade 

center. The line operated for nearly 

110 years before the railroad 

depression of the 1970s strangled 

its life. 



CHAPTER IV 

WE MEND IT… 

The war recovery plan for Washington County began with a railroad. 

County leaders had smarted ever since the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad had skipped past Hagerstown. 

More than thirty years had passed since the B&O first arrived at Harpers Ferry; but three decades later, 

Hagerstown still had no direct railroad link with Baltimore. The National Road still existed, but three 

days of travel one way, utilizing horse power rather than steam power, was not acceptable or agreeable 

in the post-war period. Even more, the B&O had established itself as one of the top railroads in the 

country—even heroic for its unwillingness to succumb to Confederate efforts to destroy it during the 

trying war years. We wanted association with the best. We needed to reach Baltimore—fast and faster. 

Hagerstown, actually, already had rail service to Baltimore. The first locomotive of the Franklin 

(Pennsylvania) Railroad chugged into Hagerstown twenty years before the Civil War, connecting us 

to Chambersburg. When this operation failed, the Cumberland Valley Railroad eventually succeeded 

it, coupling us ultimately—through the matrix of the Pennsylvania railroad system—to Philadelphia, 

and thence to Baltimore. So what was our problem? We had a railroad, and a good one—so good, in 

fact, that it transported for county farmers 828,000 bushels of wheat and 40,000 barrels of flour 

during the winter of 1861-1862 while Confederates were trying to blow up the C&O Canal. Despite 

the Cumberland Valley’s success during wartime distress, we grumbled about the Quaker State 

round-a-bout route north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Instead of 170 miles, we demanded 80 miles via 

the straight-line approach that the B&O originally intended. 


❖ 

Left: The passenger depot at the 

northern terminus of the B&O 

Railroad Valley Branch in 

Hagerstown, located at the junction of 

Summit and Antietam Streets. The 

stone facade of the Antietam Fire 

Station, shown at left, dates to 1895. 

The Hagerstown Herald-Mail 

newspaper company occupies the 

site today. 



The reason the B&O had scrapped its initial 

route was the mountains. The Civil War changed 

people, politics, and policies, but it did not 

move South Mountain. Displaying pragmatism 

over dogmatism, the County fathers (sorry, no 

mothers in politics then; mothers couldn’t vote 

for another fifty plus years) struck a compromise 

deal with the B&O—lay a line west of South 

Mountain—and build a spur connecting 

Hagerstown with the main line of the B&O at 

Weverton. Five months after the Civil War ended, 

the county commissioners and B&O executives 

inked the deal. Finally in 1867, the dream came 

true and the steam line was extended—you could 

travel by rail from Hagerstown to Baltimore and 

never leave Maryland. 

Below: Weverton Station at the 

southern terminus of the B&O Valley 

Branch line. This handsome 

architectural gem highlighted the 

importance of passenger service on 

the B&O Railroad, in the days when 

trains were the interstate byways. 

The station no longer stands. 



We Mend It…✦ 33

❖ 

Above: This 1877 atlas map of the 

Cavetown election district proudly 

displays the line of the Western 

Maryland Railroad passing through 

Smithsburg and its environs. The 

northeastern portion of the county 

was the only section that did not 

benefit from the presence of a railroad 

until the arrival of the 

Western Maryland. 



Below: Western Maryland coal train 

loading at the Cushwa warehouse at 

Williamsport. The juncture of the 

Western Maryland with the C&O 

Canal benefited canal boat operators 

too. The railroad permitted operators 

to avoid the additional 100-mile 

journey to Georgetown, which could 

take up to three days. Instead, they 

could utilize the savings in time and 

return upstream to Cumberland to 

pick up another load of coal. 



We remained unsatisfied. Despite the 

attraction of the B&O to Hagerstown, we eyed 

another railroad target—the Western Maryland 

Railroad. The Western Maryland had earned its 

own laurels during the Civil War. Its most 

western points in Carroll County (at Union 

Bridge and at Westminster) had served as the 

principal Union bases of supply during the 

Gettysburg Campaign. Upon the Western 

Maryland, President Lincoln made his way, in 

part, toward Gettysburg to deliver his famous 

address. Once the war ended, Western 

Maryland executives reinvigorated their vision 

to become the B&O’s competitor. They 

envisioned laying rails across northern 

Maryland, crossing South Mountain near the 

Mason-Dixon Line (Blue Ridge Summit today), 

then tracking into Hagerstown. Even more, 

the Western Maryland particularly prized 

Williamsport. If it could reach Williamsport, it 

too, like the B&O, could become a carrier of 

coal, transferring the black nuggets from C&O 


I ’ VE BEEN WORKING ON THE RAILROAD 

This series of never-before published photographs shows construction phases of the Cumberland Extension of the Western 

Maryland Railroad. Taken in the vicinity of Licking Creek in the western part of the county, the chronology documents the railroad’s 

progress. Construction of the Cumberland Extension commenced in 1903. The line opened to Cumberland three years later. 

❖ 

Clockwise, starting from the top left: 

The survey crew identifies the route. 



Mule skinners mark the path of the 

new railroad. 



The ties that bind. Note the unfinished 

logs in the foreground used as 

transitory ties and the “wavy” 

temporary rails. 



Laying the rails. A large work crew 

choreographs precise placement of 

each rail. 



Steam shovel? Saw mill? Both? Upon 

first inspection, this photograph 

appears to show a bucket excavator 

powered by steam. The boiler is 

located to the far right, and the 

gargantuan machine displays all the 

mechanics of a modern backhoe. 

Upon closer examination, however, no 

displaced earth is apparent. Instead, 

huge, half-cut logs appear in the 

foreground, and in the background 

(left) are rail cars carrying finished 

ties. Regardless of its purpose, this 

contraption demonstrates the 

equipment required for the 

construction of a modern railroad at 

the turn of the twentieth century. 



We Mend It…✦ 35

❖ 

Boyd’s Business Directory for 

Maryland listed businesses and 

occupations for the state’s largest 

cities. This single page, one of seven 

for Hagerstown, offers a glimpse into 

the many and diverse professions and 

trades centered on the Square or on 

nearby streets. How many different 

professions do you count? So many 

services were so close, you could plan 

a day of activities with a walk around 

the block. Perhaps after your 

appointment with J. E. Swallow, 

dentist, you could arrange to see 

Matilda Taylor for a human hair 

decoration, followed by a sitting for 

E. M. Recher, photographer. 




❖ 

Top: Hoffman’s men’s and women’s 

clothing store reflected changes in 

Hagerstown’s business district as the 

town developed beyond its antebellum 

appearance. Large store fronts 

replaced the smaller six-over-six 

window design, as advances in 

technology permitted production of 

large plate glass. Electric lights 

suspended at the dual entrances 

invited customers into interior display 

rooms flooded with artificial 

incandescence. Electricity became 

widespread in Hagerstown in the 

1890s. If you look closely, you can 

spot another recent improvement— 

brick pavers lining the street, 

embellished by cut-stone curbing. 



Bottom: Look at all these choices! The 

confluence of railroads at the Hub 

City brought Washington County 

residents all the conveniences of 

modern living. Here is featured the 

interior of Heimel’s china store on 

South Potomac Street. Note the paper 

parasols, for added atmosphere, 

suspended from the ceiling. Can you 

find the rudimentary electric wiring 

along the ceiling and the hanging 

light bulbs used to illuminate 

display areas? 



VOICE 

WIRE 

Thirty years after the first wire messages arrived in Hagerstown via the telegram, the first live voice transmitted over the wires. 

Telephone service commenced in the Hub City in 1883 when lines connected us to Frederick. The next year we could call 

Baltimore and conduct instantaneous business transactions. The communications revolution had joined the transportation 

revolution. J. H. Beachley was the first subscriber, and Miss Maggie McCarty was the first operator. Twenty years later, the number 

of subscribers to the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company (located on West Antietam Street), had grown so large that 

its phone book instructed users to follow these directions: “Since no operator can correctly memorize the 1500 numbers 

contained in this directory, it is necessary, in order to secure quick service, that you call by number, not by name.” By 1907, 

Williamsport, Clear Spring, Hancock, Keedysville, and Smithsburg all had separate sections in the phone directory. 

We Mend It…✦ 37

❖ 

Above: Structures like this one, 

featuring nineteenth century store 

windows and modest interior family 

spaces, often were replaced as the 

railroads’ arrival spurred rapid 

economic expansion that modernized 

Hagerstown’s core. The Hub City 

became the second largest city in 

Maryland—second only behind 

Baltimore, which had benefited for 

decades as an export-import partner 

with Hagerstown. 



Below: Even the taverns spruced up to 

accommodate a more cosmopolitan 

customer. Heimel’s Tavern on South 

Potomac Street is open for business, 

featuring the latest in electric lighting 

fashion, along with an electricpowered 

fan for the comfort of 

customers. The only vestiges 

remaining from a cruder era are the 

antiquated gas pipes formerly used for 

illumination (attached to ceiling) and 

the ubiquitous spittoons. 




Canal barges into Western Maryland hoppers. 

This prospect excited Baltimore—it would 

bring more coal to its port, at the expense 

of Georgetown. 

Enamored by the potential of the Western 

Maryland Railroad, the Washington County 

commissioners became investors. First they 

subscribed for $150,000 of stock in the 

company (remember the average laborer 

earned $1 per day) and issued bonds to 

pay for it. Then, in order to ensure the 

railroad’s completion to Williamsport, 

the commissioners backed an additional 

$150,000 in bonds. This joint publicprivate 

venture worked well for the 

private investors. Washington County 

taxpayers, however, never received a 

dollar in dividends, and the company 

defaulted upon its payments for 

the endorsed bonds. This deal, over 

time, became consternation central 

for the county commissioners. Nearly 

twenty years passed before the 

county negotiated its way out of this 

disagreeable obligation, causing “a 

considerable reduction in the tax rate 

from that time on.” 

No one was thinking of an investment 

disaster when the first locomotive of the 

Western Maryland Railroad steamed into 

Hagerstown in 1872. “It was hailed with 

delight by the people of Washington 

County and its first result was to add 

about 5 cents per bushel to wheat in the 

❖ 

Above:The first Washington County 

Hospital. As Hagerstown’s population 

expanded, spurred by factory 

manufacturing and the railroads, 

industrial accidents became frequent, 

necessitating the need for a 

centralized care facility. The first 

hospital was located in the newly 

developed north end of Hagerstown. 



Below: The beautifully designed Hotel 

Colonial on South Potomac Street 

dominated the streetscape near the 

Square and epitomized and confirmed 

Hagerstown’s new status as a 

destination for railroad travelers. 

Other downtown hotels developed to 

cater to the rail passenger included 

the Hamilton Hotel—“superior to 

almost any other in the State outside 

of Baltimore”—across from the Court 

House and the Dagmar Hotel on 

Antietam Street, opposite the northern 

terminus of the B&O railroad’s 

Valley Branch. 



We Mend It…✦ 39

ROUND THE SQUARE 

The Hagerstown Square changed dramatically during the fifty years following the Civil War. Influenced by the nexus of the 

railroads, the Square changed to adapt to new businesses, new technology, and new standards of living. Each illustration shares 

a story—frozen in a moment of time. Study the images and watch for the changes—both subtle and extreme—that transformed 

the Square over the years. 


❖ 

Opposite page, clockwise, starting from the top left: 

Looking south on South Potomac Street soon after the Civil War. This is one of the earliest known images of the Square. The steeple of St. John’s Lutheran Church, one and one-half 

blocks distant, dominates the background. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF JOHN FRYE POSTCARD COLLECTION. 

Trolleys began operating in Hagerstown as early as 1891, sharing the town’s streets with the more traditional horse and wagon. The electric lines that powered the trolley cars and the 

city now dominated the streetscape. View looking toward West Washington Street. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF WESTERN MARYLAND ROOM, WASHINGTON COUNTY FREE LIBRARY. 

The juncture of West Washington and North Potomac Streets just prior to World War I. The horse had been replaced by the horsepower of the automobile. The trolley continued to be 

a popular form of public transportation—and remained so until just prior to World War II. Hoffman’s Clothiers resided within the building at the far left. 


One of the earliest aerial views of downtown Hagerstown, taken just prior to the Great Depression. The tallest structure in Hagerstown’s history, the new Hotel Alexander at right, 

dominates the skyline and portends a bright future. Hagerstown’s century-old City Hall—built during Hagerstown’s first boom and reflecting the apex of the National Road days— 

featured a unique tower and cupola, shining brightly in the sunlight near the upper left. 


The luxurious lobby of the Hotel Alexander greeted travelers from far and wide during Hagerstown’s zenith as a transportation hub. 


The Square in the 1950s, looking toward East Washington Street. Prior to the advent of the interstates in Washington County in the mid-1960s, the main east-west road in 

Maryland—US 40—followed Washington Street, bringing vibrancy and vitality and visitors to downtown Hagerstown. Despite the busy highway, note the absence of traffic lights. 


Trolleys glide by the corner of West Washington and South Potomac Streets c. 1900. Taller, more modern buildings are beginning to dwarf the antebellum structures that have defined 

the Square since before the Civil War. 


Looking up North Potomac Street about the turn of the twentieth century. Building walls now were used as giant billboards. Remember the McCardell Brothers? (hint—return to the 

early pages of the book). Street awnings also were popular, enabling vendors to extend their businesses and display their goods out upon the sidewalk. The vibrant colors of the 

Victorian Era adorned the exteriors of buildings. The cupola dominating the skyline on the right was City Hall. It was fashionable for both men and women to spread umbrellas in 

bright sunshine. 


Top, left: Christmas cheer and ushering in the New Year in the mid-1950s. Lights and ornaments crisscross the Square, bringing festivity to downtown Hagerstown, and demonstrating 

the area as a shopping attraction. 


Top, right: Three things conspired to threaten downtown Hagerstown’s economic viability during the middle of the twentieth century. First, the railroads ceased passenger service due to 

the popularity of the automobile as the transporter of choice. Second, the advent of the interstate highways diverted traffic away from the city’s core. And third, the county’s first 

shopping center at Long Meadow launched a new reality that eventually emptied downtown’s biggest stores. 


We Mend It…✦ 41

❖ 

Opposite page, top: Wheat was 

Washington County’s chief crop and 

great staple for nearly 200 years, as 

demonstrated here in this field near 

Boonsboro. But threshing wheat was 

expensive. To thresh a crop of 2,000 

bushels with horse power was the 

work of ten days and it required 15- 

25 laborers. The cost of labor could 

amount to one-quarter of the value of 

the crop. 



Opposite page, bottom: The steam 

tractor revolutionized farming. 

This depicts a tractor in the early 

twentieth century, but the first steam 

threshing occurred in Washington 

County in 1870 on a farm along the 

Leitersburg Turnpike. As farmers and 

business leaders watched in disbelief, 

the ten horsepower engine 

manufactured by Frick & Company 

in Waynesboro threshed, cleaned, and 

bagged one bushel of wheat per 

minute. The machine that performed 

the threshing, separating, cleaning, 

and conveying of wheat was patented 

by a local farmer and inventor— 

Peter Geiser of Smithsburg—just 

before the Civil War. 



Hagerstown market.” One year later, the rail 

line completed its connection to Williamsport. 

With the entrance of the Western Maryland 

Railroad into Hagerstown, the only geographic 

section of the country not yet linked with 

Washington County was the South. Railroad 

construction and utilization had lagged in the 

agrarian slave states in the antebellum period. 

Following the Civil War, with the collapse of 

the South’s economic system, Northern 

capitalists (derisively coined “carpetbaggers” 

because they showed up with bags full of 

money) sensed opportunities and began 

investing greenbacks south of the Potomac. 

Thus was born the Shenandoah Valley Railroad. 

Arriving in 1880, it first connected Hagerstown 

with Waynesboro, Virginia, where it linked 

with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. The 

railroad brass chose Hagerstown as its 

headquarters, but soon relocated south to 

Roanoke with completion of the Norfolk and 

Western Railroad. 

Hagerstown had earned a new name— 

“The Hub City.” 

Hagerstown now boasted rail service from 

every direction of the compass with the arrival 

of the N&W Railroad. No other Maryland city, 

except Baltimore, was a bulls-eye for four 

different railroad companies. With Hagerstown 

now connected to the rest of the country 

through the fastest, most efficient, and most 

modern transportation infrastructure, it earned 

a new name—“The Hub City.” Hagerstown 

exploded. The railroads attracted new 

businesses. New businesses advertised new 

jobs. New jobs required more people. More 

people solicited more stores. More stores 

demanded more space. More space conferred 

new construction. New construction recruited 

new laborers. New workers needed new homes. 

The railroads transformed the Hub City. 

Hagerstown vaulted from its eighteenth century 

roots and pastoral pace into a twentieth century 

centerpiece that exemplified “The Gilded Age” 

race for prosperity. Many federal-style buildings 

toward the center of the old town—reflecting 

the modest brick and stone architecture of 

the antebellum period—came crashing down, 

replaced by business, office and hotel and 

apartment buildings, soaring in height. Town 

streets began to stretch north and west beyond 

the original town limits, changing corn rows 

into house rows. Hagerstown’s population more 

than doubled between 1880-1900, tallying just 

under 14,000 residents at the turn of the 

twentieth century. The growth in the city in the 

last two decades of the 1800s was greater than 

it had been in the previous 100 years. 

The rapid growth of the city compelled 

Hagerstown to change its way of governing. 

Under the guidance of William T. Hamilton— 

the first Governor of Maryland to claim 

Washington County as his birthplace—the city 

secured a new charter that enlarged its 

boundaries, but kept the provision of division 

into five wards, with one councilman (elected 

to a two-year term) representing each ward. 

The Mayor, with no voting authority, could 

appoint officials, subject to the Council’s 

confirmation. The new charter also created a 

Board of Street Commissioners responsible for 

the “opening, grading, repairing and control of 

the streets, street lighting, and the police force.” 

The authority of this Board was so expansive 

that it left “little of the actual work of the 

government in the hands of the Council.” 

Water, or lack thereof, became another 

serious problem. For more than a century, 

springs, wells, and cisterns had supplied 

Hagerstown residents with water. The rapid 

expansion of the population polluted these 

sources and strained their capacity, forcing the 

city to devise a solution. Under the enlightened 

leadership of Hamilton, the county organized 

the Washington County Water Company. It 

promptly purchased several tracts on South 

Mountain; dammed Raven Rock Run and 

created the Edgemont and Cavetown reservoirs; 

and then laid a 10-inch iron pipe that 

transmitted 1,134,000 gallons of water daily. 

“By this means the most splendid water supply 

was provided.” The gravity flow from the 

mountain also provided enough pressure to 

ensure the operation of fire hydrants within 

reach of every block. 

The city possesses all conveniences of 

modern invention, such as electric lights, water 

works, telegraph, and telephone service. 

—1893 Hagerstown City Directory 


THRESHING AND THRASHING 

We Mend It…✦ 43

❖ 

Above: Whether making steam 

machines or using sewing machines, 

Hagerstown earned a reputation for 

its quality products. Here we see 

dozens of women employed at the 

Roulette Knitting Mill on East 

Washington Street around World 

War I. This type of more delicate 

manufacturing in the city began 

shortly after the Civil War when 

William Updegraff established his 

glove factory here. With the arrival of 

the railroads and their ability to ship 

products quickly and economically, 

Updegraff’s 100 employees (mostly 

women and girls) were producing 

6,000 dozen gloves and mittens 

annually—“an industry that spread 

the fame of Hagerstown far and wide” 

(the first true hands across the 

country). In Updegraff’s four story 

building on West Washington Street, 

he utilized the top three floors as his 

factory, while the lower level became 

the first general department store 

in Hagerstown. 



The railroads attracted a new interest into 

Washington County—factory manufacturing. 

Prior to the Civil War, manufacturing was not a 

prevalent industry. The paper mill along the 

Antietam in Funkstown, started by John 

Stonebraker in the same year that John Brown 

arrived, constituted an anomaly. Factory 

production was relatively unknown. The nexus 

Below: Preparing the spools for the 

seamstresses at the Roulette Knitting 

Mill exemplified machine 

manufacturing. Notice the children 

operating the machinery. Hazardous 

working conditions like this produced 

the child labor law that became 

effective during World War I. 




STEAM IS KING 

This 1890s description of the application of steam power in the 125,000 square foot Möller 

Organ Factory on Prospect Street illustrates the new era of energy. 

The engine room comes next. A 50 horsepower Atlas engine and an 85 horsepower boiler supply 

power to propel the machinery. A 5-horsepower engine, run by exhaust steam, propels a large fan that 

makes 400 revolutions a minute, and forces hot air through great galvanized pipes into every part of 

the building, besides supplying heat for drying kilns. 

of the railroads at the Hub City changed that 

and thrust Hagerstown into the forefront of 

manufacturing in Maryland. 

The first factories spurred by the railroads 

married agriculture and machines. More 

farmers met the Census takers at their doors 

than any other occupation in the county, and 

Washington County farmers prided themselves 

on using the latest technology and techniques 

in agricultural practices. This created a demand 

for locally manufactured equipment and 

machinery. Thus appeared on East Washington 

Street the Hagerstown Agricultural Implement 

Manufacturing Company—the city’s first 

downtown manufactory. Initially employing 

about twenty workers, it produced a potpourri 

of products, large and small, ranging from 

horse rakes, wheat drills and clover hullers 

to larger threshing machines and still bigger 

steam engines. 

Steam engines had become the new source 

of energy. Washington County claimed its own 

blue ribbon in the world of steam when 

inventor James Rumsey demonstrated the first 

successful steamboat in the world on the 

Potomac River. Shepherdstown claimed this 

❖ 

The wide introduction of steam power 

enabled factories to move away from 

their previous dependence upon 

hydraulic energy. Water-powered 

industries like the Green Spring 

furnace (seen here) and gristmills 

became artifacts for the ages. Since 

proximity to water was no longer a 

necessity, this enabled factories to 

locate in downtown Hagerstown after 

the Civil War, where they utilized 

steam to power their machinery prior 

to the introduction of electricity in 

the 1890s. 



