CHAPTER
3
Table of Contents
Community
In 1965, as the 75th anniversary of the town's incorporation approached, a representative group from the various organizations planned a celebration for August 28 through September 6. The planning committee wanted to have a great celebration with a professional touch; they therefore engaged the John B. Rogers Company of Fostoria, Ohio, to manage the enterprise. The cost would be $17,000.
There was a contest for someone to draw an official seal for the celebration. The winner was Carroll Kehne, art instructor at Brunswick High School. His entry eventually became the town's logo.
The celebration was headed up by corporation officers,
division chairmen, and other committees and leaders. There was a merchants
promotional committee, a music committee, a "belles" committee, and a "brothers
of the brush" committee.
Every available avenue was used in order to raise money to pay the
cost of the celebration.
Metal coins and wooden nickels were sold. Shares of stock were sold,
to be redeemable only if there were remaining funds after all bills were
paid.
The daily special events began August 28 and continued through September 6. There was a crowning of a queen, "Miss Diamond Jubilee," and a prince. The crownings were featured at the opening Celebration Ball, which was held at the Fire Hall with Phil Young's fifteen piece orchestra.
Each day's celebration had a theme: Religious Heritage Day; Senior Citizen Day; Ladies Day; Youth and Education Day; and Good Neighbour Day. Saturday September 4 was a parade day.
The Pageant Spectacular was held on the baseball diamond of the new high school; and the areas on either side of the road approaching the ball diamond and adjacent to it were used for the Carnival and other special events of the week.
Brunswick's Diamond Jubilee was a "spectacular event" for this little town and it probably will never be duplicated. The pageant was an unbelievable performance of 256 people. The 200 foot stage with 15 foot high set backings was engineered by Sonny Cannon, who al so supplied the superb sound system.
The pageant, which was titled "Home of the Iron Horse," presented the thrilling living history of Brunswick from the early Delaware Indian days to the present. Each of the six nightly performances was followed by a gigantic fireworks display. Women of the town who participated in the daily events wore period dresses and the men sported their beards, goatees, and moustaches and wore bow ties and black derby hats.
After the spectacular final parade, the new Brunswick High School was dedicated. The community of Brunswick went all out for the Diamond Jubilee in 1965.
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Without difficulty, if you're a local history buff. On November 7,1780, Clement Hollyday conveyed to Leonard Smith the western half of the original 3100-acre Royal grant, "Hawkins' Merry Peep O'Day."
Two hundred years later, on Friday, November 7, 1980, a group from Brunswick met at St. John's Catholic Cemetery at Third and East Streets, Frederick, at the grave site of Leonard Smith, his wife and several descendants. Color and ceremony were added by the Steadman-Keenan American Legion Post Honor Guard, Mayor Jess Orndorf issued a welcome, and Rev. H. Austin Cooper, town historian, spoke about Brunswick's founder and his family. He recalled that "Leonard Smith had a vision far beyond his day," having had a dream of channelling the Potomac River enough to carry barges of produce from the "West" to Baltimore.
Earlier that year, on Sunday, August 10, 1980, during the annual Potomac River Festival, an interdenominational "Colonial Service of Worship" was held at the Maryland Avenue Methodist Church, participants wearing costumes appropriate to the period.
William C. Mycrs, Jr., drummer, summoned the congregation to worship.
Reverends H. Austin Cooper, David Sparrow, Penny Penrose, and Harry Ledgard (host church minister) marched to the choir loft led by "Beadle" Don Krigbaum.
Bill Nallo took the role of Tything-man, and John Gardiner was Precentor.
Rev. Mr. Cooper presented the exposition, entitled
' Wilderness Patriarchs," in which he explained the roles played by many
of the first settlers from the beginning of the Potomac Crossing of 1730
to passers through like Daniel Boone.
Mrs. Pauline Ledgard, Philip and Christina; Mrs. John Payne, Merri
and John; and Frances Isaacs also participated in this program.
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- Bil1 Margrabe
The year 1990 is the one hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town.
The date of incorporation was April 8,1890. On April 8, 1990, church bells were rung and the Central Alalrm blasted for us for five minutes at midday.
There will be numerous other ways of welcoming the beginning of our second century. You are reading one now!
Complicating the coverage of the event (or events) in this book is the publication date, October 6, coinciding with the town's observation. Brunswick: 100 Years of Memories, is expected to be off the press by this day.
The copy goes to press in mid-August, so last minute
happenings will not be included, sad to say. As of early August the celebration
shaping up will include the following:
S - Janice W. Marsh
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Brunswick joined with the county in this observation, and Brunswick also had its own local programs. Leona Sauser directed the setting up of a room size exhibit with other towns at the Frederick Fairgrounds. Included were several large color drawings depicting Brunswick, a model train exhibit, a slide presentation, and other appropriate displays.