We Mend It…✦ 45

❖ 

Bicycling became a national 

recreational fad during the end of the 

nineteenth century. This remarkable 

illustration, labeled “State Meet, 

Public Square, July 4, 1889,” shows 

dozens of men in a bicycle club 

gathered in Hagerstown attending one 

of the county’s first tourism 

conventions. The Square is filled with 

cheering onlookers, including 

youngsters in their Sunday finest and 

women wearing their best dresses. In 

the middle of the Square is a fenced 

circle featuring a water pond 

surrounded by exotic plants—one of 

Hagerstown’s earliest beautification 

projects. Note the absence of trees 

along the streets, but the prevalence of 

awnings as the camera gazes up 

North Potomac Street. The High 

Wheel Bicycle—built for men of 

means since the cost was equal to six 

months’ pay for the average laborer— 

was the first all-metal bike, with 

pedals attached directly to the front 

wheel for propulsion. The front wheels 

became larger and larger as makers 

realized that the larger the wheel, the 

farther one could travel with one 

rotation of the pedals. (Was the ladder 

included to mount this thing?). 

“Because the rider sat so high above 

the center of gravity, if the front wheel 

was stopped by a stone or rut in the 

road,” described a bicycle history, “the 

entire apparatus rotated forward on 

its front axle, and the rider, with his 

legs trapped under the handlebars, 

was dropped unceremoniously on his 

head. Thus the term ‘taking a header’ 

came into being.” 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF WASHINGTON 

COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

fame and erected the Rumsey Monument 

overlooking the location where Rumsey made 

history. Maryland, however, owned the 

Potomac then and now—so argument was 

pointless—the feat occurred within the waters 

of Washington County. 

The expansion of the railroads catapulted 

steam into the forefront of motive power, and 

steam application became more universal. “The 

steam engine has begun to throb, and the buzz 

of the machinery and the scream of the steam 

whistle has awakened the citizens of 

Hagerstown to the fact of the rapid strides of 

improvement in our city.” Though hard to 

maintain, dangerous to operate (boiler 

explosions were common), and cumbersome to 

fuel, the steam engine trounced the traditional 

horse for motive power. The Hub City thus 

became home to the Hagerstown Steam Engine 

and Machine Company, founded ten years after 

the Civil War, and appropriately located at 

Franklin and Foundry Streets. 

Two wheels launched Hagerstown into 

the national manufacturing limelight. Two 

wheels—affixed to a classic bicycle—came first. 

Then two wheels—otherwise known as 

dynamos—became business partners and 

created some four-wheel sensations that 

gained Hagerstown fame in the fledgling 

automobile industry. 

The World War II and Baby Boomer 

generations will always identify Washington 

County manufacturing with Pangborn 

and Fairchild and Mack. If you could ask 

the preceding generations—the people of 

the Progressive Era and World War I—two 

words would race from their lips—Crawford 

and Möller. 

Robert and George Crawford were 

impressed. The City of Hagerstown was offering 

a free site for the Crawford Manufacturing 

Company to produce…bicycles. The move 

proved foresighted and brilliant, both for the 

city and for the Crawfords. Cycles became the 

craze of the carefree 1890s, and soon the 

Crawford company employed more than 1,500 

workers—the first county factory industry to 

have more than 1,000 people on its payroll. 

Like all fads, the Crawfords knew theirs would 

not last. With a remarkable sense of timing 

(or good luck), the Crawfords sold their 

company to the Pope-Hartford Manufacturing 

Company—who became the first county 

company to lay off more than 1,000 people—as 

the bike crash smashed into the turn called the 

twentieth century. 


After selling their bicycle company to Pope- 

Hartford, the Crawford brothers began 

experimenting with the four-wheeled 

motorized buggy, flattered with the name 

automobile. The Crawfords began making 

prototypes in George’s Surrey Street stables 

in 1902—yes, we were making cars in 

Hagerstown when Theodore Roosevelt was 

president! The Crawfords were building their 

first model one year before Henry Ford 

manufactured his first car. Sensing the future, 

the Crawfords enlisted fellow industrialist M. P. 

Möller as their principal business partner, with 

Möller and others investing $100,000 in the 

incubator company. 

Mathias Peter Möller was not known for 

cylinder pipes, but rather his organ pipes. A 

Danish immigrant born seven years before the 

Civil War, Möller set sail for America just prior 

to our nation’s one hundredth birthday, settling 

eventually in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he 

learned the trade of pipe organ building. 

Möller later established his first independent 

business in Greencastle, where he captured 

the notice of our politicians. Enamored with 

Möller’s product and its potential, Governor 

Hamilton—who used his power and 

influence to direct business into his 

home county—teamed with United 

States Senator Louis McComas 

(a Williamsport native)—to lure 

Möller south of the Mason-Dixon 

Line. Hamilton and McComas 

convinced Möller that the Hub 

City’s railroads and its growing 

factory-based economy was a perfect 

match for his company, and they 

offered a few business enticements 

to sweeten the offer. Our solicitation 

worked, and Möller established his 

organ works in Hagerstown on 

Potomac Street near the Western 

Maryland Railroad. The firm began 

with only eight workers—forcing 

cynical observers to ask what were 

our politicians thinking? But the 

blurred vision of the daily grumbler 

often was a lucid vision of the 

community politician. Within two 

decades, Möller boasted a 50,000 

square-foot factory on North 

Prospect Street where he employed 150 

craftsmen and laborers who were producing 

100 pipe and 500 reed organs (not to mention 

125 pianos) annually. Möller had become 

Hagerstown’s leading industrialist. 

❖ Crawford 

❖ The Car of Reliability 

❖ Distinctive Features 

❖ Simplicity of Design 

❖ Accessibility of Parts 

Twenty years after the first Crawford was 

designed, M. P. Möller became sole owner of the 

company. Believing he could sell a luxury car 

exclusively for the high-end market, Möller 

unveiled an elegant sports roadster dubbed the 

“Dagmar,” named after his eldest daughter 

(who in turn had been named after the Queen 

of Denmark). Möller intended the Dagmar to 

compete against cars offered by Cadillac, 

Packard, and Peerless. His advertising tag 

lines targeted his elite audiences. “The car you 

❖ 

M. P. Möller not only manufactured 

and sold organs and pianos in 

Hagerstown. He used his wealth and 

vision as an entrepreneur for the 

automobile and other fledgling 

industries in Washington County and 

to build the Dagmar Hotel. He also 

was a leading philanthropist, serving 

as a director of Kee Mar College in 

Hagerstown, a director of 

Susquehanna University, and as a 

contributor to several orphanages as 

well as the Lutheran Church. He 

served as president of Hagerstown 

Bank and Trust Company, which he 

helped keep solvent, using his own 

financial resources, during The Great 

Depression. In addition—as part of 

his commitment to decent and 

affordable housing for the workers of 

Hagerstown—Möller was a founder 

and president of the Home Builders 

Savings and Loan Association. He 

also established the Hagerstown 

YMCA during World War I. 



We Mend It…✦ 47

❖ 

Top: Crawford automobiles were 

initially handcrafted and built—piece 

by piece—by forty to fifty workmen in 

an expanding factory on Surrey 

Street. The earliest Crawfords 

featured a 10 horse power, 2-cylinder 

engine. The 4-cylinder models 

recorded a high of 275 Crawford 

vehicles produced in 1910. Because of 

its people-oriented production 

methods, a Crawford’s cost was so 

high that it basically was a plaything 

for the rich. Henry Ford, on the other 

hand, determined to build a simple, 

reliable, and affordable car the 

average American could afford— 

accomplished through the assembly 

line and the genius of mass 

production. “Instead of workers going 

to the car, the car came to the worker 

who performed the same task of 

assembly over and again.” Through 

this process, Ford sold 10,000 Model 

Ts in its first year (1908). By the time 

World War I erupted, Ford could 

claim nearly 50% of the American 

automobile market. The last Crawford 

was constructed in 1923—twenty 

years after Hagerstown helped 

inaugurate the age of the automobile. 



PARK SERVICE. 

Bottom: Tourists driving at the 

Antietam Battlefield in the decade 

before World War I. These were the 

same Crawford vehicles and people 

that posed before the factory in 

Hagerstown a short time before, 

demonstrating the speed and 

efficiency of the “horseless carriage” 

in this pose near the Cornfield. 



PARK SERVICE. 


will like better at the Journey’s End.” 

“It is a Woman’s Ideal of Beauty!” “It is 

a man’s car in mechanism for it races 

through space with the quiet speed 

of an airship.” “The Super Performer.” 

“A Car of Swagger Individuality.” 

(I wonder how much Möller paid his 

advertising firm?). 

Möller produced the Dagmar on the 

first floor of the former Pope-Tribune 

plant on Pope Avenue, where another 

Hagerstown original—the Pope- 

Tribune auto—lived its short life. 

Since the Dagmar was assembled by hand and 

ranged in price from $3,500 to a staggering 

$6,000 (the average American worker was 

making about $30/month and a typical Chevy 

cost only $550), Möller expanded his car 

manufacturing operation to include the 

antithesis of the Dagmar—the taxi. Always the 

consummate businessman, Möller inked a deal 

to produce the “Luxor”—a luxurious taxi 

painted distinctively in cream and light blue 

with black molding, accented by red striping, 

and featuring a plush leather interior. “It was 

beautifully lighted and was often described as 

a motorized Christmas tree.” By the end of 

the “Roaring Twenties,” Möller had 275 men 

manufacturing 125 cabs per week. Luxor 

drivers were being hailed in New York, 

Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington and 

Richmond. “Hagerstown built taxicabs were 

among the finest in the United States.” Despite 

Möller’s commitment to the highest quality for 

both the Dagmar and the Luxor, he could not 

compete with the larger assembly line, massproduction 

companies. Production of the 

Dagmar ended two years before the Stock 

Market crash, and the Great Depression forced 

cessation of the Luxor. After thirty years, the 

automobile industry in Hagerstown had 

become extinct. 

While Möller faced stiff competition in the 

auto manufacturing business, no competition 

could equal the quality of the Möller pipe 

organ. The largest organ company in the world 

bore his name at the dawn of the twentieth 

century. Möller committed himself to this 

mission—“every church, however small or 

great, must be afforded the opportunity to have 

a real pipe organ.” By the time the company 

❖ 

Top: Crawford trucks were the 

first trucks built in Hagerstown, 

beginning in 1910. According to an 

advertisement by the Crawford firm, 

the truck was “without doubt the most 

powerful, smooth-running and easy to 

manage motor truck on the market.” 

The truck could haul three tons at a 

top speed of 12 miles per hour. W. W. 

McCauley, a building supply dealer in 

Hagerstown’s east end, used his 

Crawford truck to haul an average of 

30 tons of coal and building material 

every working day. He estimated it 

took “only three workmen and six 

gallons of gas per day to accomplish 

as much as six workmen and six 

horses would do.” One Crawford 

truck was tailor-made as a home on 

wheels for a Hagerstonian bound for 

Florida. Crawford’s first and only 

“motor home” was equipped with 

bunk beds, a gas stove, and a built-in 

ice box. Despite its advantages, due to 

its hand-crafted production methods 

and its cost, the Crawford truck was 

short-lived. 



Bottom: Mack Trucks began 

production of its mammoth motors 

here in Hagerstown nearly fifty years 

after the Crawford firm built the first 

trucks in Hagerstown. Unlike Mack 

Trucks, which produces components at 

different factories in different states, 

the Crawford Truck was crafted and 

built in its entirety at a three story 

factory on Surrey Street (which 

became Möller Apartments). 



We Mend It…✦ 49


Trucks transformed services to the people of Hagerstown and Washington County during the decade of World War I. 

The efficiencies of this new and powerful delivery system enabled local businesses—both large and small—to offer services to 

a greater number of customers covering a more expansive geographic area. 

❖ 

Opposite page, top: What time would you like that delivered? Eyerly’s operated from its store on West Washington Street. 


Opposite page, bottom: Need a Mover? We’ll move you—anywhere, anytime, any weather. 


Above: Fresh bread! Still warm from the oven! 


We Mend It…✦ 51

❖ 

Above: Perhaps the first county-wide 

delivery system was the “Library 

Wagon” of the Washington County 

Free Library. Introduced in 1905, it 

became the first “Bookmobile” in the 

United States. The first wagon had 

shelves on the outside and a place for 

storage of cases in the center—it 

“resembled somewhat a cross between 

a grocer’s delivery wagon and the tin 

peddlers cart.” 



Right: Mary Titcomb, the first 

librarian of the Washington County 

Free Library, wanted the library in 

Hagerstown to become the library for 

all county residents. But how would 

she accomplish this? First she 

distributed boxes with 30 volumes 

each to 66 “deposit stations” 

throughout the county. But Titcomb 

wanted more. “Would not a Library 

Wagon, the outward and visible signs 

of the service for which the Library 

stood, do much more in cementing 

friendship?” With that, Titcomb 

conceived the first Library Wagon in 

the country. “No better method has 

ever been devised for reaching the 

dweller in the country,” she concluded. 

“The book goes to the man [and 

woman], not waiting for the man [and 

woman] to come to the book.” 



celebrated its 75th anniversary (Dwight 

Eisenhower was beginning his second term as 

president), Möller’s company had built over 

8,000 pipe organs and was represented in every 

state in the country. When the Möller 

company completed installation of 

“Opus 11000” (Richard Nixon was 

embroiled in the Watergate scandal), it 

had averaged nine organs a month since 

the day it was founded. As the company 

proudly declared—“The birth of a 

Möller organ is a lot more complicated 

and engrossing a procedure that of a car 

or even a house. It’s an affair calling on 

the skills and experience of a whole 

team of highly specialized engineers 

and scores of craftsmen working in 

carefully orchestrated concert. From 

conception to delivery, the process 

takes between ten and twelve months.” Möller’s 

commitment to the highest quality workmanship 

and business ethics enabled his pipe organ 

company to survive him by 55 years (it closed 

in 1992). Today, M. P. Möller is a memory, 

but his mark on every instrument—and on 

the Hagerstown community—“is at once a 

testimonial, a legacy, a guarantee.” 

The Organ of Artists—The Artist of Organs 

Theirs is neither the most economical nor most 

practical way to build a pipe organ. It is, however, 

the only possible way to attain the magnificent 

Möller voice. And to the purchaser of a Möller 

instrument, our way signals something else: 

continuity of craftsmanship. Möller’s strength 

derives from an enduring organization, not from 

any single man. 

—Möller 100th anniversary promotional tribute 

The Crawford Automobile Co. of Hagerstown, Md, is now in production on a sport model to be sold 

under the name Dagmar. This is mounted on a 135 in wheelbase chassis and is characterized chiefly by 

a special sport type of body of the custom built type fitted with Victoria top and seating four passengers. 

The car has a high narrow radiator, two spare wheels mounted on each side of the hood and fenders with 

straight lines and sharp angles giving a distinctive appearance… 

The wheels are artillery type wood but are covered with dummy plates, giving the appearance of disk 

wheels. The engine is mounted on a three point support with the rear supporting arms fastened to the 

frame by bolts screwed up against a helical spring. 

Equipment includes six 33 x 5 in cord tires, 35 gal gasoline tank mounted at the rear of the chassis, 

Stewart-Warner vacuum tank, Willard battery, one-piece windshield, Hartford shock absorbers. Gas-O- 

Meter, clock, drum type head lamps, Moto-Meter and cigar lighter. 

Body colors are optional while the trimming is all of brass. Price of the car is $3500. 

—The Automobile, August, 1922 


❖ 

Above: The flue pipe is one of the 

most important parts of the pipe 

organ. It operates on the same 

principle as the toy whistle. The 

various parts influence the quality 

and strength of the tone produced. 

Flue pipes range in size from 32 feet 

to less than one-half inch in length. 

Here a skilled Möller specialist is 

“voicing” a flue pipe. One of the most 

famous Möller flue pipe organs is 

located in the Cadet Chapel at the 

United States Air Force Academy. 



Below: Möller’s luxury vehicle 

received a publicity bonus when “Miss 

America” 1924 was presented a brand 

new Dagmar in Hagerstown at the 

fair grounds. A procession of Dagmars 

met the newly crowned Miss Ruth 

Malcolmson (formerly “Miss 

Philadelphia”) at Chambersburg, 

escorting her to Hagerstown where the 

“Dagmar sport model painted yellow 

and blue…with bright red upholstery 

festooned with flowers and topped 

with white doves drove around the 

racetrack.” Möller later that evening 

held a dinner good enough for royalty 

at his Dagmar hotel. 



We Mend It…✦ 53

❖ 

Students and teachers at the North 

Street School in Hagerstown near the 

turn of the twentieth century. Because 

“separate but equal” was the law of 

the land, African-American students 

had no choice but to attend an all- 

Black school. Walter Harmon offered 

an excellent role model for North 

Street students and he assisted 

teachers by providing them with room 

and board at the Harmon Hotel or 

with residence at his rental properties. 



Chances are pretty good that you as an 

individual will never own a Pangborn machine, 

yet Pangborn machines have contributed 

immeasurably to your standard of living. For 

Pangborn machines are important to the mass 

production at low cost of the car you drive, the 

trains and plans you travel in, the stoves and 

refrigerators and other labor-saving, comfortmaking 

items closely associated with your 

everyday living. 

About the time Möller initially was investing 

in the Crawford automobile enterprise, Thomas 

W. Pangborn launched his new business in New 

York City. The innovative Pangborn, a twentyfour 

year old salesman of equipment to 

foundaries, observed a serious deficiency in the 

manufacturing process—“cleaning” the metal. 

Almost everything produced of metal has to be 

cleaned at one or more stages of its production. 

Castings came out of their molds covered with 

scale and burnt-in sand. Forgings and heattreated 

parts were covered with scale. Almost 

all metal surfaces required special preparation 

before painting, enameling, plating, or coating. 

Metal cleaning, originally, was accomplished by 

laborers using wire brushes—a slow, laborious, 

and expensive process. Tom Pangborn had a 

better solution—utilize sand as an abrasive, 

load it into a strongly constructed steel tank, 

then use compressed air to blast metallic 

surfaces. The result—cleaning faster than any 

other method. Pangborn’s invention quickly 

gained favor in manufacturing. When it became 

time to expand his business, Tom and his 

business partner and brother, John Pangborn, 

abandoned New York City and moved their 

company to Hagerstown prior to World War I. 

Soon Hagerstown became home to the largest 

blast cleaning and dust control industry in 

the world. 

Just after World War I, Pangborn— 

constantly seeking improved methodology 

through new technology—pioneered the use of 

metal abrasives to replace sand as the principal 

cleaning agent. This revolutionized the 

industry, resulting in enormous cost savings 

since one carload of steel abrasive did the work 

of one hundred carloads of sand. Pangborn 

cleaning machines became omnipresent in 


manufacturing. The auto industry used 

Pangborn products to clean cylinder blocks and 

motor castings. The railroads adopted 

Pangborn to clean its new locomotives and 

freight cars. Pangborn blast machines cleaned 

steel as it cooled from the blast furnaces. 

Pangborn equipment cleaned airplane motors 

and rotors. During World War II, Pangborn 

devices were cleaning 750,000 pounds of 

bombs per hour! 

In addition to cleaning metals, Pangborn 

confronted a great enemy of the worker and the 

work environment—dust. Dust was not just 

disagreeable, but often a hazardous by-product 

of the industrial process. When Pangborn 

began supplying equipment to combat 

dust, not only did it remove the hazard, it 

resulted in many unforeseen advantages. 

“Workers efficiency improved; pride of 

good workmanship noticeably increased. 

Maintenance costs were reduced. Relations with 

neighboring homeowners and businesses 

turned from animosity to friendliness. And, in 

many cases, salvageable materials in the dust 

produced a worthwhile profit.” Yet again, 

Pangborn had changed the world. 

❖ 

Top: Walter Harmon became the 

wealthiest African-American in 

Hagerstown during the era when the 

Crawfords were building bicycles and 

Möller was pumping pipe organs. 

Harmon, developer and operator of 

the Harmon Hotel on Jonathan Street, 

eventually amassed a fortune through 

his hard work and shrewd business 

acumen. In addition to the hostelry, 

Harmon owned a successful 

restaurant, poolroom, bowling alley, 

and tavern—and he eventually 

acquired 37 Hagerstown houses, 

many of which he rented to boarders. 

“He was somebody. A man of means 

in his day,” declared local historian 

Marguerite Doleman. Mrs. Doleman’s 

characterization was especially 

poignant considering Harmon 

succeeded in business despite the 

obstacles of Jim Crow laws and 

sanctioned segregation. Walter 

Harmon proved that resilience could 

overcome resistance. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF DOLEMAN BLACK 

HISTORY COLLECTION AND MUSEUM. 

THE PANGBORN ETHIC 

Behind the designing, materials and metals which make up a Pangborn installation there is added 

that magical thing called integrity…a vital yet intangible ingredient which contributes materially to any 

profitable transaction. This ingredient cannot be described in words. It has to be seen in the attitude of 

the men and women who build the products that bear the Pangborn name plate. It has to be appreciated 

by contact with the environment which reflects the character of the people who work here. It has to be 

sensed in a spirit that says life at Pangborn is serious, yet pleasant, too. 

Bottom: The Pangborn factory 

complex eventually grew to 18 large 

modern structures that included a 

foundry and shops for plate, sheet 

metal, machine, paint, and wood 

working, as well as space for product 

assembly and the functions of 

engineering, advertising, accounting, 

and corporate headquarters. When 

the company reached its Golden 

Anniversary in 1954, 28,000 

Pangborn machines served industries 

throughout the world. Almost every 

major manufacturer used Pangborn 

products to clean up 290 tons of 

cylinder block castings per day. As a 

gesture of gratitude to the Pangborn 

workforce and as thanks to the host 

community, just before World War II, 

the company donated seven and one 

half acres across from the industrial 

complex for a city park. 