At Brunswick, the biggest attraction was the one room school presentation by Duane and Lee Smith at the Brunswick Elementary School, including a "potbelly" stove. Visitors became students under Duane's tutelage.
A self guided home tour was available, with directions, descriptions, and history. There was a display brought here by the B&O Museum in Baltimore. The Brunswick Museum was open, and other appropriate events were scheduled.
Both at Frederick and in Brunswick the turnout was
disappointing, not the usual response. But those preparing both presentations
enjoyed the process of creating the exhibits and the appreciative comments
of those who came to see the results.
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Directly north of Berlin was Wenner's farm, where residences were built. The area is still called "Werner's Hill."
To the extreme east, directly north of the westbound railroad yards, is "New York Hill," developed by the Real Estate and Improvement Co., from New York. But to get there one had to travel east on Potomac Street and negotiate the sharp curve at "Fitzgerald Hill," or "Fitzgerald Row" (a.k.a. "Dead Man's Corner). A Mr. Fitzgerald lived in that area.
Anyone living on Second Avenue beyond "D" Street had a veritable cliff to climb to his Linden Avenue residence on "Brick Yard Hill." This was named for the brick yard at the junction of two creeks near the Cooper residence at 209 Second Avenue. Linden's name was changed to Second Avenue after the great development of the 1980's. At one time this was just a rough, dirt hill. A set of wooden steps helped the walker until the steps deteriorated. Eventually the city graded and black topped the hill.
There may be some new Brunswick residents who do not know that the high school between 1913 and 1965 was located at the crest of Fourth Avenue —on "Sandy Hook Hill," which also includes Fifth and Sixth Avenues above "A" Street. Brunswick's only factory is nearby. Many families from Sandy Hook settled here when they migrated to Brunswick.
The area beyond Sandy Hook Hill, inching over toward Brick Yard Hill, was also called Gobblers' Knob, alluding to the wild turkeys that made themselves heard in all directions.
Just east of City Park is Seventh Avenue, a hill so steep that the macadam dead ends at the top before reaching "A" Street. Three houses are located there. But in an earlier day, this was called "Catholic Church Hill." The church was there before 1917, but eventually burned in the late 30's or early 1940's, and that bit of Brunswick's history is deeply buried.
We may surmise why the 200 and 300 blocks of [Delaware
Avenue and all of Central Avenue have no "hill" names. They really go "straight
up," as they say of some of Brunswick's hills. Delaware Avenue was developed
in the 1920's and after two
blocks went to nowhere. Central Avenue was developed after the new
Elementary School was built around 1952 and it dead ended at the Elementary
School and the Eagles Club.
That's seven hills, same as Rome's, if you don't mind bending the rules a little.
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Lot 7 on the west side of South Virginia Avenue (the first lot north of the tracks) was designated as a "warehouse" in 1848 and belonged in 1891 to William Elgin, builder and mover in Berlin.
Opposite it, on the west end of Lot 28 was the Red Men's Hall in 1873; it became D. C. Winebrenner's in 1907. Winebrenner's was a distribution point for wholesale groceries throughout the area, including Frederick.
At the east end of Lot 28 was W. L. Gross, 1888,
although the store wasn't built until 1893.
Even the last house (Snoots) was attached to a larger house before it was removed. Next was an alley, then a commercial building with apartment above. The front had a small cement porch with steps perpendicular to the house descending both north and south; there was a show window on each side of the door. At one time Jess Dailey had a funeral parlor here.
Helen McBee Smith, who has provided information about this area, remembers the Sy Shewbridges living in the Dailey building before Mr. and Mrs. Ed Bell.
A narrow alley was south of this, then the McBee
house. If you traveled west on the alley toward where J. P. Karn later
expanded, there were three houses behind the McBee property, and facing
the alley. Carrolls, Mainharts, and Reynolds lived in these houses. A sturdy
highboard fence separated McBee's from the narrow alley and from the houses
at the rear.
An alley separated McBees from Mr. Sine's (possibly
Charles) shoemaker shop, which was between the alley and the Westbound
station.
As Karn's Lumber Yard expanded it reduced the residential area to its present size.
S - Helen McBee Smith
- Virginia C. Snoots
Once a double building, the street numbers for the two parts of this house would have been "seven" and "nine" South Maple Avenue. The origional large edifice used "nine," so when the left side was removed, the remaining half kept that address although the portion left was located on the "seven" spot.
The building that was removed had been used for room and board for railroad workers. There was a food shop with snacks. This portion was later adapted to apartments. A common concrete wall that supported both buildings is still visible.
The Snoots house was built of logs, covered with weatherboard, then covered with Glasstex shingles. There is a fireplace, now covered, in the living room. The basement is under the original house, but not under its back addition.
The Snoots house has 6-l/2 rooms and bath.
There is an unusual construction on the second floor. This consists of logs that have been covered and topped, resulting in a shelf midway up the sidewalls. This gives the impression that the roof may have been raised and windows installed in order to produce a full second floor.
Behind the front rooms was a wareroom for Mr. Gross' own use. In addition to the general merchandise the business included farm machinery. Shoes, linoleum, and matting (a straw floorcovering popular in those days) were sold on the second floor. Over the drug store Dr. W. B. Watson had opened his dental office and another dentist, Dr. T. A. Ramey, M.D., D.D.S., had his office there. Each had a two-room suite.
In the store there remains a still workable elevator
powered by a rope pulley.
It would be a likely conclusion that the present house was built between 1854 and 1857, according to the research of the late Arthur Lutman, deed researcher who prepared plats of the town of Berlin.
A deed of October 22.1869, transfers to John L. Jordan, Sr., a "two-story weatherboard house" and ground for $2,000. Both John L. Jordan, Sr., and John L. Jordan, Jr., (first mayor of Brunswick and clerk of Frederick County Court) owned the property respectively from 1869 to 1891 and 1891 to 1918.
For years a long sloping lawn drifted across a row of lots to Potomac Street, with people sitting around under the trees, listening to a band concert or enjoying a picnic. The Jordan home and lawn was a center of social activity in Brunswick. In 1923 the Peoples National Bank acquired the easternmost 25 feet of what had been Jordan's lawn to add to the 27 feet they already owned. In 1925, Sam Cincotta acquired 25 feet contiguous to the bank property; King's Pizza has been at home there for several years.
Robert Foster obtained 30 feet of the lawn in 1921, where he built the house at 109 West Potomac Street, now owned by Alice C. Kehne. Luther B. Darr owned the remaining 83 feet by 100 feet in 1921, which he sold to the Methodist Episcopal church in 1923. Today Fast Eddies is located on that lot, although a Shell filling station conducted business there for years and years.
Owned today byJune Baxter, the John L. Jordan house
now contains four apartments, which are located on a base which incorporated
the pre-1800 foundation.
Before the 1955 bridge, this area extended across Maryland Avenue and provided a huge area for carnivals. The band shell fromCity Park was moved here for community gatherings.
After the bridge, Maryland Avenue became a through
street to Petersville Road. Alta Nuce had a town Christmas tree placed
there in memory of her father, former councilman Bill Nuce.
Theodore Beall married Susanna Eve Greenfield on April 26, 1791. In the same year, Beall acquired jointly with Samuel Turner Lot 23, where today stands the Beall-to-Connor house. No transfer of this property is found until 1855, when Beall's heirs transferred to John L. Jordan, Sr., the house that Mr. Beall died "seized and possessed of" in 1815. Tax rolls of 1798 show Turner paying property taxes, so we might guess he had built the house by then.
Apparently Beall's widow—and possibly part of his family—lived here until Mrs. Beall's death. On Septembr 29, 1855, her (and Theodore's) heirs signed to transfer the property to Jordan.
Two transfers since then were to George M. Swank in 1888 and Lula McMurry in 1946. There were three short-lived transfers until 1972, when Henry Connor, Sr., and Virginia Connor acquired the property.
The second floor of this two-story structure has seven-foot ceilings. The original section consisted of two rooms downstairs with enclosed turnaround stairway up to a landing walled by five beaded wooden doors; one opens to a closet at the head of the stairs and the other four doors lead to three bedrooms. These bedroom doors and the cellar door from the living room have original lift-latch locks.
The bottom of the stairs was altered in the 1940's, replacing turnaround steps with a landing. However, the cellar stairs follows the same turn as the one above originally had.
The late "Judge" Ayres stated on a tape that this was one of seven Brunswick houses built of logs. The "logs" may have been small-tree debris carried down the Potomac by high waters.
The addition contains a kitchen, a pantry, a dining
room, and enclosed porch at ground level; above are a bedroom, bathroom,
and small room over the porch.
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Virts' house has several features
(lift latches, beaded wooden door) that betray its age despite the numerous
changes that have occurred over a 200-year period. The October 20, 1787,
purchase price paid by Charles Beagle to Leonard Smith was five pounds
with a six pence annual ground rent, and the deed conveys "all buildings,
profits, and advantages." It was again sold in 1805 "with buildings." This
small log structure was integrated into the present house. From 1919 until
W. B. and Eleanor Wenner bought the property, it was owned by the Pythian
Association of Brunswick.