We Mend It…✦ 55

CHAPTER V 

WE DEFEND IT… 

❖ 

Corporal Evans Poffenberger of 

Sharpsburg epitomized the dozens of 

Dough Boys from Washington County 

who served in World War I. 



As Pangborn commenced building its empire in Hagerstown, empires in Europe were crashing. 

World War I had erupted. Hagerstown benefited from the titanic clash as the Maryland Pressed Steel 

Company—operating out of the former Crawford Bicycle/Pope-Tribune works on Pope Avenue— 

commenced manufacturing munitions for the British. The First World War also encouraged 

Maryland Pressed Steel to gaze toward the skies for a new source of revenue—the manufacture of 

airplanes. Just as America was entering the war, the company lured one of the world’s best-known 

flight instructors—Italian immigrant Giuseppe Mario Bellanca—to Hagerstown as a consulting 

aeronautical engineer. Fourteen years had passed since the Wright brothers had proven machines 

could fly; but with the United States launching into the war, Maryland Pressed Steel envisioned 

potential to build planes for the military. Bellanca arrived and promptly designed two trainer 

biplanes, but then came Armistice Day on November 11, 1918. Maryland Pressed Steel saw its 

military contracts evaporate (these were the days before the perpetual military-industrial concept of 

war contracts even when there was no war). With his services no longer needed, Bellanca flew off to 

establish what was eventually one of the largest aircraft companies in the world. Fortunately for 

Washington County, Lewis E. Reisner of Hagerstown apprenticed under the pioneer Bellanca. It was 

ultimately the most important apprenticeship in Washington County’s history. 

The most important thing about the Kreider-Reisner company is not its plant, but the fact that we are 

connecting with the Kreider-Reisner organization, one of the most efficient airplane manufacturing 

organizations in the United States. 

—Sherman Fairchild 


❖ 

Above: Boonsboro residents celebrate 

the end of World War I. Victory 

parades were held in communities 

throughout the county to congratulate 

our troops and to commemorate 

America’s contribution in the “War to 

end all wars.” 



FAIRCHILD’ S FIRST MILITARY CARGO PLANE 

As the United States prepared to enter World War II, the Fairchild company engineered a design 

for a new type of plane. The C82 “Packet” was a military transport designed specifically for that 

purpose, rather than the conventional approach of converting a civilian model. The Packet made its 

inaugural flight from Runway 2 at Hagerstown three months after D-Day, “turning into reality the 

dreams of hundreds of men and women who have labored day and night for many months in an all 

out effort to get the plane into the air in record time.” Anticipating that the war would continue, 

Fairchild needed more workers to build the Packet, and it employed this novel recruitment: 

“Fairchild to boost employment drive with downtown movie and a C82 flight. Leaflets to be 

dropped in flight over the city. Prospective applicants, who will work on the C82 Packet, are soon 

to get a good look at the big cargo plane and right in their own back yard if they choose.” 

Deliveries of the Packet began in 1945, but too late to participate in World War II. Over the 

next several years, Fairchild produced 223 Packets—but it soon was replaced by one of Fairchild’s 

most famous planes—the C119 “Flying Boxcar.” 

Left: The Fairchild PT-19 trainer won 

the Army Air Corps competition (the 

United States Air Force did not yet 

exist) just before the blitzkrieg armies 

of Adolph Hitler invaded Poland, 

exploding Europe into World War II. 

Anticipating eventual entry into the 

war, the federal government began 

bulking up its defenses, placing an 

initial order for 270 PT-19 trainers. 

Before the last one rolled 

off the Fairchild assembly line, more 

than 8,000 trainers had 

been manufactured. 



We Defend It… ✦ 57

❖ 

Above: Plane “organs” rather than 

pipe organs were manufactured at the 

M. P. Möller plant during World War 

II. This shows workers producing 

airplane center sections and outer 

panels at the Möller factory. Demand 

for Fairchild planes was so high 

during the war that Fairchild and its 

subcontractors manufactured in 

nearly 30 different Hagerstown 

factories. Hagerstown converted into a 

war production town. Fairchild also 

became a huge employer of women 

during the war, with nearly 2,000 

“Rosie the Riveters” assisting in the 

assembly of Fairchild planes. 



Lewis Reisner, employing the knowledge he 

had gained from Bellanca, built his first aircraft 

the year after the end of World War I. Midway 

through the “Roaring Twenties,” Reisner 

partnered with Pennsylvania test pilot Ammon 

Kreider, and together they incorporated the 

Kreider-Reisner Aircraft Company. Initially the 

duo produced its Challenger biplane in the 800 

block of Pennsylvania Avenue, and they soon 

acquired a 60-acre tract about three miles north 

of Hagerstown for their landing field. Desirous of 

expansion, the two began searching for investors. 

Then Sherman Fairchild discovered them. 

Fairchild, son of the founder of IBM, already 

was a New York aircraft and engine manufacturer. 

Right: During the first fifty years of 

Fairchild production in Washington 

County, it employed over 33,000 

different people and subcontracted 

with more than 200 local firms. 

Expressed in 1978 dollars, Fairchild 

spent in our community, in a halfcentury 

of business, payroll of 

$1,700,000,000 (yes, that’s billion, in 

the days when few billionaires 

occupied the planet), and 

$55,000,000 in purchases from local 

firms. (Figures cited from March, 

1979 issue of The Cracker Barrel). 

Less than ten years later, aircraft 

manufacturing had ceased at the 

Hagerstown plant. 


❖ 

Top: For the Flag. For the Soldier. For 

the Country. Hagerstown hosted a huge 

War Bonds rally during the first year 

of America’s involvement in the Second 

World War. Inspired by the “flag tent?” 

This red, white, and blue amphitheater 

brought out the best in the city’s 

imagination and creative design as it 

inspired thousands to pledge allegiance. 



He needed, however, an airplane that could 

provide a suitable platform for one of his 

own inventions—the automatic aerial camera. 

Fairchild recalled the Kreider-Reisner 

Challenger, and he considered it the ideal 

biplane for his aerial surveying 

and mapping initiative. 

Fairchild promptly 

acquired controlling 

interest in the company, 

announcing the deal at 

the Second All-American 

Aircraft Show in Detroit.” 

The new company did 

not have a propitious 

start. The day after completing 

the acquisition, 

pilot Kreider was killed 

in a mid-air collision. Six 

months later, the Stock 

Market crashed, crippling 

Fairchild’s plans. Then 

followed a decade in a 

depressed economy that 

nearly exhausted even 

the fortune of Sherman 

Fairchild. Then came the Second World War— 

establishing the Fairchild corporation as one of 

the largest aircraft manufacturers in the world— 

and changing the future of Hagerstown and 

Washington County. 

Bottom: Five weeks after Pearl 

Harbor—the United States was 

mobilizing into a “total war” society. 

No one knew how long the war would 

last. Everyone knew their standard of 

living must change as the country 

surged into war in Europe and the 

South Pacific. Because of shortages, 

rationing became a part of everyday 

life. Tires were the first item to be 

rationed due to the interruption of 

natural rubber from the Far East. 

Soon afterward followed passenger 

autos, typewriters, sugar, gasoline, 

bicycles, footwear, fuel oil, coffee, 

stoves, shoes, meat, lard, cheese, butter, 

processed foods (canned, bottled, 

frozen), dried fruits, canned milk, 

firewood and coal, and jams and 

jellies. The freedom to purchase what 

you wanted—and when you wanted 

it—vanished for three long years. Here 

was an example of a local rationing 

booth, likely established within the 

Junior Fire Company Hall in 

Hagerstown (based upon the sign). To 

obtain a classification and a book of 

rationing stamps, one had to appear 

before a local rationing board. Each 

person in a household received a ration 

book. Ration stamps were valid only 

for a defined period to ensure no 

hoarding. Similar ration stations were 

established throughout the county. As a 

point of reference regarding the stamp 

purchases, (sign at lower left), a 

private in the army was making $16 

per month. 



We Defend It… ✦ 59

❖ 

Right: Good footgear was one of the 

most important uniform items worn 

by our soldiers during World War II. 

Hagerstown once was home to four 

shoe manufacturing companies, where 

we “helped keep Americans well 

shod.” The Hagerstown Shoe 

Company, located at Franklin and 

Prospect Streets, once employed 450 

skilled workers and turned out 

1,450,000 shoes annually. 



Below: What’s this? An invasion of 

Hagerstown? Granted, Jonathan 

Hager was German, and his town was 

crammed with citizens of Deutschland 

descent. But wasn’t occupation a bit 

extreme? Actually, this depicts a 

Veterans’ Day Parade—an annual 

occurrence in Hagerstown following 

World War II—featuring tanks from 

the Maryland National Guard 

rumbling down West Washington 

Street jammed with spectators. 




CHAPTER VI 

WE GROW IT… 

The Second World War spurred the greatest period of agricultural production in Washington County’s 

history. Farmers were exempted from the draft because the national government recognized—in a total 

war society that was rationing everything from fuel to food—that the farmer was essential in feeding three 

million American soldiers and 130,000,000 folks fending at home. Labor shortages became intense in 

agriculture, as many farmers volunteered for the service while large numbers moved off the farms and 

into the cities for factory jobs. As a result of the unprecedented demand created by the war, county 

farmers expanded their operations, invested in new farms, and diversified their products. 

Mechanization also had dramatically changed the Washington County farm. By the outbreak of World 

War II, most farmers could afford a tractor and the ancillary equipment powered by a tractor. This resulted 

in increased production as well as economies in time and labor. The addition of the truck to the farm 

setting brought the farmer an independence of mobility never before experienced—the freedom to own 

and operate farms at a distance and the autonomy to transport products to local markets or to shippers 

and distributors. These developments created a new industry in Washington County—“the truck farmer.” 

The truck farmer operated on a different scale. First, since few were beef or dairy farmers, they did 

not require large expanses for pasture nor fields for hay. Most truck farmers grew vegetables and ground 

fruits and berries, often on the slopes of mountain tracts that earlier farmers had avoided. Unlike the 

cattle farmer, whose animals required daily attention and year-round laborers, the truck farmers 

typically hired their labor seasonally, mostly to pick their harvest. Due to the delicate nature of most 

truck farmer crops—raspberries, peas, lima beans, tomatoes, potatoes, cantaloupes, watermelons— 

hands, rather than machines, did the harvesting. In addition, because many of these crops were staked 

or poled, truck farmers depended upon the horse, instead of the tractor, to plow between the rows. As 

truck farming became economical, beginning in the 1920s, mountain slopes that weren’t already 

orchards around Boonsboro, Smithsburg, Clear Spring, Hancock and Keedysville converted into acres 

of vegetable and fruit gardens. So many truck farms developed, in fact, that the average farm size 

dropped below 100 acres for the first time in the county’s history. 

❖ 

Washington County farmers often 

ranked among the biggest producers 

of agricultural products in Maryland. 



We Grow It… ✦ 61

PROFILE IN COURAGE… AND IN CROPS AND CRITTERS 

Farming changed dramatically in Washington County during the last half of the last century. The sensation of suburbia—previously 

unknown in America until after World War II—along with the automobile’s arrival on the interstate highways—brought thousands of 

new residents across South Mountain—literally the first major migration from east to west in the county’s history. Many farms became 

choice properties for development, and houses began to sprout where crops once sprouted. Farm acreage dropped by nearly 50% and 

the number of farms fell precipitously, by nearly two-thirds. In an effort to promote and preserve agriculture, the county adopted its 

first zoning in 1973, creating conservation and agricultural areas that directed residential growth. This ultimately failed to protect large 

tracts of farmland, and developments soon advertised the one to three acre “farmette.” Today the county is defined as a “metropolitan 

statistical area” and much of it has converted into a bedroom community for Baltimore, Washington, and Northern Virginia. To ensure 

the viability of agriculture as a county industry in the future, farmland expanses—especially in the vicinity of the Antietam Battlefield 

and Clear Spring—have been preserved by farmers’ initiatives and through state and county preservation programs. In addition, 

a strong Mennonite presence in the county has protected agriculture as a mainstay of its religious foundation. 

1900 1950 2007 MD Rank 2007 

Number of Farms 2,025 2,303 844 3 

Farm Acreage 249,221 218,540 114,065 7 

Average Farm Size 123.1 94.9 135.1 12 

Average Age of Operator (years) — — 54.3 — 

Cattle (Beef & Dairy) — 30,675 36,206 2 

Hogs — 19,936 6,578 1 

Sheep — 4,677 1,682 5 

Chickens (layers) — 144,362 268,229 4 

Corn for Grain (acres) — 25,930 11,000 14 

Corn for Silage (acres) — 3,261 9,500 2 

Wheat (acres) — 28,002 4,800 9 

Hay (acres) — 25,352 22,000 5 

Barley (acres) — 9,044 1,500 6 

Fruits, tree nuts, berries (acres) — 9,592 1,849 1 

Sources: 1900 Census of Agriculture. 1950 Census of Agriculture. 2007 National Agricultural 

Statistics Service. 

❖ 

Gathering straw near Clear Spring in 

the days prior to the square bale and 

round bale was a scene repeated 

throughout the county. Straw was very 

labor intensive, as it first involved 

cutting grain, then binding it, then 

shocking it, then threshing it into a 

straw stack. 




Agriculture has been our most prevalent industry throughout the history of Washington 

County. Agriculture is the only industry that has survived since the formation of the county 

over 230 years ago. During the decades, farmers have experienced droughts, blights, recessions, 

depressions, taxes, regulations, labor shortages, price supports, developers, evolution after 

evolution of machines and farming practices, and civil war (and war after war after war). Through 

it all, the farmers have survived. This album takes you on a portion of their journey during the 

post World War II era. 

❖ 

Top: Farming has been a familyoriented 

business for generations. 

Young boys and girls began learning 

the skills of animal husbandry at 

early ages, not only from their parents 

and older siblings, but from 

participation in organizations like 

4-H and high school clubs such as the 

Future Farmers of America. Showing 

and competing a groomed and blueribbon 

animal raised by a farm kid— 

or having your bovine bring top dollar 

at the auction—often was as exciting 

as Christmas. 



Left: Look at the height of that straw 

stack! This would be used 

as bedding for the farm animals 

throughout the winter months. 




❖ 

Above: Hog production has dropped 

nearly 75% in the county since World 

War II, but local farm butcherings— 

like this one in the shadow of South 

Mountain near Boonsboro—were 

commonplace up through the middle 

of the twentieth century. According to 

the 1950 agricultural census, almost 

5,500 hogs were butchered in the 

county the previous year. 



Below: Nearly 10,000 acres of the 

county were planted in orchards 

during World War II. That’s the 

equivalent of one acre of orchard per 

one employee at Fairchild during the 

same time. Consider this—336,247 

apple trees and 235,796 peach trees 

growing here in 1945. Now that’s a lot 

of picking! 

Opposite page: Picking black 

raspberries near Boonsboro around 

the time of World War I. Note the 

quart boxes and the wooden crate, 

and the picker in the center with her 

long, finger-tip gloves. 



Nearly all the fruits of the temperate zone are produced; apples in every variety and in vast quantity…[Peaches are] grown in great perfection 

at a certain elevation on the western slope of South Mountain, where it seems to escape the damages from frost; and the cultivation of it in this 

region has assumed large proportions. 

—Thomas J. C. Williams, 1906 

PRETTY AS A PEACH 

Smithsburg was the origin of the orchard business in Washington County. About the time M. P. Möller arrived to produce pipe 

organs in Hagerstown, Smithsburg farmers John Nicodemus, Mitchell Stover, and William Hughes discovered their rough mountain 

slopes adapted well to the yellow fuzzy fruit of mid-summer. “It was found that the peaches grown upon [South Mountain’s] soil were 

peculiarly beautiful and delicious and they commanded higher prices in the market than fruit from other sections. It was also proved 

that the crop on the mountainside was not so liable to injury by frost in the early spring. At once a great industry sprang up and the 

‘mountain peaches’ were in demand in every city.” Word quickly spread of the Smithsburg experiment, and soon orchards were 

appearing near Boonsboro, Clear Spring, and Hancock. Emory Pry of Keedysville became the first grower to plant 50,000 trees. 


THE BLACKBERRY— BEFORE IT WENT WIRELESS 

Black raspberries were a favorite product of the “truck farmer.” I know from experience, as my grandfather, Ira Poffenberger, raised 

black raspberries at Clevelandtown for four decades. They were my granddaddy’s number one cash crop and, as a kid, I even made a 

little cash. My very first job (not yet in kindergarten) was picking up raspberry quarts in the berry rows and carrying them to my 

grandfather for crating. I remember handling each quart as if it was a bar of gold, as granddaddy would remind me that every quart 

put food on the table (and since I was a growing boy, and I liked to eat). Once my arms and legs grew a few more inches, I was 

promoted to a “picker.” At 5:00 a.m., I’d be awakened (ever try to wake a kid at that time of morning?), and soon would crawl into 

the back of granddaddy’s ‘57 Chevy truck, and we’d go “round the loop” to pick up other sleepy kids and a few adults too. By 6:00 

a.m., we were in the berry rows, adjusting our hip aprons made of white rags, and balancing the wooden quart boxes below our bellies. 

The idea was to pick with two hands and to drop the berries in the quart. Some of us never mastered that art, flinging more of the 

juicy fruits toward the ground—and you didn’t dare pick them up; because if you bent over, you dumped your entire quart onto the 

dirt! Never mind anyway. Granddaddy always trailed behind to pickup “the drops” and to pluck anything we missed on the berry bush. 

He could carry a quart in his bare hands, and in blatant partiality, would seek out the grandkids to boost their quart production. And 

we often missed a lot. Ever seen those thorns on a black raspberry bush? It’s worse than a rose bush—God’s way of saying—human’s 

stay out! Berries for birds only! We defeated this scheme of creation by wearing long shirts, long pants, and long gloves. Basically, 

everything was covered except the face and the tips of the fingers (we cut the ends off the gloves). But God still won. The height of 

black raspberry season was right around July 4th. So, instead of bathing suits, we were in cotton body suits, sweating and turning the 

ground into mud. Granddaddy had a solution for that too—his homemade root beer at the end of four hours of “pickin” made it all 

worthwhile. But the day wasn’t over for my grandfather. The shelf life of a fresh berry was limited, and mold was a constant enemy. So 

granddaddy, after taking everyone home, would load the back of the truck with crates of berries and drive into downtown Boonsboro, 

where he and many other truck farmers delivered their goods at my great-granddaddy John Reeder’ s distribution business. There they 

loaded up a refrigerated tractor-trailer, and overnight, my Uncle Dennis Reeder hauled the goods four hours to Pittsburgh for further 

distribution throughout the northeast. Dollars returned, and on payday, granddaddy would check his charts and dole out the rewards. 

I started at 5 cents a quart, but when Nixon and inflation arrived, that doubled. I picked my last raspberry for Ira Poffenberger forty 

years ago this year. No longer could my granddaddy make a profit. Truck farming no longer was profitable. It soon became extinct. 


❖ 

Above: “Boonsboro Lopes” were a 

precious commodity during the years 

following World War II. People would 

drive from metropolitan Washington 

and Baltimore—in the years before 

the interstates—to purchase fresh 

from the farmers’ front yards and at 

roadside markets the “Heart of Gold” 

cantaloupe grown by the truck farmers 

of eastern Washington County. 



Below: The magnificent Poultry 

Building at the Great Hagerstown 

Fair Grounds was the largest poultry 

exhibition center in the world near the 

turn of the twentieth century. Its 

grand colonnaded portico was the 

most massive of its type in the city, 

and its three stories of windows and 

sky lighting permitted natural light to 

illuminate its interior. “It came to pass 

that a prize for poultry won at 

Hagerstown is considered by poultry 

fanciers more valuable than one from 

any other poultry show.” 




❖ 

Left: Buying fresh farm products at 

the Hagerstown City Market. The 

City Market has been a local center 

of trade and commerce—and a 

testament to the county’s agricultural 

heritage—for more than 200 years. 

My grandfather would arise at 3:00 

a.m. on Saturdays, drive to 

Hagerstown from Clevelandtown, 

arrive early to grab a good stall, sell 

his produce until about noon, then 

return home to spend the remainder 

of the afternoon tending fields at his 

truck farm. 



Below: Poultry on display and ready 

for judging at the Great Hagerstown 

Fair. At the end of Second World War, 

191,187 chickens (the feathered type) 

resided within Washington County. 




❖ 

Above: Corn had been a staple crop in 

the county since before its founding. 

As county farmers produced more 

corn than they needed for animal feed 

and human consumption, they 

distilled it for liquid consumption in 

the form of whiskey. Whiskey, in fact, 

had been one of the county’s earliest 

exports, dating back to the 

Potowmack Canal days. Commercial 

distilleries, like this one on Roxbury 

Road, flourished at the turn of the 

twentieth century. Owner George 

Gambrill had aging here at one time 

more than 13,000 barrels of rye 

whiskey. The advent of Prohibition 

forced the closure of all 

county distilleries. 



Right: Seal of Excellence. 



Below: Federal revenue agents 

proudly displayed a commercial-grade 

still they seized in Frog Hollow during 

the Prohibition period. Frog Hollow— 

located along Harpers Ferry Road 

between Dargan and the village of 

Antietam—was an ideal place to 

produce moonshine as a business. It 

offered fresh spring water; mountains 

to hide within; plenty of homegrown 

corn; proximity to a smuggling route 

(the B&O Railroad); nearness to a 

state line (West Virginia); and a 

narrow defile that easily could be 

watched for intruders. Bootlegging 

became so profitable that the Frog 

Hollow whiskey makers organized a 

business syndicate big enough to care 

for Bootlegger families if someone was 

caught and sent to prison. Catching 

Bootleggers, incidentally, could be 

hazardous work. Notice the badges 

and gunbelts and pistols on the 

Revenuers. Can you locate their rifle? 




CHAPTER VII 

THEIR LEGACY… YOUR LEGACY… OUR LEGACY 

Profit is ever twofold: He who gains must profit him who buys. 

—Benjamin Franklin 

As Washington County entered the twenty-first century, its businesspeople had passed through 

four centuries. From the craftsmen of the 1700s to the farmers of the 1800s to the factory workers 

of the 1900s to the retailers of the 2000s, the businesses that bolstered and defined the local economy 

have changed dramatically. 

Vestiges of businesses long gone still remain. Charcoal roads have become county roads. Settler 

trails are today’s Appalachian Trail. The Canal towpath has morphed into a bike path. The Cumberland 

line of the Western Maryland has changed into a rail to trail. Fairchild’s planes have propelled into 

museum pieces. Mill traces have become channels for canoe races. The National Road twists and turns 

as a tourist road. Möller organs are everywhere, but their replacement parts are nowhere. 

Transportation—as it did in the eighteenth century, nineteenth century and twentieth century— 

established the course of Washington County into the new millenium. The federal interstate highway 

system brought significant economic changes to the county. Throughout its history, the county’s 

geography—located at the narrowest point in Maryland and in the heart of the Great Cumberland 

Valley—benefited Washington County, just as it did when the original interstate planners began drawing 

lines on maps. Planners envisioned Interstate 70 becoming the east-west route through the state while 

Interstate 81 would serve as one of Maryland’s two north-south routes (I-95 was the other). Washington 

County became the junction, connecting our area with the tentacles of a vast modern highway system. 

As a result, new industries like long-distance trucking and corporate warehousing commenced within 

the county, and old industries like shipping—dating back to the 1700s—were sustained through 

eighteen wheels rather than mule shoes. The interstate epoch inaugurated a new era, but ended 

another—the era of the railroad. Truck freight replaced rail freight as the means of mass movement, and 

railroads withered across the land. The Hub City became the hub-less city as railroads consolidated and 

cancelled many of their ventures in Hagerstown, ending a century of transportation dominance. 

❖ 

Inns and taverns comprised 

Washington County’s first service 

industry. The first county resort that 

catered to high-end customers was at 

Belinda Springs, pictured here, located 

one mile south of Burnside Bridge 

along the banks of the Antietam 

Creek. The resort advertised healing 

waters that contained “sulphate of 

magnesia and carbonate of iron” 

which were “very efficacious in bilious 

complaints.” Warm and shower baths 

were provided. 



Their legacy…Your Legacy…Our Legacy ✦ 69

❖ 

Right: The railroads launched the era 

of exclusive hotels in the county. The 

Buena Vista Springs Hotel, once 

located atop South Mountain, served 

tourists arriving via the Western 

Maryland Railroad. The hotel 

industry continues to thrive today due 

to the interstate highways. 



Below: Tourists have flocked to 

Washington County since the end of 

the nineteenth century to experience 

its wide array of natural and cultural 

attractions. Row’s Amusement Park 

once thrived along the Conococheague 

Creek near Wilson’s Bridge. The 

tourist industry continues to thrive at 

this location today, except that the 

sand beaches and sliding boards have 

been replaced by the dirt banks 

and sliding racecars at the 

Hagerstown Speedway. 



The interstates also spurred spurts in three 

vastly accelerated county industries—tourism, 

retail and housing construction. Easy accessibility 

for the automobile attracted new visitors, 

new shoppers, and new residents. Hundreds of 

people once operating factory machines began 

tending cash registers at hotels, restaurants, 

and shopping malls. Washington County 

became a tourism mecca, generating millions 

in revenues, thousands of jobs, and a ranking 

as one of the top attractions in the State of 

Maryland. We transformed from a county 

of parts and production to a community of 

customer service. 


Challenges are immense in the business 

world. Whether predicting crop yield or 

prophesizing production or modulating models 

or catering to customers, business is constant— 

only in change. Business demands vision. 

Business requires flexibility. Business beckons 

boldness. Business rewards creativity. 

❖ 

Top, left: Furniture manufacturing 

ranked among the largest industries in 

Washington County during the 

twentieth century. Globalization and 

cheap imports made it virtually 

impossible for area manufacturers to 

compete in the new millenium, and 

another chapter in the county’s 

business history closed. D. Randall 

Hause and his three sons, pictured 

here at the golden anniversary of The 

Brandt Cabinet Works (1951), at that 

time had dedicated 121 years of 

service at Brandt’s. “We’re mighty 

proud of that. And proud of the 

tables we turn out here.” The multigeneration 

family factory worker is 

rare today. And today, the Brandt 

brand is in high demand by 

antique collectors. 



Top, right: Baseball is one of the few 

businesses that have survived the 

centuries. County residents have been 

enamored with the “national pasttime” 

since the nineteenth century, 

with amateur teams competing for 

pride and prominence. Professional 

minor league baseball has been a 

mainstay in Hagerstown for decades, 

with more recent affiliations with the 

Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays, 

San Francisco Giants, and 

Washington Nationals. 



Left: Emblem of evolution. This 

revolving glue-clamp at Jamison Cold 

Storage Door Company, pictured here 

for the company’s fiftieth anniversary 

(1956), is a metaphor for the 

changing dynamic of business in 

Washington County during the past 

three centuries. 



Their legacy…Your Legacy…Our Legacy ✦ 71

❖ 

Right: Our grandparents gave them a 

future. What will our legacy be…for 

our children? 



Below: Education has become a 

priority in Washington County in the 

new millenium. The students pictured 

here at Brownsville’s one-room school 

just before World War I could count 

upon jobs with the railroads, the 

factories, or the farms. Good wages 

came with a high school education 

(or less). As the county’s economy has 

diversified, blue-collar employment 

has diminished and educational 

requirements have increased. 

Reflecting awareness that education is 

the key to the economy of the future, 

the twenty-first century opened with a 

University of Maryland campus in 

downtown Hagerstown. 


ROOM, WASHINGTON COUNTRY FREE LIBRARY. 

From philosophy to practicality, business is names. Business is brands. Business is corporation. 

Business is wealth. Regardless of your business, if business is impersonal—and people aren’t the 

center of your business—you’ll soon be out of business. 

People have been the core to Washington County’s business successes for generations. Leaders who have 

inspired. Entrepreneurs who have invested. Philanthropists who have cared. Dreamers who have dared. 

What’s your role? 

How will history define your legacy? 


SHARING THE HERITAGE 

Historic profiles of businesses, organizations, and 

families that have contributed to the development and 

economic base ofWashington County 

Washington County Health System ....................................................74 

Hoffman Chevrolet .........................................................................76 

University System of Maryland at Hagerstown....................................78 

The Arc of Washington County .........................................................80 

Hagerstown Antietam Battlefield KOA Campground .............................82 

Ramada Plaza ...............................................................................84 

Volvo Powertrain ...........................................................................86 

Debbie’s Soft Serve ........................................................................88 

The Urological Center, P.A. .............................................................90 

Frederick, Seibert & Associates........................................................92 

Andrew K. Coffman Funeral Home, Inc..............................................94 

Ellsworth Electric, Inc....................................................................96 

Western Maryland Hospital Center ...................................................98 

Washington County Free Library ....................................................100 

Washington County Public Schools ..................................................101 

Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce ......................102 

Locust Hill Greenhouse .................................................................103 

Hagerstown-Washington County Industrial Foundation, Inc.................104 

Eastern Organ Pipes, Inc. .............................................................105 

Hagerstown Community College......................................................106 

Hagerstown-Washington County Economic Development Commission.....107 

Cochran Auctioneers & Associates LTD ...........................................108 

Schmankerl Stube ........................................................................109 

Fahrney-Keedy Home and Village ...................................................110 

Kaplan University........................................................................111 

Vincent Groh 

Barbara Ingram School for the Arts .............................................112 

Hub Labels .................................................................................113 

Saint James School .......................................................................114 

R. Bruce Carson Jewelers ..............................................................115 

Leiter’s Fine Catering ...................................................................116 

Pittman’s Market, Inc. ..................................................................117 

Myerly & Lowe Photography ..........................................................118 

Carol & Company ........................................................................119 

SPECIAL 

THANKS TO 

Hoffman Chevrolet 

R. Bruce Carson Jewelers 

Sharing the Heritage ✦ 73

WASHINGTON 

COUNTY 

HEALTH SYSTEM 

In October 1905, Washington County Hospital 

opened its doors at the old M. P. Moller residence 

on the corner of Potomac and Fairground 

Avenues. With 10 hospital beds, its 12 physicians 

and 6 staff members treated just over 100 patients 

the first year. Now, more than 100 years later, 

Washington County Hospital treats more than 

18,000 inpatients each year. The hospital has 

experienced an amazing evolution in that time 

in everything from staffing to patient care services. 

It has witnessed modern medicine emerge, 

and kept pace with the ever-changing advances 

in technology. 

The hospital moved to the Kee Mar College 

site on Antietam Street in 1912. Here, bed size 

increased from 10 to 46, and boasted an annual 

patient census of 410 patients. The hospital 

acquired its first X-ray machine in 1915. A year 

later, six women were the first graduates of the 

nurses’ training school and, around 1922, a 

laboratory opened with two technologists. 

More than twenty years later, the facility 

increased its size again with a major expansion 

project. This was the first of seven expansion 

projects between 1935 and 1992, each of which 

afforded the hospital the opportunity to 

accommodate more patients and expand its 

services. The first was the opening of the Bloom 

Memorial Wing which increased the hospital’s 

bed capacity to 158, followed by construction of 

an eight-story wing in 1950, which increased 

capacity to 311. 

In 1968, a new, eight-story wing, adjacent to 

Baltimore Street was completed, bringing the total 

bed count to 383. The facility was designated a 

regional trauma center in 1980. Three years later, 

a new wing housing a progressive care unit, 

ambulatory surgery, the operating suite/recovery, 

emergency department and physical therapy was 

completed. The Family Birthing Center was 

opened in 1989 with fourteen beds, and that same 

year bylaws were adopted to form the Washington 

County Health System. In 1996, the John R. Marsh 

Cancer Center opened. In 2002, the hospital was 

designated as a Level III Trauma Center. 


In 2006 a special care nursery to 

care for premature babies and 

babies with medical complications 

was opened. That same year, the 

hospital celebrated the opening of 

a highly specialized wound center 

to assist patients with chronic 

wounds. In 2007 the hospital was 

accredited as a primary stroke 

center by the Maryland Institute 

for Emergency Medical Services. 

The Center for Bariatric Surgery 

opened in 2008 to serve patients 

considering weight loss surgery. 

That same year a second cardiac 

catheterization laboratory was built 

to accommodate additional offerings 

in the Heart Center. The hospital 

received a waiver from the Maryland 

Health Care Commission to offer lifesaving 

emergency angioplasty to patients experiencing 

a heart attack and subsequently received 

commission approval to diagnose and treat 

patients with non-emergency cardiac disease, 

saving patients a trip to the Baltimore area. In 

2009 the hospital’s Primary Stroke Center 

implemented a telestroke program with the 

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), 

which allows UPMC’s vascular neurologists to 

consult by videoconference with our emergency 

physicians and neurologists. 

Today, the hospital is once again experiencing 

growth with a $150-million construction 

project. James P. Hamill, president and CEO, 

says the new facility, which will be located 

adjacent to Robinwood Medical Center, will 

feature 297 single-patient rooms. “The new 

regional medical center will offer improved 

access to advanced medical technology as well as 

enhanced patient and family-centered care,” says 

Hamill. The new structure is expected to be 

completed at the end of 2010. 

None of what has already been accomplished 

(or will be accomplished in the future) could be 

achieved without the extraordinary people who 

make it happen. The more than 300 physicians 

on the medical staff, 3,000 dedicated employees 

across the health system, and hard-working 

volunteers are committed to the best possible 

patient care and safety. Every day, they live 

the health system’s pledge to our community: 

Responsiveness to need. Excellence in care. 

Respect for all. 


HOFFMAN 

CHEVROLET 

❖ 

Right: Robert Suddith. 

It was a Halloween Day in 1925 

when prominent Hagerstown citizen 

and former bank clerk C. W. Hoffman 

seized the opportunity to become one 

of the country’s automotive pioneers 

by opening Hoffman Chevrolet, which 

later became Hoffman Automotive 

when it was purchased by Robert 

“Bob” Suddith in the early 1980s. 

The long and storied history of what 

is now Hoffman Automotive began in 

the era of the “roaring twenties” during 

prohibition when Calvin Coolidge, 

known as “silent Cal” due to his lack of 

loquaciousness, was President of the 

United States and the automobile was 

coming of age. 

General Motors, of which Chevrolet was a 

major component, was founded in 1908. Its 

Chevrolet Division was only sixteen years old 

when Hoffman opened his dealership. In 2009, 

Chevrolet celebrated its hundred-year anniversary. 

Hoffman successfully ran his dealership 

through good times and bad. Hoffman Chevrolet 

survived the great depression, lived through 

recessions and thrived during the country’s many 

post war boom times. Hoffman was active in the 

company until his death in 1963 when his son 

“Bud” Hoffman succeeded him. 

The company was relocated to its current 

location at 101 South Edgewood Drive in 1973. 

A new facility was built on eight acres to 

accommodate a large six vehicle showroom and 

an adjoining parts department, body shop and a 

thirty-two bay service department. 

In 1982, Suddith, a former Baltimore Pontiac 

dealer purchased the company and grew it from 

a single point Chevrolet dealership to today’s 

multi-franchise automotive group. He purchased 

additional land in the early 1990s and built more 

automotive buildings to accommodate the newly 

acquired prestigious franchises—Cadillac, 

Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge. 

Suddith kept the Hoffman name, which 

carried longtime recognition and an impeccable 

reputation in Washington County and the 

surrounding communities. That recognition and 

reputation has been enhanced over the years. 

Now the oldest automotive dealership in 

Hagerstown and one of the oldest and most 

consistently successful in the country, Hoffman 

Automotive celebrates eighty-five years of 

serving the citizens of Washington County and 

their automotive needs. 


with a combination shopping, buying service 

and ownership experience that consistently 

satisfies each customer’s needs and exceeds their 

expectations in a comfortable supportive 

environment,” Suddith Stahl emphasizes. 

Although like many other major businesses 

nationwide, sales and services dropped during 

the recent economic downturn. Hoffman 

endured the downturn during the General 

Motors and Chrysler bankruptcies and was 

spared from the dealer cuts of both 

manufacturers. “In 2010, we have seen a strong 

increase in both sales and service revenue,” 

Suddith Stahl pointed out. 

Like its predecessor, Hoffman Automotive 

has long been active in civic and community 

affairs, supporting the Washington County Boys 

and Girls Club, American Cancer Society and 

Washington County SPCA among others. 

❖ 

Left: Jennifer Suddith Stahl. 

Suddith was highly respected among his 

peers in the automotive business and like his 

predecessor in the business was a leader in local 

community affairs. Upon his death in 2004, he 

was succeeded by his daughter, Jennifer Suddith 

Stahl, who carries on her father’s legacy as 

head of Hoffman Automotive group. Currently 

the company has approximately one hundred 

employees, some of whom have been employed 

with Hoffman for more than thirty years. “Our 

goal is to continue to provide our customers 


UNIVERSITY 

SYSTEM OF 

MARYLAND AT 

HAGERSTOWN 

❖ 

Clockwise, starting from top, left: 

The Baldwin House in its heyday. 

Renovation of the Baldwin Complex. 

The newly renovated University 

System of Maryland building. 

If the walls within the University System 

of Maryland at Hagerstown (USMH) could 

talk, they would reveal stories woven through 

time—stories from nineteenth century travelers 

seeking a restful night at the Baldwin House 

hotel; stories from bustling shoppers purchasing 

goods at Leiter’s and Routzahn’s department 

stores; stories from citizens seeking culture at 

the Academy Theater; and most recently, stories 

from 527 people who have received bachelor’s 

and master’s degrees from the five universities 

housed in the regional higher education center. 

USMH opened in January 2005 with three 

universities and has grown to offer more than 


twenty undergraduate and graduate 

programs, from Frostburg State University 

(FSU), Salisbury University (SU), Towson 

University (TU), University of Maryland, 

College Park (UMCP) and University of 

Maryland University College (UMUC). 

The seventy-seven-thousand-square-foot 

state-of-the-art facility has spurred economic 

development, and many consider USMH 

to be the cornerstone in the renaissance of 

downtown Hagerstown. Drawing upon this 

theme, USMH created the Elizabethtowne 

Feaste and Frolic scholarship fundraiser in 

2007. This year, the first scholarships are 

being awarded to ten USMH students, who 

will each receive $2,500. 

The U.S. Census Bureau shows 19 

percent of residents in Washington 

County 25 years and older have higher 

education degrees; whereas, 35 percent of 

Maryland residents in the same age group 

hold degrees. USMH offers the community 

accessibility to higher education in a 

geographic area that has previously been 

underserved. 

USMH offers programs that benefit the 

workforce needs of the region, including 

teaching, nursing and social work. Students 

can transfer from Hagerstown Community 

College (HCC) and other area community 

colleges into programs at USMH. FSU 

offers a dual enrollment program with 

HCC. This allows HCC students, who are 

going to transfer into FSU programs at 

USMH, to use USMH’s academic resources 

ensuring a seamless transfer. 

Since opening in 2005, USMH’s enrollment 

has increased more than nineteen 

percent. Next year, USMH will offer its 

first-ever doctoral program—a doctorate 

in education—or Ed.D. in Educational 

Leadership from the University of 

Maryland (UM) in collaboration with FSU. 

A bachelor’s degree in Psychology from FSU 

and other programs are in the pipeline. Visit 

www.hagerstown.usmd.edu for more information. 

The $13-million renovation of the Baldwin 

House was an incredible feat. The abatement of 

hazardous materials took one year and cost $1 

million, and engineers had to stabilize the 

building with steel. 

The USMH building with its five-story 

windows is a true architectural marvel. Visitors 

are often amazed at the building’s historical 

preservation combined with its modern lines. It 

is a building that inspires, which is appropriate 

as the students studying within its walls aspire 

to accomplish their dreams and leave USMH 

with a firm grasp on their future careers. 

❖ 

The plaza entrance to the building. 


THE ARC OF 

WASHINGTON 

COUNTY, INC. 

What is today The Arc of Washington 

County, Inc., was founded in 1952 by a group 

of dedicated individuals to assist local children 

with disabilities. Initially formed as the 

Hagerstown Council for Retarded Children, the 

scope of the organization was expanded, and in 

1975 the name was changed to the Washington 

County Association of Retarded Citizens (Arc). 

The organization continues to manifest the 

traits established by the founders: training, 

advocacy for all people with disabilities, 

community involvement and quality programs. 

The Arc of Washington County, Inc., is a 

nonprofit local chapter of The Arc of Maryland 

and The Arc of the United States, the largest 

volunteer organization in the world devoted 

exclusively to improving the quality of life for 

all persons with disabilities. 

The organizing group of The Arc of 

Washington County, Inc., many of whom still 

actively serve the organization today, was the 

catalyst for the wide variety of valuable programs 

and innovative services that exists at The Arc. 

Today more than nine hundred citizens with 

developmental disabilities receive support 

throughout the Western Region, which includes 

Allegany, Garrett and Washington Counties. 

Community integration and individual choice 

are evident in the vast array of opportunities The 

Arc’s unique programs provide. The caring, dedicated 

staff of over 560 strives to support each 

individual it serves so each individual can live 

his or her life with dignity and respect. 

Individuals, age ten years to seniors with 

the following disabilities are served by The Arc: 

Autism, Cerebral Palsy, intellectual disability, 

orthopedic impairment, brain injury, blindness/ 

severe visual impairment, mental health 

disorders, deafness/severe hearing impairment, 

epilepsy/seizure disorder, speech/language 

impairment, specific learning disability, spina 

bifida, and other neurological impairments. 


The myriad of services offered by the 

organization are as follows: 

• Adult Residential Services serves 140 individuals 

in over 40 residences, providing not just 

a place to live, but also the best quality of life. 

• Children’s Residential Services serves twentytwo 

children and young adults in five 

residences providing services which are 

home-like, safe, maximally integrated into the 

community, and tailored to each individual’s 

disability/challenge. 

• Community Supported Living Arrangements 

(CSLA) provides a broad spectrum of support 

ranging from outreach assistance and case 

management to twenty-four hours per day, 

seven days a week supervision in the 

individual’s own home. 

• Individual & Family Support Services (IFSS) 

provides flexible, individualized assistance 

including housekeeping, shopping, cooking, 

financial skills, recreational activities, and 

transportation to two hundred individuals 

and families. 

• Intensive Behavior Management Program 

(IBMP) provides behavioral support services 

to 250 individuals with developmental 

disabilities and challenging behaviors. 

Services include behavioral assessment and 

consultation, crisis intervention, temporary 

augmentation of staff, behavioral respite, and 

behavioral training. 

• Stepping Stones provides services to more 

than fifty children who have autism or mental 

health issues. 

• Day Habilitation serves more than two 

hundred adults who take part in learning 

activities, vocational training and enjoyable 

pastimes. The Phoenix Program provides 

vocational rehabilitation services for adults 

who have experienced a brain injury, while the 

Awakenings Program provides day services for 

adults with autism. 

• Supported Employment offers job training 

opportunities and support in finding and 

sustaining meaningful employment. Special 

attention is given to ensure that individuals 

find employment that is well-suited to their 

skills and interests. 

• Medical Day provides services to individuals 

who require nursing interventions and monitoring 

on a daily basis. Caregivers and nurses 

assist individuals to improve their capability 

in self-care and personal hygiene, stimulate 

and support physical and mental capabilities 

and improve social interaction skills. 

The program is licensed and regulated by the 

Department of Mental Health and Hygiene’s 

Office of Health Care Quality. The agency 

also operates a Training Kitchen, Recycling 

Center and Cartridge King of Western 

Maryland, which provides individuals with 

opportunities for training. 

The Arc will continue its vision to empower 

individuals with disabilities to achieve personal 

growth and develop their natural gifts. 


HAGERSTOWN ANTIETAM BATTLEFIELD 

KOA CAMPGROUND 

Hagerstown Antietam Battlefield KOA 

Campground, one of the nation’s most 

successful KOA franchises, is the result of the 

hard work, ingenuity and dedication of 

former restaurateurs Judi and John Durham, 

who over the past twenty-one years have built 

the business into a multifaceted entertainment 

complex with appeal to all ages. 

The couple always enjoyed camping with the 

family and considered it a fun and affordable 

way to spend quality time with their children. 

John relates how he and Judi decided to get 

out of the restaurant business and fulfill their 

goal of having a business which would allow 

them to be closer to their children. “We decided 

to sell our restaurant and set out to look for 

another business to buy. We purchased what 

was then called Snug Harbor campground.” The 

name was changed in 2003 when the KOA 

Corporation asked their franchisees to change 

their names to reflect the nearest city or major 

tourist attraction. The name was changed to 

recognize the nearby nationally known Civil 

War monument, Antietam Battlefield. 

At first Judi and John, with the children’s 

help, ran a no-frills, slow-paced operation. But 

the pace quickly picked up when Judi began 

activities to attract campers with young children 

in their children’s age group. The move was a 

success and allowed the campground to 

upgrade facilities and add more amenities. 

The franchiser suggested to them it would be 

a good idea to add cabins to the campground. 

“We built the first two ourselves,” John 

points out. “They rented well and we now have 

seventeen cabins and two camping lodges.” 

Judi and John decided one way they could add 

to the campground’s revenue stream was to extend 


the camping season. “Judi 

began scheduling special 

activities and events after most 

other campgrounds had shut 

down their programs for 

the season. It worked!” John 

exclaimed, “We began seeing 

more campers into the fall and 

more income than we had 

experienced before.” 

The Durhams added a 

Halloween weekend with all 

its activities such as trick or 

treating, costume contests 

and other activities. It was a 

big success and campers 

requested it again and now 

there are seven full successful 

Halloween celebrations a 

year. October has become the 

campground’s second busiest 

month of the year. 

Many groups, including 

the Million Man March and gospel, rock and 

country acts, have visited the campground. 

In 1990, Antietam Battlefield KOA purchased 

two homes adjacent to the facility and after 

contacting the National Ghost Hunters Society 

used one of the houses as a Haunted House 

attraction. “After a month long investigation the 

Society sent us a letter stating the house was 

possibly one of the most haunted houses they 

had ever investigated,” John related. “We named 

our haunted attraction ‘The Terror Creekside 

Manor.’ The house has fifteen plus professionally 

made pneumatic props, many professionally 

made static props, real coffins and a 1975 

Cadillac hearse sitting in the graveyard. The 

house has been visited by the Discover Channel 

and it has served on the set for horror film maker 

Conrad Brooks’ five Gypsy Vampire movies. We 

are the number one attraction of Haunted Houses 

in Maryland and in the top fifty in the U.S.” 

In their efforts to constantly upgrade the 

facility, the restaurant was given an overhaul in 

2009. “We turned it into a 50s style diner,” Judi 

points out. “The image change worked and the 

restaurant income has doubled.” 

Thus far, the Durhams are satisfied they 

have accomplished what they intended to do, 

which was have a successful business they 

could be proud of and leave a legacy for 

their children and grandchildren. “We feel we 

have accomplished our goal and we will 

continue to improve our dream day by day,” 

they concluded. 


RAMADA PLAZA 

In the 1980s, a fifty-room addition to a 

Howard Johnson Hotel in Chambersburg, 

Pennsylvania was the beginning of much bigger 

things to come for Falling Spring Corp, who 

purchased the building. Later the company 

acquired several apartment buildings in 

Greencastle, Pennsylvania. 

Richard V. Pellegrino and J. Edward Beck, Jr., 

owners of the Falling Spring Corp since 1964; 

and their extended families, completed research 

on viable locations for a proposed new hotel. 

They identified the fact that there were no fullservice 

hotels along I-81 in the southwest part 

of Hagerstown, Maryland near the new Valley 

Mall. There, they found the ideal site and built a 

Howard Johnson Hotel with attached 

restaurant. Unfortunately, their construction 

was hampered by a sewer moratorium that had 

been imposed for much of Washington County. 

Once the moratorium was lifted, however, 

they began working on the facility again in 

February 1984. 

Fifteen months later, they opened the doors 

to the six-story hotel with 164 sleeping rooms, 

including eleven suites and mini-suites. 

Originally, the restaurant was leased to Sir 

Walter Raleigh Restaurants, but after three years 

of operations, the Falling Spring Corp 

purchased the restaurant and changed the name 

to Fireside Restaurant & Lounge. The Fireside 

Restaurant & Lounge is known for its fine 

American cuisine and elegant service. In 

September 1999 the hotel dropped its affiliation 

with Howard Johnson Hotels and became 

independently known as the Plaza Hotel. 

The Plaza Hotel boasts many of the perks of 

chain-operated hotels; yet, it maintains the 

ambiance and dedication to customer service of 

smaller independent hotels. The Plaza Hotel 

offers an indoor heated pool, sauna, fitness 

room, cable television, extended stay suites, and 

numerous amenities including complimentary 

breakfast, in-room coffee, refrigerators, special 


ath supplies, free Internet access, and much 

more to accommodate guests whether they are 

on business or leisure travel. The hotel also 

offers free shuttle service to-and-from the 

local airport. 

Along with the continental breakfast, the 

Fireside Restaurant offers a delightful Sunday 

brunch as well as, a special daily luncheon buffet. 

After a busy day of either work or play, one 

can relax in the cozy Fireside Lounge. 

The Plaza focuses on the big picture, 

knowing what guests want and need, and tries 

to provide that for them. If space is needed for 

meetings or special events, it can accommodate 

them in one of seven meeting and banquet 

rooms. In all, total meeting space measures over 

seven thousand square feet. 

The Plaza Hotel is located close to shopping 

malls and Prime Outlets. History buffs will 

appreciate the close proximity to the nearby 

Antietam Civil War Battlefield, as well as other 

Civil War battlefields. 

Those who enjoy Winter Sports will find the 

Plaza Hotel a short distance from the Whitetail 

Ski Resort. Nearby are theaters, golf courses and 

the Washington County Museum of Art. 

On June 14, 2009, the Plaza Hotel became 

the Ramada Plaza. New General Manager 

Thomas Domorski was brought in by 

Marshall Hotels & Resorts, a Salisbury, 

Maryland-based hospitality management 

company. With this one exception, the 

entire staff has remained the same, providing 

quality accommodation and service as well as 

serving outstanding meals at the Fireside 

Restaurant & Lounge. 

Among the incentives to visit the Ramada 

Plaza, are instant rewards and monthly incentive 

programs. The Ramada Plaza is located at 1718 

Underpass Way in Hagerstown. For more 

information or to make a reservation, please 

visit www.plazahotelhagerstown.com. 


VOLVO 

POWERTRAIN 

The venerable Mack Trucks Company became 

Washington County’s major economic engine 

manufacturer in 1961 when it moved its 

Powertrain Operations to a modern new facility 

in Hagerstown from its outmoded facility in 

New Jersey. The newly constructed facility 

involved a large-scale move of employees, tools 

and materials and an overall investment of over 

$40 million. The new 1.5 million-square-foot 

facility was built on 300 acres in Hagerstown. By 

1962 employment was 1,600 with 38 engines 

being produced in an eight-hour day. By1963, 

Mack was one of Maryland’s largest employers 

with twenty-seven hundred workers. In 1972 a 

strong truck market brought forth Hagerstown’s 

first $100-million upgrade program with several 

aspects planned for completion in the 1970s. 

Hagerstown’s second $100-million modernization 

program was completed in 1989, and in 1996 

over $28 million was invested in its engine 

manufacturing operations. 

In 2001 the Volvo Group acquired Renault 

Trucks and Mack Trucks, including the 

Hagerstown operations. Soon after, Volvo made 

a large investment to modernize and upgrade 

the Hagerstown facility, adding equipment 

and processes to produce Volvo in addition to 

Mack products. When Volvo acquired the Mack 

Company it inherited a long line of pioneering 

innovations in the industry. Such innovations 

began when Gus Mack patented a constant mesh 

feature that protected transmission gears from 

being damaged or stripped by inexperienced 

drivers. His brother, Jack, patented the selective 

feature that allowed drivers to immediately shift 

from high to low and vice versa without going 

through intermediate speeds. The ideas were 

revolutionary for the times and transformed the 

truck industry. 

In 2004, as production of the Volvo D12 engine 

for Volvo Trucks North America commenced, the 

name was changed to Volvo Powertrain. 

In 2006 a new state-of-the-art Engine 

Development lab was opened and a major upgrade 

to the production facility also was completed. 

Under Volvo ownership, the Hagerstown 

facility has evolved into a modern, state-of-the-art 

global operation, which serves Mack Trucks, Volvo 

Trucks North America, Prevost, and Volvo Bus. 


The plant machines internal components for 

heavy duty diesel engines and transmissions. 

Along with the machining operations engine 

and transmission assembly is performed on site. 

As a recognized leader in the design, 

development and manufacturing of powertrain 

systems and components, such as engines and 

transmissions, employees and their skills are 

crucial in Volvo’s success. Volvo Powertrain in 

Hagerstown provides an excellent environment 

and opportunity to work on assignments that 

are challenging and educationally stimulating. 

The facility is recognized for its world-class 

engine lab and highly automated assembly line. 

“Our mission is to create value for our 

customers and shareholders and to serve the 

community,” Carlos Hungria, senior vicepresident 

of the Volvo Powertrain North 

American organization emphasized. 

Active in civic and community activities and 

the arts and culture of the local community, the 

company has over the years made generous 

contributions to such organizations as the 

Chamber of Commerce, scouting programs, 

Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and the yearly United 

Way campaign, which is the biggest they 

support and run, among others. 

Peter Karlsten, president and CEO of 

Volvo Powertrain, commented, “Our way of 

implementing decisions and executing our 

strategies makes us unique and we benefit 

from our different branches, strategies, cultures 

and perspectives.” 

The Volvo Group is one of the world’s leading 

manufacturers of trucks, buses and construction 

equipment, drive systems for marine and 

industrial applications, aerospace components 

and services, and is one of the world’s leading 

producers of heavy-diesel engines (nine to 

sixteen liter). The Group also provides 

complete solutions for financing and service and 

employs about 80,000 people, has production 

facilities in 19 countries and sells their products 

in more than 180 markets. The Volvo Group is 

a publicly-held company, headquartered in 

Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo Shares are listed on 

Nasdaq OMX Nordic Exchange and are traded 

OTC in the United States. 


DEBBIE’S 

SOFT SERVE 

❖ 

Above: Jim and Debbie with the bike. 

“Whenever we can we get away for a 

couple of days, we take a road trip to 

keep our sanity.” 

Below: Jim and Debbie, daughters, 

Jamie and Kristi, husbands 

and grandchildren. 

Like so many people, Jim and Debbie Oden 

had dreams of “living the American Dream.” For 

more than fifteen years, they wanted to own 

their own business. They talked about the type of 

business they would have and where it would be 

located. They even went so far as to renting retail 

space near a Washington County shopping mall. 

Their dream, then, was to open a familystyle 

seafood restaurant and ice cream parlor 

combined—until a problem arose. Jim got cold 

feet, thinking it would be too much of a strain on 

the family pocketbook, and backed out of the deal. 

Debbie, then, went to work at Grove World 

Wide for about ten years, enjoying the everyday 

challenges. However, when the company began 

laying off employees, the idea of a family-owned 

business resurfaced. 

Jim was an ironworker by trade and spent 

about thirty-five years installing structural steel 

for high rise buildings, power plants, television 

towers, and other similar buildings in the 

Baltimore area. He retired five years ago, 

but is now a consultant/superintendent for a 

construction company. 

The idea of their own business continued 

to haunt them until they finally bit the dust, 

deciding on a soft ice cream business. Debbie 

undertook the task of securing the equipment 

and Jim scouted a location for the trailer they 

purchased next to a fruit stand, thinking each 

business would play off the other. 

After a few delays with equipment, trailer 

and permits, they delayed their opening from 

spring 2001 to after Labor Day that year. In the 

meantime, Kristi, their youngest daughter who 

was still in high school, went to work at Tasty 

Freeze. It was she who came to the rescue, 

teaching her parents how to make cones, clean 

the machines, etc. 

Jim says that the first one-and-a-half months 

after opening were slow. “That wasn’t all bad 

because we had a lot to learn.” Learn they 

did! The business was faring so well that 

they needed more room. They found an old 

gas station near the original location and 

purchased it. Since that time, the business 

has grown every year, thanks to their great and 

loyal customers. 


The family’s youngest daughter, Kristi, ran the 

business the year of 2008, and continues to help 

out occasionally. Their oldest daughter Jamie is a 

nurse at Waynesboro Hospital. If the couples’ 

dream continues, their six grandchildren will 

contribute to the business, as well. “Right now, 

they just enjoy the ice cream,” says Debbie. 

Most employees are around fifteen years 

of age when they join Debbie’s Soft Serve. 

According to Jim, “Most stay with us until they 

leave for college. We become so attached to 

them, they become part of the family, and we 

end up sponsoring their sports teams.” 

Debbie’s Soft Serve is located on Route 64 in 

Smithsburg, serving up more than thirty flavors 

of tasty, soft serve ice cream to anyone and 

everyone with a sweet tooth. Usually, that 

includes youngsters when they finish a Little 

League baseball game or a Washington County 

Girls Softball Fast pitch match. From farmers to 

business people, they all find a treat at Debbie’s! 

Those treats include specials parfaits such as 

Peanut Butter Parfait, Black Raspberry Parfait, 

and Patriotic Parfait (layers of granola, vanilla 

ice cream, cherry and blueberries, topped with 

whipped cream and a big red cherry on top)! 

In addition, there are cones, milkshakes, 

malts, floats, sundaes and banana splits. When 

someone wants something fancier to take 

home, Debbie will whip up her specialty—ice 

cream cakes in a variety of flavors and sizes. 

Plans now are to complete the gas station 

renovation and move out of the trailer, making 

it ideal as a year-round business. 

Debbie wants to provide other foods. And, 

yes, Jim still has “bigger” dreams. With luck, he 

is anticipating 3,000 stores around the world. 

If history and dreams are any predictors of the 

future, he will reach his goal! 

❖ 

Above: The original Debbie’s Soft 

Serve trailer. 

Below: The current location, 2009. 

“With our dedicated and loyal 

customers, who knows where the 

company will go.” 


THE UROLOGICAL 

CENTER, P.A. 

For more than five decades Hagerstown’s 

Urological Center has served the people of western 

Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania with 

urologic care, the equal of any in the country. 

The Center was founded in 1956 when Dr. 

Joseph Crisp relocated to Hagerstown from 

Peoria, Illinois. 

Dr. Lawrence A. Jones, the center’s official 

historian, who joined the practice in 1973 while 

still on active duty in the U.S. Navy and has since 

retired, relates, “Dr. Jacob Warden, a native of the 

West Virginia panhandle at the time had a very 

successful urologic practice and presented stiff 

competition for Joe Crisp. In fact, Jake Warden 

was chief of staff of Washington County Hospital 

from 1956 to 1958. Jake Warden’s almost sudden 

death in 1965 suddenly placed a tremendous 

burden on Joe’s shoulders and he sought help and 

found it in John Donoghue, a Navy trained 

urologist who joined the practice in 1966.” 

In the late 1960s the practice grew rapidly, 

extending into West Virginia and southern 

Pennsylvania, necessitating recruiting two 

more urologists, Dr. Henry Garazo and Dr. 

William G. Plavcan. When Dr. Garazo left the 

practice Dr. Donoghue knew that Dr. Jones, then 

a Navy commander, was planning to leave the 

service and he recruited him to join the practice. 

He became the fourth member of the group and 

worked his first month while still on active duty. 

In 1975, Dr. Crisp retired due to illness and 

Dr. Hugh Talton, a friend of Dr. Jones’ in the 

Navy, joined the practice. “This made us an all 

Navy group as all of us had done our residencies 

in naval hospitals,” Dr. Jones points out. 

In the late 1970s and early 1980s the 

practice continued to expand, opening two 

offices in Pennsylvania. 

Dr. Donoghue passed away in 1984 and Dr. 

Wayne McWilliams joined the practice. 

In 1988, Dr. Jones began 

a nine-year term on the 

Maryland Board of Physician’s 

Quality Assurance. 

Dr. Jones and Dr. Plavcan 

retired and three new 

physicians—P. J. Dennis, K. C. 

Hackett, and M. R. Chandry— 

have since joined the practice. 

The Urological Center 

continues to provide the 

community it serves with easy 

access to quality care in 

its field. 


❖ 

The Antietam Flour Mill at Funkstown typified one of several dozen grist mills adjacent to the county’s creeks that utilized water powered machinery to grind wheat into flour. 

Originally constructed in 1859, this imposing brick mill was destroyed by fire seventy years later. Today, ironically, the Funkstown Volunteer Fire Company occupies the site. 



❖ 

FREDERICK, 

SEIBERT & 

ASSOCIATES 

Above: Frederick, Seibert & 

Associates, Inc., founder/President 

Joseph Harold Seibert, 1941-1987. 

Below: Designing sustainable 

communities, since 1941. 

Frederick, Seibert & Associates has a history 

of more than a half century of providing 

environmentally sound sustainable community 

development, not only to historic Hagerstown 

and Washington County where it was founded 

and is headquartered, but also in parts of 

Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia. The 

firm has a branch in Greencastle, Pennsylvania. 

The firm was founded in 1941 by J. Harold 

Seibert after spending years as a supervisor for 

the WPA after the Great Depression. He was 

appointed County Surveyor for Washington 

County the same year he founded J. Harold 

Seibert and Associates and served in that 

capacity until 1972. 

By 1986, after being a relatively small firm 

with a few employees for more than forty years, 

Seibert invited his friend, Fred Frederick, a 

highly respected and well known civil engineer, 

to become a partner and with the idea that 

Frederick would help grow the firm into a full 

service multidisciplinary engineering firm with 

a broader scope. That same year Steve Zoretich, 

renowned in the field of landscape architecture, 

also joined the firm as a partner. The name was 

changed to Frederick, Seibert & Associates, Inc. 

Today Frederick is president of the company 

and Zoretich is vice-president. A year after they 

became partners, Seibert died at age eighty-four. 

“He was a good friend of mine and Washington 

County’s, and a highly respected engineer 

and surveyor who was often called upon 

by local attorneys and judges for his opinions 

on boundary disputes. He, importantly, was 

instrumental in helping develop the first tax 

maps for Washington County and also assisted 

in helping write the first subdivision ordinance 

for Washington County,” Frederick commented. 

Frederick’s extensive background in the field 

of surveying and civil engineering since 1974 

gave him a broad background to draw upon in 

moving the firm forward. As an example, as 

chief surveyor and vice president of Associated 

Engineering Sciences in Hagerstown, he was 

responsible for such large projects as the 

statewide State Highway survey contract, 

the District 7 on call engineering contract, the 

Department of General Services survey work 

and numerous private sector works. 

As an expert in the field of landscape architecture 

since 1983, Zoretich brought expertise 

on increasingly important environmental 

issues to the firm. He began his career at 

Environmental Planning and Design (EPD) in 

Pittsburgh. During his tenure at EPD, he 

worked on a wide range of projects from large 


scale master planning for ITT in Florida, which 

involved thousands of acres to corporate office 

parks in Pittsburgh and North Carolina. He 

performed detailed design on renowned 

Botanic Gardens in places such as Chicago and 

Missouri and completed urban designs for 

downtown Pittsburgh. 

Today, under the leadership of Frederick and 

Zoretich, Frederick, Seibert & Associates is a 

thirty plus member firm that prides itself on 

engineering excellence, hard work and a 

commitment to service for its clients. Wellknown 

clients come from both the public and 

private sectors. 

The company’s design of these and numerous 

other projects has ranged from the 

initial concept stages through 

complete design, agency approval 

process, and construction stakeout 

and project supervision. Its services 

have covered engineering feasibility 

studies, field surveys, concept plans, 

site planning and engineering, land 

planning and subdivision, landscape 

planting plans, water resources, 

wetlands analysis, delineation and 

mitigation, storm water management, 

stream restoration, sediment and 

erosion control, roadway and utility 

design, construction supervision, as 

built drawings, and ALTA surveys for 

final lending institution compliance. 

In addition the firm has assisted many 

of its clients in the preparation of graphic art and 

materials used in their marketing programs. 

FSA is a proud corporate citizen of the 

communities it serves. The company supports 

many community and charitable activities, 

including United Way, Community Free Clinic, 

Habitat for Humanity, Boys and Girls Club, 

Hagerstown Police Athletic League, CASA, 

Salvation Army, Red Cross, Humane Society, 

Washington County Free Library, The Arc of 

Washington County, Lions Club, Rotary, and 

many others. 

For additional information on Frederick, 

Seibert & Associates, visit www.fsa-md.com on 

the Internet. 

❖ 

Above: Centre at Hagerstown, 

Hagerstown, Maryland. 

Below: The present-day firm. 


❖ 

From left to right: 

Andrew K. Coffman. 

Gladys Coffman. 

Roy J. McNamee. 

ANDREW K. 

COFFMAN 

FUNERAL 

HOME, INC. 

Although Andrew and Gladys Coffman had 

no heirs, a Hagerstown business bearing their 

name is a constant reminder of their love and 

philanthropy of the area. 

The Andrew K. Coffman Funeral Home, Inc., 

was founded in 1898. Andrew Kendall Coffman, 

the son of Peter and Elizabeth Coffman, was 

born on a Bakersville, Maryland, farm. The 

family moved to Halfway, Maryland, when he 

was three years old and he was educated in 

local schools. 

Andrew began his business career with the 

Coffman Lumber Company serving as president 

for many years. 

He decided to pursue a career as a funeral 

director and enrolled in Eckles College of Mortuary 

Science in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Upon 

graduation, he returned to Washington County 

where he became a practicing mortician. In 1914 

he married the former Gladys B. Rothstein, who 

joined him in the business. The two were said to be 

full partners in a loving relationship, characterized 

by mutual understanding, trust and warm 

generosity. They shared many interests. 

With no children, the couple welcomed a 

foster son, Roy J. McNamee, in 1923 at the age 

of thirteen. The Coffmans encouraged him to 

learn the funeral business that they so loved. 

He graduated from the H. E. Dolan College of 

Embalming in Philadelphia, and the Cincinnati 

College of Mortuary Science in Cincinnati. He 

returned to the family’s business where he 

worked for fifty-five years, assuming ownership 

upon Andrew’s death in 1968 and Gladys’ death 

a year later. His wife, Hazel, joined him. 

The Coffmans were heavily involved in 

community activities in the Hagerstown 

area. They were members of various civic 

organizations, professional organizations and 

educational institutions, serving on the Hood 

College Board of Trustees, and donating money 

to educational and civic causes in the Central 

Maryland region. Among their outstanding 

achievements was the financing and supervision 

of the construction of the chapel at Hood 

College in Frederick, Maryland, which was 

named in their honor in 1954. Others also 

named in honor of the Coffmans is the Coffman 

Health Center, the Coffman Research Center, 

and the Coffman Nursing Home in Hagerstown. 

Like the Coffmans, McNamee was dedicated 

to giving back to the industry and community in 

which he lived and worked. He was a member of 

the Maryland State Funeral Directors Association, 

the National Funeral Directors Association, and 

various local civic organizations. He was active 

in The Salvation Army serving on its advisory 

board, the board of directors of the Coffman 

Nursing Home and a member of the Hagerstown 

Rotary Club. 


Upon McNamee’s death in 1979, R. Noel 

Brady and his wife, Nancy, assumed ownership 

and the same community generosity has 

continued. Brady served his apprenticeship 

under McNamee, and in 1976, graduated cum 

laude from the American Academy McAllister 

Institute of Funeral Service in New York. 

Brady has been involved in the community 

and active in various civic organizations and 

held several industry related posts. He served 

on the board of the Maryland State Funeral 

Directors Association and was president 

from 1992 to 1993. He was appointed by 

the governor to serve on the Maryland State 

Board of Morticians for eight years, serving six 

of those years as secretary. Brady is a member 

of the National Funeral Directors Association. 

He is a certified Funeral Service Practitioner 

(CFSP), a member of the Hagerstown Rotary 

Club having served as the club secretary, a 

member of the Salvation Army Advisory Board 

for twenty-four years, serving two years as 

chairman and twenty years as secretary. 

Today, he and his wife continue the vision 

that Andrew and Gladys Coffman started more 

than a century ago. 

The funeral home moved to the present location 

in 1925, doing some drastic remodeling in 

1971 and again in 1980. 

Brady has seen many changes in the funeral 

home business. “We have seen cremation 

increase and, in many cases, is preferred to 

internment. Even preferences in caskets have 

changed,” he says. 

The Andrew K. Coffman Funeral Home at 

40 East Antietam Street is a full-service funeral 

home offering competitive pricing and a 

commitment to quality. Located at the same 

address since 1925, its services are as varied as 

the individuals it serves, and include, but are 

not limited to traditional services, cremation, 

forwarding and receiving remains to other 

funeral homes, immediate burial, advanced 

funeral planning, and post-service follow-up 

care with a staff dedicated to assisting families 

following the funeral service. 

❖ 

Andrew K. Coffman Funeral Home. 


ELLSWORTH 

ELECTRIC, INC. 

❖ 

Above: President/Owner Jack Barr 

and Vice President John Barr in 1984 

in front of the company office. 

Below: An original vehicle of the 

company used for providing services 

throughout the community. 

Ellsworth Electric, Inc., of Hagerstown 

traces its roots to 1927, long before electricity 

was a household word. 

The company began as Miller/Liskey, 

providing most of the contracting services for 

large construction projects in Hagerstown and 

the surrounding area. While electricity was 

beginning to gain strength for industrial and 

commercial use, it was not until 1968, when it 

was gaining popularity for home use, that it 

developed a service division to complement its 

existing business. 

In 1984, however, company officials believed 

it made wise business sense to reunite another 

component, offering a wide range of electrical 

and insulation services. It was a union that 

proved to have merit, not only for the company, 

but economically for the Cumberland Valley and 

surrounding area. That decision gave birth to 

the name, Ellsworth Electric, Inc. 

Ellsworth is the largest electrical contractor in a 

five-state region, providing a turn-key operation 

for residential, industrial and commercial needs in 

Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, 

and Delaware, as well as twenty 

municipalities and counties. Its services 

include planning and design, development of 

technical drawings, acquisition of materials, 

and construction of low-, medium- and highvoltage 

electrical systems. It also provides 

code reviews and inspections. 

Today, Ellsworth Electric, Inc., continues 

to draw upon its eighty-two years of 

expertise in the electrical industry 

by helping Washington County and 

surrounding areas develop state-ofthe-art 

office complexes, public buildings, 

industrial plants and housing subdivisions. 

The company name has become 

synonymous with contributing to the area’s 

quality of life that people and businesses 

alike find welcoming. 


Company President John F. Barr 

says he realizes that a company is 

only as good as the people it 

employs. “We take special care to 

recruit, train and retain those 

individuals whose capabilities and 

commitment match our scope of 

services and vision of excellence. 

No job is too large or too small. 

There is no comment or telephone 

call unimportant to us. We firmly 

believe in putting the customer 

first, and to do that, we are 

committed to providing emergency 

service twenty-four hours a day, 

seven days a week. Our service 

department is always on call.” 

Larry Rydbom, vice president, 

reiterates Barr’s comments. “Our 

employees take their jobs seriously. 

They are as dedicated to customer 

service as is our management team. They 

understand that talking about quality customer 

service and delivering it are two different things.” 

Ellsworth Electric takes pride in all its 

electrical construction efforts, including 

commercial, industrial, and residential projects. 

Its electrical service reaches the same markets, 

providing round-the-clock response to problems 

as they develop. 

The company also provides insulation services 

for commercial buildings, industrial facilities 

and residential applications, such as subdivision 

contractors, Barr adds, “Our staff offers extensive 

expertise in high-tech communications, data 

processing, and fire alarm systems, as well. 

“We don’t stop with installation and repair; 

we also provide energy audits for each of those 

facilities to make sure that what we have 

installed works properly and meets everchanging 

building codes. To assure that we 

provide the best installation and service, 

our principals hold Master Electrician 

licenses in those states as well as thirty 

municipalities and counties we serve. 

That’s as important to us as it is to our 

valued clients.” 

To meet the electrical needs of today’s 

changing lifestyle, Ellsworth employs 

approximately 150 field, technical, 

administrative, and management personnel, 

including estimators, materials and toolhandling 

specialists, a purchasing agent, 

and more than eighty master electricians and 

field technicians. In addition it maintains 

a more than 100-vehicle radio-dispatched fleet, 

and a well-stocked 15,000-square-foot materials 

warehouse. Those facts enable the company to 

negotiate most major private-sector contracts 

instead of having to go through time-consuming 

bid processes. 

Local working ownership and a dynamic 

management team have always been a major 

component of Ellsworth’s success. “Our 

commitment to total customer service is reflected 

in our extended hours, competitive rates 

and ‘open door” policy’” says Barr. “We enjoy 

a tremendous amount of trust and credibility. 

That means a great deal to us,” Barr concludes. 

For additional information, please visit 

www.ellsworthelectric.net on the Internet. 

❖ 

Above: President/Owner John Barr of 

Ellsworth Electric, Inc., and his son, 

Service Manager Jonny Barr. 

Below: Ellsworth Electric, Inc. 

working on a current construction 

project for Centra Bank of 

Hagerstown, Maryland. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF JASON TURNER. 


WESTERN MARYLAND HOSPITAL CENTER 

The State of Maryland and Western Maryland 

Hospital Center (WMHC) have long believed in 

healthcare innovation. 

More than fifty years ago, a number of 

physicians in Washington County realized that 

traditional medical-surgical facilities were not 

adequate for the special and rehabilitative needs 

of some patients. That is when they forged a 

plan to address the treatment associated with 

chronic illness and brain injuries. 

Known as Western Maryland State Hospital, 

it was officially authorized by Maryland’s 

General Assembly to provide care for patients 

requiring extended care and rehabilitation 

beyond those at acute care facilities. Governor 

Theodore R. McKeldin; Dr. James McCallum, 

Maryland State Director of Chronic Disease 

Hospitals; James J. O’Donnell, State Director 

of Public Improvements; Dr. Perry F. Prather, 

Deputy State Director of Health and Dr. I. B. 

Lyon, chief physician and first superintendent of 

WMHC, spearheaded the effort. 

Groundbreaking for the facility was held in 

September 1954 on the property where the 

Bellevue County Home once served the county’s 

aged and homeless. Bellevue was replaced by 

Coffman Home for the Aging (now Coffman 

Nursing Home). 


The building, dedicated June 12, 1957, was 

designed with six-bed wards offering round-theclock 

care for 298 patients. It opened its doors 

on Veterans Day, November 11, 1957, admitting 

twenty-eight patients from Deers Head and 

Montebello Hospital. 

WMHC continues to monitor the unique 

health needs of today’s patients to afford 

them better care and rehabilitative inpatient 

treatment. The hospital has two levels of care for 

post acute care patients requiring extended 

rehabilitation and/or medical and nursing care. 

The Specialty Hospital (chronic) level accepts 

extremely ill patients with multi-system failure 

who require a ventilator to breathe, renal (kidney) 

dialysis, wound management, infectious disease 

and multiple other services to stabilize and 

rehabilitate patients. The Brain Injury Program is 

part of the Specialty Hospital for those suffering 

traumatic or non-traumatic brain injuries. In both 

cases, the goal is to rehabilitate patients so they 

may return to independent living. 

The Skilled Nursing level includes a type of 

step-down care providing long term ventilator 

management for those who cannot breathe 

without the help of equipment. Dialysis is 

offered for both in- and outpatients. 

Since opening its doors, WMHC has 

witnessed many positive changes: In 1972, 

Colonel Wilfred G. Tumbusch was appointed 

director. On April 4, 1972, the hospital opened 

the first renal dialysis program in the community. 

In 1977 the first ventilator-dependent patient was 

admitted. A respiratory therapy department 

was added in 1979. In 1985, Carl Fischer was 

appointed director; and, in 1994, Carol 

Goldman, a patient, spoke for the first time in 

eighteen years, drawing national media attention. 

In 1997, Cynthia M. Pellegrino became the first 

female and first non-physician director. 

While a tornado hit WMHC in 1998, the 

hospital continued operation with only minor 

damage and the loss of trees. Seed was planted 

for the extensive therapeutic gardens enjoyed 

by the patients and community today. In 2006, 

fifteen negative pressure rooms were added to 

accommodate multi-resistant infections. A new 

Brain Injury Unit was opened in September 

2007 and dedicated November 11. Four 

months later, a Skilled Nursing Facility with 

a twelve bed Ventilator Program was opened. 

Today, the hospital operates five major Programs: 

Specialty Hospital, Brain Injury, SNF Ventilator, 

Comprehensive Care, and Renal Dialysis. 

“We have always strived to provide the latest 

technology and care for the citizens of Maryland 

who require rehabilitation. Perhaps our mission 

and vision statements sum up that quality of 

care,” says Pellegrino, pointing out “We give 

Marylanders a second chance for quality of life 

through exceptional rehabilitation and healthcare 

services in our healing environment…our 

exceptional people provide comfort in mind, 

body and spirit to those whose lives we touch.” 

Additional information is available on the 

Internet at www.wmhs.com. 


WASHINGTON 

COUNTY FREE 

LIBRARY 

❖ 

Right: The first bookmobile making a 

stop at a country home near Beard’s 

Church on Beck Road near 

Smithsburg. Daniel Beard is standing 

next to the book wagon horse; lady in 

wheelchair is Lottie Beard, daughter 

of Daniel, and Mary Catherine 

Leather, daughter of Lottie. c. 1900. 

Below: The front of the Central 

building (the main branch of 

Washington County Free Library) 

located at 100 South Potomac Street 

in Hagerstown, Maryland. c. 2010. 

It was Washington County’s first librarian, 

Mary Lemist Titcomb’s, great respect for books 

in 1901 that sparked an idea that is emulated at 

libraries throughout the nation. 

Four years later, she hitched up a horsedrawn, 

converted spring wagon in 1905 

with 250 books, and headed to 16 different 

locations implementing the first known 

bookmobile. Her efforts were a spin off from 

1898 when a group of local philanthropists, led 

by Edwin Mealy, chartered the Washington 

County Free Library (WCFL). The group 

realized the need for a library, based upon a 

vision that the agricultural area was one with 

great economic potential. 

Today, the main library at Antietam and 

Potomac Streets, along with seven branches 

further Titcomb’s goal by providing twenty-first 

century technology, including the digitization of 

collections and books in downloadable formats. 

The WCFL serves the personal, educational, 

and professional information needs of the entire 

Cumberland Valley area, promoting community 

enrichment and economic vitality by providing 

information and library services including 

access to more than forty databases, AskUsNow 

twenty-four/seven reference service, and 

Tutor.com. A renovation and expansion of 

the main library scheduled to begin in 2010 

will more than double its size, providing 

expanded state-of-the-art services. Currently, it 

is the Internet provider to county and city 

governments, as well as county schools. Other 

library services are available by remote access 

at www.washcolibrary.org even when buildings 

are closed. Cardholders renew and reserve 

books online, check out special programs 

and events, thanks to the computer age. The 

WCFL balances informational resources to 

meet diverse personal, educational and 

professional needs. 

Located in the city’s arts and entertainment 

district, WCFL is the home library for the 

Barbara Ingram School for the Arts. 

Titcomb said of the first effort to reach out with 

a bookmobile, “No better method has ever been 

devised for reaching the dweller in the country. 

The book goes to the man, not waiting for the man 

to come to the book.” There is no doubt she would 

have been amazed at the library’s changes today. 


As early as the eighteenth century, Maryland 

residents realized the importance of education 

and, while there were many attempts to provide 

schooling for all students, a solid approach to 

education was not achieved until after the turn 

of the twentieth century. 

In the early days of Maryland’s history, 

education was only for the elite. After trial and 

error, the General Assembly began assessing 

taxes to raise funds for public schools. In 1723, 

enough money was raised to build one school in 

each of the state’s twelve counties. Schools that 

fell under that act, however, soon faltered due to 

mismanagement and inexperienced teachers. 

See-saw efforts continued and, in 1865, 

stronger efforts were launched. Each time, there 

was slight improvement, but not enough to 

make education available to everyone. 

A 1914 state survey determined that illiteracy 

was extremely high. That survey did more to 

change the face of Maryland’s public education 

efforts than all previous efforts. The General 

Assembly created the State Department of 

Education, headed by a State Board of Education 

and run by the State Superintendent of Schools. 

Each county, then, appointed education boards 

and superintendents, as well as district boards. 

The foundation for the current State Department 

of Education began in 1916, and the department 

became a cabinet-level department in 1976. 

Today, Washington County Public Schools 

(WCPS) has built on his philosophy, with 

the vision statement: Providing world-class 

educational opportunities for all students. 

WASHINGTON COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS 

WCPS employs more than 1,700 teachers 

with a total staff of nearly 3,000. As a topperforming 

school system in the state, WCPS 

enrolls approximately 22,000 students in 26 

elementary schools, 7 middle schools, 8 high 

schools, 1 combination middle/senior high, 

and several schools for students with special 

needs. In addition WCPS offers a wide variety 

of magnet programs for academically gifted 

students in addition to a successful International 

Baccalaureate program. Rigorous Advanced 

Placement courses are available and strongly 

encouraged at all high schools, and the school 

system has robust extracurricular offerings. 


❖ 

Above: One of the earliest aerial views 

of downtown Hagerstown, taken just 

prior to the Great Depression. The 

tallest structure in Hagerstown’s 

history, the new Hotel Alexander at 

right, dominates the skyline and 

portends a bright future. Hagerstown’s 

century-old City Hall—built during 

Hagerstown’s first boom and reflecting 

the apex of the National Road days— 

featured a unique tower and cupola, 

shining brightly in the sunlight near 

the upper left. 


ROOM, WASHINGTON COUNTY 

FREE LIBRARY. 

HAGERSTOWN-WASHINGTON COUNTY 

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 

The Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber 

of Commerce was chartered on February 1, 1919, 

by a group of local businessmen who later 

became the board of directors. The Chamber 

was formed out of the old Board and Trade, 

through the professional organization known as 

the American City Bureau. With the leadership 

of the first board of directors and the Chamber’s 

first president, Roger Whipple, the Chamber 

began their mission of making Washington 

County a great place to live and work by engaging 

in various activities such as: seeking new 

industries; urging adoptions of building code 

and establishment of proper building inspection; 

urging improvement of school systems and 

street car service; cleaning and extension of the 

city’s sewerage systems; ensuring the cleaning 

and safety of alleys, walkways, and streets; and 

many more. By November of the first year, the 

Chamber had a membership of 64 and by 1949 

the chamber membership exceeds 500. 

The Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber 

of Commerce is a member of both the U.S. 

Chamber of Commerce in Washington and the 

Maryland Chamber of Commerce in Annapolis 

but it is completely independent of those and 

other Chambers of Commerce. The Chamber’s 

mission is to provide programs and services that 

meet the business and professional needs of our 

members while promoting efforts to make the 

community a great place to live and work by 

serving the members, community development, 

and advocacy. The overall vision of the Chamber 

is to be the preferred advocate and recognized 

voice of business in the greater Hagerstown- 

Washington County area. 

The Chamber is led by an elected volunteer 

board of directors and a paid staff, and its work is 

supported by a network of communities made up 

from its membership. The Board sets broad policy, 

the committees plan events and programs, 

and the staff executes the overall operation. 

For more information about the Hagerstown- 

Washington County Chamber of Commerce 

please visit www.hagerstown.org. 

Right: Trolleys began operating in 

Hagerstown as early as 1891, sharing 

the town’s streets with the more 

traditional horse and wagon. The 

electric lines that powered the trolley 

cars and the city now dominated the 

streetscape. View looking toward West 

Washington Street. 


ROOM, WASHINGTON COUNTY 

FREE LIBRARY. 


In 1992, Lynn and Linda Martin and their 

two children were living on the family farm 

where Lynn was working with his father. “Lynn’s 

father’s family still had three children at home 

and the farm income was not enough for two 

households with five children,” Linda recalls. 

“So, as a solution we built a 30-by-96-foot 

greenhouse and began selling plants.” 

That was the modest beginning of Locust Hill 

Greenhouse and Garden Center, which today 

has found a niche for itself by building a loyal 

customer base and winning its share of business 

while battling its big box competition. 

“Business has been a challenge since Wal-Mart 

and Home Depot are so much bigger than we 

are,” Linda points out. 

But by providing a neighborly oriented 

personal service along with a complete line of 

landscaping needs, including flowers, shrubs, 

mulch, sprays, and many other items such as 

pet foods, a variety of bird seeds and specialty 

items, the business has seen steady growth for 

the past two decades. 

One of Locust Hills’ biggest events is the 

Mothers’ Day weekend sale. Since 2003 the 

company has hosted a Mothers’ Day bake sale 

with such delectable items as homemade sticky 

buns, cookies, pies and bread. 

Business was helped when the couple 

compiled a mailing list two years ago targeting 

customers and sending out a newsletter four 

times a year promoting products and offering 

special sales. “Our desire is to not only maintain 

our personal acquaintance with our customers 

but to keep them apprised of what we have to 

offer through other means as well,” Linda said. 

Over the past eight years Greenhouse and 

Garden Center has grown to three greenhouses 

plus a large metal merchandise area. 

The business is a family affair with the couple’s 

two children helping out at the location at 12239 

Ashton Road. In the busy spring season part-time 

help is used to handle the extra business. 

Active in the community the business offers 

help to local garden clubs and donates items for 

local benefit auctions. Local landscapers are 

offered discounts on products. 

“Our goal continues to be to provide the 

surrounding area with quality plants and 

products of all kinds,” Lynn emphasized. 

LOCUST HILL 

GREENHOUSE 

❖ 

Clockwise from top, left: 

First entrance, a small lean-to at the 

end of a greenhouse, 1992-2006. 

Owners, left to right, front: Lynn and 

Linda Martin. Back row, son Curvin 

and daughter Karla. 

New location, 2007. 

Plants growing in the greenhouse. 


❖ 

President Richard W. Phoebus, Sr., 

and Chairman Merle S. Elliott. 


INDUSTRIAL FOUNDATION, INC. 

At the end of the late 1950s during a global 

recession, the largest employer in Washington 

County, Fairchild Engine & Aircraft, experienced a 

severe cut in government contracts, which resulted 

in two-thirds of its workforce being permanently 

laid off. The Hagerstown-Washington County 

Industrial Foundation, Inc. (CHIEF) was born 

February 29, 1960, to help revive the local 

economy and assist the county’s future 

economic development. 

“The mission of CHIEF is to support orderly 

and planned development of our community. 

Many of CHIEF’s activities are continually 

evolving because our goal is to achieve a 

higher quality of life for the residents of 

Washington County,” President and CEO 

Richard Phoebus points out. “We want 

them to enjoy working and raising their 

families in a community that offers them 

a variety of jobs with decent wages and 

benefits, affordable housing, recreational 

and educational opportunities.” 

The original Board of Directors was 

headed by former Maryland Governor 

William Preston Lane, Jr. Merle S. Elliott 

has provided continuity to CHIEF for 

more than forty-nine years, serving 

voluntarily in many capacities, most 

notably as president from 1972-2001 and 

chairman from 2001 to the present. 

CHIEF showed immediate results 

when Mack Truck, Inc., announced 

in 1960 it would build a plant in 

Washington County. Since that time the 

organization has led the way in providing 

the area with a diversified economy. 

Most notable were the developments 

of Interstate Industrial Park, 70/81 

Industrial Park, Airport Business Park 

and Newgate Industrial Park. Combined, 

these locations have an estimated 

six thousand employees. 

CHIEF was instrumental in 1997 in 

founding, operating and housing the 

Community Foundation of Washington 

County, Maryland, Inc. 

In 2002 the organization purchased 

and restored the façade of the historic 

McBare Building in Hagerstown and rents 

the building to the Maryland Theatre for 

one dollar per year. 

In 2003, CHIEF was instrumental 

in funding, operating and housing the 

Hagerstown Neighborhood Development 

Partnership, Inc. 


When the venerable M.P. Möller Pipe Organ 

Company, which at the time was the largest 

builder of pipe organs with the largest pipe shop in 

the country closed in 1991, four veterans of the 

firm saw an opportunity to market pipes to 

builders without “in house” pipe shops. 

Frederick Morrison, who began working at 

Möller when he was a college student and is now 

president of Eastern Organ Pipes, Inc., was 

approached along with co-workers Joe Frushour 

and Jack Rogers by David Keedy to determine if 

there would be a market for making and repairing 

pipes for other organ firms. They decided the 

market was there and opened Eastern Organ Pipes, 

Inc., in Möller’s old pipe shop at 403 North 

Prospect Street in Hagerstown in 1993. The 

company was an immediate success and for most 

of the past decade has seen business grow. “We 

started with a limited amount of tooling purchased 

at the Möller liquidation auction,” Morrison 

explains. “It was an exciting event when we 

purchased a custom built metal planning machine 

built by Hagerstown’s Hydropak Company.” 

Jack Rogers, who worked for Möller for forty 

years in the pipe shop making reed pipes, retired 

from Eastern Organ in 2007 but still works a few 

days a week when needed for special jobs. “Believe 

it or not I still work at the same work bench I 

started with in 1952,” he points out. Speaking of 

Eastern Organ’s success, he commented, “We 

never had an inkling we would be in business, but 

we have been truly blessed over the years. I am 

very proud of the accomplishments we have 

achieved in making pipes to match the caliber of 

the Möller Company. This is due largely to 

employing former skilled workers from Möller 

who take pride in their work.” 

As the middle child in a family of nine, Joe 

Frushour found it necessary to find a job soon 

after graduating from high school. His father 

worked at Möller and suggested he join him. 

Frushour went to work there in 1954 and became 

an expert in making the very smallest pipes in the 

organ. He has been treasurer of Eastern Organ 

since its inception and has used his Möller 

experience to help make the company a success. 

Keedy, who made major contributions to the 

company, retired due to health reasons and his 

stock was purchased by the other partners. 

Eastern Organ Pipes’ customer base 

consists of pipe organ builders and 

maintenance technicians throughout 

the United States with a limited 

number of sales outside of the country. 

EASTERN ORGAN 

PIPES, INC. 

❖ 

Clockwise from below: 

Cindy Horn making a pewter 

alloy pipe. 

Gary Hoffman with fanfare copper 

trumpet pipes. 

New organ pipes for historic 

restoration; zinc with bronze 

gold finish. 


HAGERSTOWN 

COMMUNITY 

COLLEGE 

❖ 

Students study near the fountain in 

front of the recently renovated Career 

Programs Building at Hagerstown 

Community College. 

Hagerstown Community College was founded 

in 1946 as Maryland’s first community college. It 

initially offered only a few courses of study and 

primarily served World War II veterans who 

were eager to use the G.I. Bill to pursue higher 

education. Since that time, the mission of the 

college has grown and expanded to the point 

that there is hardly a cluster of occupations that 

you cannot get to by starting at HCC. Enrollment 

is at an all-time high, with more than fourteen 

thousand students enrolled each year in credit 

and non-credit classes. 

More than one hundred programs of study are 

currently available for university transfer, career 

preparation, and personal development. HCC also 

offers non-credit continuing education courses 

and customized training programs, and is home to 

Washington County’s adult education program. 

Associate degrees, certificates and letters of recognition 

are awarded. HCC is accredited by the 

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. 

The 319-acre picturesque campus encompasses 

seventeen buildings and includes a full-service 

business incubator, numerous gardens, and an 

outdoor amphitheater. HCC offers classes at 

other locations in the community, including area 

hospitals and high schools, as well as satellite 

centers at the Valley Mall and Fort Ritchie in 

Cascade, Maryland. 

Special programs include Job Training Student 

Resources, which provides support services for 

unemployed and underemployed students, and 

the ESSENCE Program, which enables area high 

school students to take college classes at a 

discounted rate. 

HCC is embracing the field of biotechnology 

through the creation of a wet labs facility for 

lease by start-up biotech and life science firms 

which opened in 2008, as well the introduction 

of biotechnology curriculum which began 

in the fall of 2007. A major renovation to 

the Career Programs Building was recently 

completed and now offers sophisticated 

laboratory, classroom, and office space for 

nursing and allied health programs. It is 

also home to The Merle S. Elliott Continuing 

Education and Conference Center. 

Additional information on Hagerstown 

Community College is available by visiting 

www.hagerstowncc.edu on the Internet. 


The Hagerstown-Washington County 

Economic Development Commission (EDC) was 

created in 1959 in response to the hard hitting 

impact of the 1958 global recession. The local 

economic struggle was magnified when the 

county’s major industry at the time, Fairchild 

Aircraft, faced a sharp postwar downturn and laid 

off over four thousand employees. 

There was quick reaction when then Maryland 

State Senator George E. Snyder pushed through a 

bill in the State legislature that created the EDC, 

which was designed to help encourage more 

companies to relocate to Washington County. 

Fortunately for both the city and county, during 

the past five decades the EDC and its counterpart, 

the Hagerstown-Washington County Industrial 

Foundation, (CHIEF), which was created in the 

1960s to help EDC in its goal to revitalize the area, 

has been successful. Today the area enjoys 

unrivaled success. 

In 1964, CHIEF acquired the land to help EDC 

develop the first industrial park in the county. 

One of the many key individuals who helped in 

local revitalization efforts was Merle S. Elliott, who 

has been with CHIEF since its founding and now 

serves as its chairman. Under his leadership, 

CHIEF has been instrumental in bringing 

thousands of jobs to the area and creating industry 

diversification. Elliott has also served in many other 

major roles in the community and his multiple 

positions of leadership in numerous organizations 

have laid the framework for continued economic 

and community development. 

Gregory I. Snook, who served on the local Board 

of Washington County Commissioners from 1991 

through 1996, also was an avid supporter of the 


ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION 

EDC and its efforts to attract new businesses as well 

as retain quality jobs for the County. He remains 

involved in several business and community 

organizations and is an advocate for the EDC. 

The EDC is focused on marketing the area’s 

unique attributes and showcasing the ideal 

business climate, affordable cost of living, 

educational resources, and high quality of life in 

the community. 

Its mission continues to be the most effective 

provider of information and strategic solutions 

to existing and prospective businesses as well as 

the leading marketer of the greater Hagerstown 

area as a desirable business destination. 

❖ 

Above: Merle S. Elliott. 

Below: Fairchild Aircraft Factory 

in 1955. 


COCHRAN 

AUCTIONEERS & 

ASSOCIATES LTD 

Since 1972 when Cochran Auctioneers & 

Associates LTD was founded, the company 

has evolved from a strictly local firm, holding 

auctions on-site using a card table for the 

cashier and yellow legal pads to record bids and 

sales, into an international auction firm using 

the latest hi-tech methods and equipment to 

conduct business. 

Jim Cochran began the firm shortly after 

graduating from the well regarded Reppert 

Auction School in Decatur, Indiana. He was 

soon joined by Frank Brinkley, Tom Bikle 

and Vernon Brown. Today, Cochran is CEO 

and head auctioneer; Bikle is Director of 

Marketing and Real Estate and Brown is post 

auction coordinator. Jim’s wife Leslie joined 

the firm after their marriage in 1985 and now 

serves as Director of Administration. 

Other key personnel are 

Charles V. Lewis, vice president of 

the Construction/Industrial division; 

Janice Hull, Baltimore area 

representative; Robert Easterday, 

special coordinator for complex 

operations; Tina Moore, financial 

and administrative associate; 

Joyce Everett, financial and 

administrative associate; Dennis 

Everett, onsite management coordinator; 

Leo Cline, Sr., auctioneer 

and operations coordinator and 

Austin and Joann Flook, lifelong 

Washington County residents 

who have been involved over the 

years with the firm. 

Today, Cochran Auctioneers 

& Associates is a modern, 

up-to-date operation using 

such methods as on and 

off-site computers, mobile 

auction offices, state-ofthe-art 

sound equipment 

and on-site food services. 

Complete auction marketing 

now includes not only 

extensive newspaper, trade 

publication and television 

advertising, but full color 

brochures, direct mail, E-mails 

and custom on-site signage. 

Now operating all over the 

world with Internet bidding, selling to bidders 

in countries including South America, Africa, 

Europe, the Middle East, Canada, Mexico, and 

the Bahamas. 

The firm has gone from conducting twenty 

to thirty auctions a year to more than 250 

auctions and appraisals annually. 

Corporate offices and auction facilities are 

located at the twenty-six acre Cochran Auction 

Complex at 7704 Mapleville Road near 

Boonsboro, Maryland, and on the Internet at 

www.cochranauctions.com. 

Always active in community affairs, Cochran 

Auctioneers & Associates staff are volunteer 

members of local fire and rescue services and 

the firm supports the Make-A-Wish foundation, 

local schools and many other local Washington 

County charities. 


Forty-two years ago in 1967, a young man 

left his home north of Munich, immigrating 

to the United States. Today, a successful 

restaurateur in Hagerstown, Charles Sekula is 

passing the gastronomic torch to his Executive 

Chef, Dieter Blosel of Nuremberg. 

Born at the end of WWII during the flight 

from Russians, he fled to Austria, then Munich, 

and grew up with his family as a farm border 

and worker, immigrating to the United States 

in 1967. He spoke no English, but 

learned by listening to others, watching 

television and reading. He did 

construction work, and was promoted 

from lineman to foreman—a succession 

that never would have happened 

in Germany, he says. 

He became a “learned” man and 

proved himself on several construction 

jobs. However, he had a dream to 

share the Bavarian food he loved with 

others. That prompted him to open 

a restaurant. 

On April 2, 1988, twenty-two years 

ago, he opened Schmankerl Stube at 

58 South Potomac Street becoming 

the first revitalization project on 

that block undertaken by the city 

of Hagerstown. 

“Schmankerl” is a Bavarian dialect 

term for something typically from 

Bavaria; and, “Stube” is a room of 

a comfortable setting. Translated, 

the restaurant name means Bavarian 

Specialty Room. It is that, and more! 

Serving made-to-order entrées and 

other ethnic dishes such as Sauerbraten, 

Wiener Schnitzel, Schweinshaxe 

(Bavarian Pork Shank), Schweinebraten 

(Bavarian Roasted Pork), has made 

Schmankerl Stube one of the city’s 

favorite gourmet restaurants. 

It features a “mug club” for draft 

beer drinkers, formed to bond the 

fellowship of German beer lovers. 

Schmankerl Stube also features 

a “Biergarten,” an outside facility 

where patrons can dine and socialize. 

Hostesses and wait staff are 

dressed in Bavarian dirndls (typical 

folklore garments). 

While Charles is passing the torch to 

his trusted friend and chef Dieter, you can 

bet that he and his children, Michelle and 

Juergen—even though not in Hagerstown— 

will always carry fond memories of Schmankerl 

Stube and Gemuetlichkeit, which translated, 

means a notion of belonging…social acceptance 

and cheerfulness. 

Schmankerl Stube is just that, thanks to the 

hard work and determination of Charles Sekula! 

SCHMANKERL 

STUBE 

❖ 

Dieter Blosel and Charles Sekula. 


FAHRNEY-KEEDY 

HOME AND 

VILLAGE 

More than a century ago, a small piece of 

land and a summer home in Boonsboro marked 

the beginning of what has become a respected 

community providing a continuum of care for 

its aging residents. 

Fahrney-Keedy’s quality of care for residents 

is evidenced by high marks received from 

residents’ families in recent ratings of more 

than 220 Maryland nursing homes. 

Besides the 61 residences for independent 

living, the CCRC features 97 skilled nursing 

beds, including 75 private and 11 semiprivate 

rooms. Assisted living has 20 studio 

rooms and 12 additional rooms designated for 

dementia residents. 

To further meet the needs of residents, age 

sixty and older, there are special support 

services such as orthopedic care with on-site 

doctors’ visits, rehabilitation, pharmacy, library, 

chapel, and a well-appointed dining room. 

❖ 

Above: Until December 2008 Dr. 

Peter Fahrney’s office occupied this 

spot along Mapleville Road, outside 

Fahrney-Keedy’s main building. 

Right: Persons entering Fahrney- 

Keedy’s Main Entrance have this view 

of the lobby, which extends two 

stories high. 

In 1905, Dr. Peter Fahrney of Chicago 

established the home in honor of his 

grandfather of the same name, in cooperation 

with the Mid-Atlantic District Church of the 

Brethren, including Maryland and northern 

Virginia. The original building had eight rooms. 

His grandfather’s office remained on the 

property until its December 2008 move to the 

Washington County Rural Heritage Museum. 

In 1952 with a bequest from Hagerstown 

businessman Clarence Keedy, the faith-based 

facility was renamed the Fahrney-Keedy 

Memorial Home. 

A cottage was built near the main building 

in 1962. It was the first of 61 residences 

existing today for independent living: 37 single 

cottages and 12 apartments on the village part 

of the campus and inside the building are 12 

more apartments. 

Today, Fahrney-Keedy Home and Village 

is recognized throughout Washington County 

as a nonprofit Continuing Care Retirement 

Community (CCRC) occupying ninety acres 

along Mapleville Road in Boonsboro. 

As part of its one-hundredth anniversary in 

2005, Fahrney-Keedy began its annual Summer 

Festival tradition. On the first Saturday each 

August, a number of activities are planned, 

vendors gather, and food is prepared to greet 

visitors. The festivities raise money for the 

facility’s Benevolent Fund, to provide assistance 

for residents encountering financial difficulties. 


KAPLAN 

UNIVERSITY 

Kaplan College and Kaplan University 

merged in the spring of 2009. Kaplan College in 

Hagerstown and Frederick join a growing list of 

Kaplan University campuses across the country. 

This move provides an array of program options 

for students, and blends the best practices and 

resources of these quality establishments into a 

stronger, more cohesive learning institution. 

This partnership provides flexibility 

for students to pursue blended learning 

opportunities—through online and classroom 

instruction—to better accommodate their 

work-life responsibilities. This alignment will 

provide opportunities to pursue online 

associate, bachelor’s, and master’s degree 

programs that were not previously available to 

Kaplan College students. 

Welcome to the new campuses at Kaplan 

University—where we build futures, one 

success story at a time. 

Kaplan University offers master’s, bachelor’s 

and associate degrees, as well as certificates, in 

more than eighteen programs. These programs 

are designed to provide students with the 

necessary skills to qualify them to seek 

employment in fields such as business, criminal 

justice, education, healthcare, information 

technology and paralegal studies. 

With more than forty-eight thousand online 

and on-ground students, Kaplan University 

joins the ranks of the largest universities in the 

United States. 

Kaplan College’s Hagerstown and Frederick 

campuses are the newest additions to the 

Kaplan University family. The University also 

has eight campuses throughout Iowa and 

Nebraska, and online student support centers in 

Florida, Chicago, Illinois and Phoenix, Arizona. 

Serving more than seven hundred students, 

Kaplan University is the only school in 

Washington County where a student can start 

and finish a four-year bachelor’s degree at the 

same institution. At Kaplan, students have the 

opportunity to choose from eighteen different 

programs in four high-demand fields, including 

legal studies, healthcare, information technology 

and business. Serving the Hagerstown area 

for more than seventy years, the campus is 

a member of the Chamber of Commerce 

for Hagerstown-Washington County, Frederick 

County, Maryland, Greater Chambersburg and 

Waynesboro, as well as the Washington County 

Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, Computing 

Technology Industry Association, and the Career 

College Association. 

In 2004 a branch campus of Kaplan 

University’s Hagerstown campus (then known 

as Hagerstown Business College) opened 

in Frederick, Maryland. Serving nearly 200 

students, the Frederick campus offers 

certificates in medical assistant and dental 

assistant. The campus is a member of the 

Frederick County Chamber of Commerce and 

the Career College Association. 

❖ 

As of July 14, 2009, Kaplan College is 

now Kaplan University. 

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF DALE. 


VINCENT GROH 

❖ 

BARBARA 

INGRAM 

SCHOOL FOR 

THE ARTS 

COURTESY OF JOHN JONES, WASHINGTON 

COUNTY TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL. 

Vincent Groh, an attorney with a passion for 

collecting historical buildings, stresses the arts 

as a key component to a well-rounded life and 

a vibrant downtown community. 

In the 1990s, Vincent Groh, in honor of his 

parents, Garland and Catherine Groh, provided 

the funds for the new main gallery of the 

Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in 

the City Park of Hagerstown, located across 

from Garland’s place of birth. The museum 

was established in the 1930s by Mr. and Mrs. 

William Singer, Jr., then residents of Norway, 

and has attained national recognition for 

its collection. 

In 2003, Groh donated the former Henry’s 

Theater and Elks Club facilities for a magnet 

school for the visual and performing arts. The 

school, known as the Barbara Ingram School for 

the Arts (BISFA), is dedicated to Vincent’s late 

wife who died in 1995. Barbara graduated from 

local public schools and received a Bachelor of 

Arts degree from Brown University, where she 

majored in classics, modern dance, and art. 

Barbara then spent years in New York City, 

where she was associated with Schumacher’s, 

the famous fabric design and manufacturing 

firm. Upon returning to Hagerstown, she 

taught art in local public schools and became 

a trustee of the Washington County Museum 

of Fine Arts, a position now occupied by her 

daughter, Katherine. 

Katherine, following in family traditions, 

(her grandmother was a 1919 graduate of 

Peabody Conservatory of Music 

in Baltimore), received a master’s 

degree in vocal performance from 

UNC-Chapel Hill, and has taught 

voice and performed locally. 

Katherine’s brother, Stephen, 

while at Williams College in 

Massachusetts, played cello 

with the Berkshire Symphony, 

and recognizes the importance 

of the arts in education. 

BISFA is only the second 

public school in Maryland that is 

dedicated to educating qualified 

and talented high school students 

in painting, dance, music, and 

theater, in addition to academics. 

In recognition of the needs 

for additional funds, Vincent 

has pledged in excess of a 

quarter-million dollars to the 

BISFA Foundation. 


If Bud and Mary Dahbura, owners of Hub 

Labels, were name-droppers, it would not be 

their own. 

Instead, it would be familiar brand names 

like Hershey’s Chocolate, Mrs. Butterworth’s, 

and Log Cabin Syrup, among others. 

The Dahbura’s founded their first label 

manufacturing company in El Salvador in 

the mid-1960s and celebrated their thirtieth 

anniversary in business along with their fiftieth 

wedding anniversary together in Hagerstown 

in 2009. 

Bud, a mechanical engineer by profession, 

realized the impact of the civil unrest taking 

place in the Central American country in the 

1970s and decided that the family should 

return to the United States. He continued in his 

profession, but started a small label company 

on the side, with only a single printing press. 

Operations began in a small storefront 

and in 1984, Bud and Mary built their 

first dedicated facility that, today, is over 

110,000 square feet, with easy access to 

I-81 and I-70, making it an ideal location 

for shipping, with twenty modern narrowweb 

presses to produce pressure-sensitive 

labels and related products for everything 

from barcodes to wine, and more. 

Today, the company is a well-respected 

manufacturer of labels to diversified producers 

in many industries. Large and small 

customers throughout the United States 

have come to rely on Hub Labels’ quality 

and capabilities. 

Hub Labels is located at 18223 Shawley 

Drive in Hagerstown and on the Internet at 

www.hublabels.com. 

HUB LABELS 


SAINT JAMES 

SCHOOL 

❖ 

Above: The class picture from 1904. 

Below: The graduating class of 2009 

celebrating on the historic steps of 

Claggett Hall just moments after the 

commencement service was officially 

declared closed. 

Saint James School is the oldest 

private Episcopal boarding 

school in the United States 

founded on the English model. 

Established in 1842, the school 

is situated on a Georgian-style, 

850-acre campus five miles 

southwest of Hagerstown. 

The school is proud of its rich 

history. From its role in the Civil 

War to its involvement with 

some of the U.S. Government’s 

top classified projects, the school 

has played an integral part in 

Washington County’s history. 

Tradition is still very much a part of the 

school’s fabric today—the original Claggett 

Hall front steps are intact, but are only used 

by the sixth formers, along with the faculty 

and staff; the Senior Circle is off limits to 

everyone, except on Commencement Day; 

morning chapel and family-style meals are 

time-honored customs. Saint James School 

offers its 230 students in Form II through 

Form VI (grades eight through twelve) a 

challenging and diverse core curriculum 

designed to provide a solid foundation for 

achievement in the nation’s most selective four 

year colleges and undergraduate programs. 

The school is committed to developing 

the “whole person,” emphasizing the spiritual, 

intellectual, physical and moral growth 

of its students through challenging academics, 

daily athletics, an extensive music, drama, and 

arts program, and required community service. 

The well-rounded academic program at 

Saint James, which includes Advanced 

Placement courses in English, math, history, 

science, Latin, Spanish, French, art, and music 

is complemented by sixteen interscholastic 

athletic teams; private, individualized voice 

and instrumental lessons; and drama productions. 

Primarily a boarding school with 

students from eighteen 

states and thirteen 

countries, Saint James 

develops the interpersonal 

and leadership 

skills of its students, 

preparing them to be 

“leaders for good in 

the world.” 

Boasting a student to 

teacher ratio of six to 

one, with class sizes 

averaging less than 

twelve, Saint James 

employs a Socratic style 

of instruction with 

teacher-led discussion 

and frequent writing 

assignments. For more 

information about Saint 

James School, go to 

www.stjames.edu. 


For more than a century R. Bruce Carson 

Jewelers has served Hagerstown, Washington 

County, and the surrounding area as the 

region’s premier jeweler. 

When Robert Bruce Carson opened the firm 

in 1902, he had a vision to bring rare and 

unique treasures to the area. That vision and 

tradition has been carried on during 

three generations of ownership. 

Upon his death Carson left the 

business to Jacob Bare and Leon 

Gross. Bare was a master watchmaker 

and hand engraver by trade, 

providing an invaluable asset to the 

business. He owned the store until 

his retirement in 1976 when he sold 

it to Charles Newcomer, who retired 

in 1994 and since then the business 

has been owned and operated by his 

son, Thomas, and his wife, Esther. 

“We are in the business of exceeding 

our customers’ expectations, 

carrying on a tradition of more than 

a hundred years,” Thomas, president 

of the firm, emphasized. “Our 

employees are our most important 

resource in realizing our vision and 

mission, along with a partnership 

with our key suppliers.” 

The firm is known for having 

the area’s largest selection of loose 

diamonds and eighteen karat and 

platinum diamond jewelry and 

colored gemstone jewelry. As a 

full service jeweler, Carson’s is 

the only jeweler with graduate 

gemologists, watchmakers and the 

area’s only accredited gemological 

lab certified by the American 

Gem Society. 

Carson’s is the only authorized 

jeweler featuring internationally known top 

designer jeweler lines such as Hearts on Fire, 

Scott Kay, Tacori, Simon G., Mikimoto, Judith 

Ripka, Marco Bicego, Roberto Coin, Kwiat, 

Spark, Asch Grossbardt and Gregg Ruth. It is 

also an authorized jeweler for Rolex watches, 

Raymond Weil, Cyma and its own signature 

watch brand. 

A note of historical significance is the 

Carson’s clock, which is featured on the cover 

of this book. It has been a downtown landmark 

and an icon for the store since it was built in 

1908 and placed in front of the store at 40 West 

Washington Street and later moved to the 

newly built Alexander House in 1929. Today, 

the clock is one of the stops on the downtown 

Hagerstown walking tour. 

Long active in civic and community affairs, 

Carson’s supports a wide variety of nonprofits. 

Thomas has served on a host of community 

boards and organizations and currently serves 

as the chair of the board of Washington County 

Museum of Fine Arts. 

Sales have increased steadily over the years 

as the business has grown to serve clients 

extending from Maryland to Pennsylvania, West 

Virginia, and Virginia. 

R. BRUCE 

CARSON 

JEWELERS 


LEITERS’ 

FINE CATERING 

For over forty years, Leiters’ Fine Catering, Inc., 

has provided high quality food, outstanding 

service, and a commitment to excellence for clients 

throughout the Washington County area and 

beyond. This family-owned and operated business 

initially started as a root beer stand in 1947. Based 

on the Dual Highway at the Richardson’s Snack 

Bar, the business was owned by Sam Leiter, 

his sister and brother-in-law. Sam assumed 

management of Richardson’s in 1949. With a new 

building addition in 1960, curb service was added 

to the thriving business. Whether purchasing a 

tasty sandwich and a root beer, or simply hanging 

out with friends, Richardson’s was a popular spot 

for all ages. In 1968, the already successful 

business branched out into catering, the beginning 

of what has today become Leiters’ Fine Catering. 

Samuel Leiter and wife Virginia “Be” Leiter left 

Richardson’s in 1976, continuing to cater from a 

diner on Pennsylvania Avenue in Hagerstown. In 

1982, the Williamsport Volunteer Fire Company 

offered their banquet and kitchen facility as 

a home base for Leiters’ Fine Catering, Inc. In 

1988, Dave Leiter, the second generation, became 

a full-time employee, utilizing his knowledge of 

the food business from his previous employment 

at Richardson’s Snack Bar. Teri, Dave’s wife, 

joined the catering team in 1994. 

Currently, owners Dave and Teri Leiter 

provide services for a wide variety of events 

ranging from intimate dinner parties to 

memorable, one-of-a-kind wedding receptions 

and large corporate picnics. Leiters’ takes pride 

in working with clients personally to ensure that 

menus, rentals, staffing and 

décor are personalized, 

equally pleasing to both 

the eye and taste buds. 

Thanks to the unyielding 

foundation and positive 

reputation set by Sam 

and Be Leiter, present-day 

owners Dave and Teri, as 

well as the four Leiter 

children—Becki, Jeremiah, 

Jessica, and Samuel—keep 

this third generation, 

family-owned business 

going strong. The Leiters’ 

Fine Catering, Inc., mottos 

are “It is Our Pleasure to 

Serve You,” and “One Call 

Does It All!” 


PITTMAN’S 

MARKET, INC. 

Hancock’s Pittman’s Market, Inc., was founded 

in 1945 when a young couple, Roy, “Bud” 

Pittman and his wife Betty, borrowed money to 

start a combination grocery/feed store. Roy and 

Betty have passed on but their legacy lives on in 

what is now the largest independent supermarket 

in Washington County. Their son, David, who 

began working with his parents in 1972 and his 

wife, Seena, took over a thriving business and 

have grown it into a modern market which serves 

not only Washington County, but parts of West 

Virginia and Pennsylvania. 

The Market began in a cramped two-thousandfoot 

space in the old Greenspoon building at the 

southwest corner of High Street and Pennsylvania 

Avenue. Pittman’s was ahead of the times, 

being the first market in the county 

to provide shopping carts for 

customers along with a complete 

line of groceries, including fresh 

country eggs, which were washed 

and crated. Some were shipped to 

stores in Washington, D.C. 

When David, who is now 

president of the company, went to 

work more than three decades ago 

he did not realize he would one 

day be running a much larger 

operation. “My dad told me there 

was an opportunity waiting for me. 

Little did I know I would still be 

exploring that opportunity thirtyseven 

years later.” Seena joined the 

company in 1986, five years after 

they were married and they have 

been a team ever since. 

The company gradually grew from its 

original 2,000-square-foot space into a 5,000- 

square-foot store, and in 1986 a new building 

with 18,600 square feet was built, which was 

later remodeled and expanded in 2000 to 

today’s modern 24,000-square-foot facility. 

“We are now planning another expansion,” 

David said, “which will help increase the variety 

of our products and our services.” 

Pittman’s not only serves Hancock’s tri-state 

community, but is involved in the activities of its 

civic organizations, churches and schools. 

Besides being the largest independent 

supermarket in Washington County, Pittman’s, 

with some eighty-three employees is also the 

second largest employer in Hancock. 

❖ 

Above: Pittman’s Market, c. 1950. 

Below: Pittman’s, c. 2004. 


MYERLY & LOWE 

PHOTOGRAPHY 

❖ 

Right: A staff photo from 1959-1964 

at 1710 Virginia Avenue. 

Below: Meet the team of Myerly & 

Lowe photographers along with their 

technical and artistic staff. 

The history of Myerly & Lowe Photography 

is a classic American business success story 

reaching from the twentieth century into the 

twenty-first with the excellence and energy of 

successful American entrepreneurs. Include an 

inexhaustible work ethic and instill that into 

a third generation, and you have the formula. 

The secret is the secret of all lasting American 

businesses: incredibly hard work, incomparable 

customer service, excellent training, attention to 

detail and timely technological innovation. Add 

to that a sense of loyalty, and opportunity for 

employees to excel and you have the formula for 

fifty years of solid growth. They have done the 

photographic work for close to four hundred 

yearbooks in that time. 

It has been a love affair between the studio 

and high school seniors! Each year brings new 

challenges. Myerly & Lowe was the first studio 

in the area to offer full color, the first to have 

Hollywood Lighting and Posing and the first with 

a choice of hundreds of backgrounds. Always 

mindful of the needs and wishes of the seniors 

and their parents, (by getting their “input”) have 

kept Myerly & Lowe ahead of the pack. 

Richard and Mary Myerly started the studio 

with the 1959-1960 school season. Richard’s 

background was with the New York Institute of 

Photography and apprenticeships with nationally 

recognized master Henry Troupe and L. W. Nagle. 

Mary’s field was education with a degree in art. 

Kim Lowe-Lee became a partner in 1977. One 

staffer, Sukey Rankin, is still with the team after 

forty years. With the Myerly’s retirement, Kim took 

over as general manager. Her core staff includes 

Janet Marquiss (partner), Tina Fleetwood, Patrick 

Detwiler, and Rankin. 

Each senior is given a prismatic make-up 

session. For the ladies a choice of over 250 

draping combinations and the gentlemen choose 

from a variety of tuxedos or jackets and ties. 

There are also cap and gowns available in their 

school colors. The seniors are also invited to be 

photographed in casual clothing and bring their 

pets, autos, and musical instruments—you name 

it. Myerly & Lowe will then provide a fully 

retouched image of each senior photographed to 

their school’s yearbook. 

Myerly & Lowe was featured by Kodak in 

one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious 

photographic magazines for their 

outstanding, innovative, original, 

dynamic styling and treatment of 

their senior portraits. 

With the latest electronic digital 

equipment they can customize the 

portraits in almost endless ways. 

Myerly & Lowe have done 

everything they can to give families 

the very lowest prices for such 

beautiful, high quality work over 

the years. 

“Having been selected by close 

to one hundred thousand students 

to create their senior portraits is a 

very honored, privileged, and 

humbling experience,” say Myerly 

& Lowe. “And may their trust in 

us be our inspiration to continue 

this relationship in the future.” 


Carol & Company is a family-owned gift 

shop that has enjoyed happy times and endured 

challenging moments, while keeping its primary 

objective in mind: personalized customer 

service. After thirty years, a large and loyal 

group of customers continue to call on the staff 

of Carol & Company for their gift needs. 

In 1979, Carol Moller, a trained florist, and 

Robert Startzman opened the shop in the north 

end of Hagerstown. The initial focus of the store 

was to create bridal flowers and sell home goods. 

Robert later sold his interest to Carol and Chip 

Moller. Carol, Chip and their daughters continued 

the business, moving to its present downtown 

location. A major challenge during the Moller’s 

ownership was the November 1987 fire to the 

apartment above the store. The shop temporarily 

moved across the street; but, it was “business as 

usual” during the holiday season that year. Despite 

the difficulties in downtown, Carol was committed 

to keeping the shop in the historic area. 

In October 1999 the shop was purchased by 

Patricia Spellar and daughters, Rachel and 

Catharine. While the store keeps many of 

its original traditions such as excellent 

personalized service, free trademark gift 

wrapping, and local delivery, the new owners 

expanded the business offering invitations, 

stationery, baby items and Vera Bradley 

merchandise. Catharine, the current store 

manager, works hard to stay on top of 

stocking current gift trends, giving back to the 

community, and utilizing the latest in modern 

retail technology. 

Carol & Company is proud of being named 

“Best Gift Shop” in the Hagerstown Magazine’s 

“Hot List” four years in a row and achieving 

Gold Level status from Vera Bradley, by 

having the four states best selection of purses, 

accessories and luggage. 

Today, Carol & Company has become a 

destination stop in downtown. Its advertising 

slogan best describes the business: “From classic 

gifts to the latest trends—Carol & Company has 

something for all your family and friends.” 

Carol & Company is located at 25 West 

Washington Street in Hagerstown and on the 

Internet at www.carolandco.com. 

CAROL & 

COMPANY 

❖ 

Left to right: Owners, Catharine 

Spellar, Pat Spellar and 

Rachel O’Connor. 


SPONSORS 

Andrew K. Coffman Funeral Home, Inc........................................................................................................................................94 

The Arc of Washington County ....................................................................................................................................................80 

Barbara Ingram School for the Arts.............................................................................................................................................112 

Carol & Company ......................................................................................................................................................................119 

Cochran Auctioneers & Associates LTD......................................................................................................................................108 

Debbie’s Soft Serve .......................................................................................................................................................................88 

Eastern Organ Pipes, Inc. ...........................................................................................................................................................105 

Ellsworth Electric, Inc. .................................................................................................................................................................96 

Fahrney-Keedy Home and Village...............................................................................................................................................110 

Frederick, Seibert & Associates ....................................................................................................................................................92 

Vincent Groh..............................................................................................................................................................................112 

Hagerstown Antietam Battlefield KOA Campground.....................................................................................................................82 

Hagerstown Community College ................................................................................................................................................106 

Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce ...........................................................................................................102 

Hagerstown-Washington County Economic Development Commission ......................................................................................107 

Hagerstown-Washington County Industrial Foundation, Inc. .....................................................................................................104 

Hoffman Chevrolet .................................................................................................................................................................73, 76 

Hub Labels.................................................................................................................................................................................113 

Kaplan University.......................................................................................................................................................................111 

Leiter’s Fine Catering ..................................................................................................................................................................116 

Locust Hill Greenhouse ..............................................................................................................................................................103 

Myerly & Lowe Photography......................................................................................................................................................118 

Pittman’s Market, Inc..................................................................................................................................................................117 

R. Bruce Carson Jewelers......................................................................................................................................................73, 115 

Ramada Plaza ...............................................................................................................................................................................84 

Saint James School .....................................................................................................................................................................114 

Schmankerl Stube.......................................................................................................................................................................109 

University System of Maryland at Hagerstown..............................................................................................................................78 

The Urological Center, P.A............................................................................................................................................................90 

Volvo Powertrain ..........................................................................................................................................................................86 

Washington County Free Library................................................................................................................................................100 

Washington County Health System...............................................................................................................................................74 

Washington County Public Schools ............................................................................................................................................101 

Western Maryland Hospital Center...............................................................................................................................................98 


ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

D ENNIS 

E. FRYE 

Dennis E. Frye is the chief historian at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Writer, lecturer, guide, and preservationist, Dennis 

is a prominent Civil War historian. Dennis has numerous appearances on PBS, The History Channel, The Discovery Channel, and 

A&E as a guest historian, and he helped produce television features on the Battle of Antietam and abolitionist John Brown. Dennis 

served as an associate producer for the Civil War movie Gods and Generals, during which he recruited and coordinated nearly three 

thousand reenactors for the film. 

Dennis also is one of the nation’s leading Civil War battlefield preservationists. He is co-founder and first president of the Save 

Historic Antietam Foundation, and he is co-founder and a former president of today’s Civil War Preservation Trust, where he helped 

save battlefields in twelve states. Dennis is a tour guide in demand, leading tours for organizations such as the Smithsonian, National 

Geographic, numerous colleges and universities, and Civil War Round Tables. 

Dennis also is a well-known author, with sixty articles and five books. His latest book is entitled Antietam Revealed. Dennis resides 

near the Antietam Battlefield in Maryland, and he and his wife Sylvia have restored the home that was used by General Burnside as 

his post-Antietam headquarters. 

About the Author ✦ 121

ABOUT THE COVER 

R EBECCA 

P EARL 

Rebecca Pearl grew up surrounded by a family of gifted artists. From her parents, she learned techniques in drawing and painting 

and received her formal art training at Schuler School of Fine Art and the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. 

Pearl began her career as a portrait painter at the age of twenty-five and gradually accepted commissions for animal and 

architectural subjects, florals and figures. Her media includes watercolor, pastel and oil and is characterized by a soft interpretation 

of reality. Her images flow from delicate washes of pastel and rich colors with subtle suggestions of texture and detail. Her well 

recognized animal portraits capture the animal's soul and personality. 

A member of the prestigious Baltimore Watercolor Society since the 1980s, Pearl has exhibited widely on the East coast and has 

received many awards for her painting. her work has exhibited on the top floor of the Baltimore World Trade Center and at USF&G 

Corporation. Starting in 1988, she established and managed the Pearl Gallery in the Hamden community for five years. Her work can 

presently be seen and enjoyed in fine art galleries throughout the region as well as in private and corporate collections. The University 

of Maryland at College Park and the Washington County Museum of Fine Art include her drawing and paintings in their permanent 

collections. In June of 2004, she was honored to personally present a work honoring Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton to Pope John Paul II 

in Vatican City. 

Responding to her life long fascination with horses, Rebecca continues to visit this subject frequently. Last year, Randy and Susan 

Cohen commissioned rebecca to created seven originals for their new (equestrian themed) Hampton Inn in Frederick. She was also 

commissioned to create thirty-four original illustrations for the book Red Hat Wisdom (published by Running Press/Presius Publishers, 

Philadelphia/London). 

Her original watercolor Holiday Classic was selected as the 2006 holiday poster for Frederick. Her projects for 2007 and 2008 reflect 

her commitment to the history of our region as well as many of the organizations that enrich the lives of those who live in it. 

Some of her works are original watercolors and/or limited edition print for Advocates for Homeless Families, Breast Cancer 

Awareness, The Festival of the Arts, the Washington County Hospital (through the Benjamin Art Gallery), and several other non-profit 

local and regional organizations. Her current focus is to preserve and portray the farms, bridges, and other historic places around 

Thurmont and Emmitsburg. Included in these images are the numerous old churches in the region which Rebecca finds interesting 

historically and architecturally. 

Currently, Rebecca teaches painting at her gallery in Emmitsburg. She will conduct workshops upon request and enjoys taking her 

students outdoors to paint during the summer months. 

Recently, Rebecca has developed a passion for riding her horse Gilbert and studies dressage at Dark Horse Stables. 

She lives in Rocky Ridge, Maryland with her husband, Jay, two German Shepherds, and three cats. In the barn are Gilbert, the 

police horse, and Sonny, she calls the “Red Pony.” 

She maintains The Rebecca Pearl Gallery in its new location, 24 West Main Street, Emmitsburg, Maryland. For more information, 

please call 301-271-2348 or visit www.rebeccapearl.com. 


❖ 

6:15 on the Square (Hagerstown, 

MD) by Rebecca Pearl. 

COMMISSIONED BY THE BENJAMIN ART GALLERY. 

COURTESY OF R. BRUCE CARLSON JEWELERS. 

COPYRIGHT REBECCA PEARL. 

About the Cover ✦ 123

For more information about the following publications or about publishing your own book, please call 

Historical Publishing Network at 800-749-9790 or visit www.lammertinc.com. 

Albemarle & Charlottesville: 

An Illustrated History of the First 150 Years 

Black Gold: The Story of Texas Oil & Gas 

Garland: A Contemporary History 

Historic Abilene: An Illustrated History 

Historic Alamance County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Albuquerque: An Illustrated History 

Historic Amarillo: An Illustrated History 

Historic Anchorage: An Illustrated History 

Historic Austin: An Illustrated History 

Historic Baldwin County: A Bicentennial History 

Historic Baton Rouge: An Illustrated History 

Historic Beaufort County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Beaumont: An Illustrated History 

Historic Bexar County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Birmingham: An Illustrated History 

Historic Brazoria County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Brownsville: An Illustrated History 

Historic Charlotte: 

An Illustrated History of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County 

Historic Cheyenne: A History of the Magic City 

Historic Clayton County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Comal County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Corpus Christi: An Illustrated History 

Historic DeKalb County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Denton County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Edmond: An Illustrated History 

Historic El Paso: An Illustrated History 

Historic Erie County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Fayette County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Fairbanks: An Illustrated History 

Historic Gainesville & Hall County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Greene County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Gregg County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Hampton Roads: Where America Began 

Historic Hancock County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Henry County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Hood County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Houston: An Illustrated History 

Historic Hunt County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Illinois: An Illustrated History 

Historic Kern County: 

An Illustrated History of Bakersfield and Kern County 

Historic Lafayette: 

An Illustrated History of Lafayette & Lafayette Parish 

Historic Laredo: 

An Illustrated History of Laredo & Webb County 

Historic Lee County: The Story of Fort Myers & Lee County 

Historic Louisiana: An Illustrated History 

Historic Mansfield: A Bicentennial History 

Historic McLennan County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Midland: An Illustrated History 

Historic Montgomery County: 

An Illustrated History of Montgomery County, Texas 

Historic Ocala: The Story of Ocala & Marion County 

Historic Oklahoma: An Illustrated History 

Historic Oklahoma County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Omaha: 

An Illustrated History of Omaha and Douglas County 

Historic Orange County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Osceola County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Ouachita Parish: An Illustrated History 

Historic Paris and Lamar County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Pasadena: An Illustrated History 

Historic Passaic County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Pennsylvania An Illustrated History 

Historic Philadelphia: An Illustrated History 

Historic Prescott: 

An Illustrated History of Prescott & Yavapai County 

Historic Richardson: An Illustrated History 

Historic Rio Grande Valley: An Illustrated History 

Historic Rogers County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Santa Barbara: An Illustrated History 

Historic Scottsdale: A Life from the Land 

Historic Shelby County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Shreveport-Bossier: 

An Illustrated History of Shreveport & Bossier City 

Historic South Carolina: An Illustrated History 

Historic Smith County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Temple: An Illustrated History 

Historic Texarkana: An Illustrated History 

Historic Texas: An Illustrated History 

Historic Victoria: An Illustrated History 

Historic Tulsa: An Illustrated History 

Historic Wake County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Warren County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Williamson County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Wilmington & The Lower Cape Fear: 

An Illustrated History 

Historic York County: An Illustrated History 

Iron, Wood & Water: An Illustrated History of Lake Oswego 

Jefferson Parish: Rich Heritage, Promising Future 

Miami’s Historic Neighborhoods: A History of Community 

Old Orange County Courthouse: A Centennial History 

Plano: An Illustrated Chronicle 

The New Frontier: 

A Contemporary History of Fort Worth & Tarrant County 

San Antonio, City Exceptional 

The San Gabriel Valley: A 21st Century Portrait 

The Spirit of Collin County 

Valley Places, Valley Faces 

Water, Rails & Oil: Historic Mid & South Jefferson County 


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ISBN: 9781935377276

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