A log cabin on the corner of North Virginia Avenue and "B" Street deeded to Joseph Smith went to Hymes in 1836 for $210, with two lots.
The Titus Atlasof 1873 shows a structure here at 29 North Virginia Avenue; this must be the log house Mary Hymes' father built. The main house was built around the 1880's. The log house was joined with the large building. Mrs. Norma Jean Frye owns this property.
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The original part was probably the rear sc ction of the building that was a landmark until 1977. The stone chimney and framing indicate theback part to be much older than the front portion.
The main front section was constructed sometime between the years 1841 and 1850, probably 1846. The selection of this particular year is the result of some interesting research.
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was originally laid with wooden rails with a piece of strap iron attached to the top surface.
Certain alterations made to the property years ago by Mr. W. Claude Lutman, a former owner, revealed that the framing of the front section was composed of the wooden portion of these rails. The 20th Annual Report of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, dated October, 1845, stated that a thirty-mile section of track east of Harpers Ferry would be replaced with iron rails before the end of that year. Presumably the house was built with framing from the abandoned rails the following year, 1846, as it is unlikely that the wooden rails would have been allowed to deteriorate before being used.
Joseph Waltman sold the property toJohn Short April 3, 1851, and there began the chain of events that subsequently caused the property to be known as the "Musgrove Place."
For a brief period during the Civil War this house was the headquarters of Major General Alfred Pleasanton, Commander-in-Chief, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac.
Following the battle of Gettysburg—July 1, 2, and 3, 1863—the Union forces pursued Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. During the middle of July of that year, a major portion of the Army of the Potomac reached Berlin and crossed the Potomac here.
General Pleasanton informed Mr. Short that he would require a portion of the residence as his headquarters and selected the lower front room on the right side for this purpose.
It is quite possible, highly probable, that this house echoed to othe rattle of the spurs and sabre of Brigadier General George A. Custer, the "Beau Sabour" of the Federal cavalry arm, for his brigade crossed the Potomac at Berlin. Custer was then 24 years of age. His appointment with destiny and immortality at Little Big Horn lay 13 years in the future.
Confederate prisoners of war were brought to Pleasanton's headquarters for questioning. A little girl, Indiana Short, daughter of the owner of the property, feeling sorry for them, offered them food, but was admonished by the Union authorities not to
When little Miss Short grew to womanhood, she married Mr. Walper Musgrove, and they made this their home. In 1902 Mr. Musgrove modified the house into a full two-story building.
In 1937 the property was purchased by Mr. W. Claude Lutman, who during his residency made extensive changes in the appearance of the house. While working on the south side of the front yard, Mrs. Lutman unearthed a relic of the Civil War—an unexploded cylindrical shell.
In 1946 Steadman-Keenan Post 96, American Legion, purchased the property and subsequently added a wing to the north side. In 1977 the Ameri- can Legion razed this building, probably the most history-laden house in town.
Note: This story was originally written by David Brown. It has been
u dated by the Brunswick History Commission.
Edward C. Schafer bought the multi-use structure in 1906 from Edward and Rose Hudson. Shafer published the Brunsw ck Herald newspaper in the front first-floor room from 1906 until 1912. The main apartment occupied the rear portion. Another apartment was on the second floor.
The third floor had two bedrooms and a bathroom; the back room was so large that there was sufficient area for the owners to hold private, wellattended dances there. Ethel Merriman Donovan remembers from before 1927abell decorationhanging in the middle of the room.
In the basement, the Mcodemus Bottling Works became Brunswick's first soft-drink bottler. In the back yard, there was an old ice house of thick logs, where ice cut from the frozen river was stored to last over the summer.
Ethel and Walter Donovan "went to housekeeping" here in 1928 and returned after a brief move to Baltimore. When the Shafers moved to 22 North Virginia Avenue, Chauncey and Wilbur Nicodemus bought the house, which remained in the Nicodemus family until 1961. Thus the house acquired its name.
S - Louise Nicodemus Porte
- Ethel M. Donovan
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Martha was able to buy out her siblings. Through negotiations with the United States Post Office Department (now U. S. Postal Service) the present building was constructed in 1900, and 1 (One) East Potomac Street became the address of the local Post Office.
A post card features this building.
Meanwhile, brother Joseph, who married Ida Booth,
bought all of Martha's property except 1, 3, and 5 East Potomac Street,
which she held the rest of her life. For this he paid $150. The next year
Joseph in turn sold the property to Mehrlings for $1600.
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Lot 6: Opposite Lot 7, south of tracks (1887, Wm. L. Gross, 1893, Wenner, Swank & Co.)
Lot 3: Canal goes through Lot 1, Lot 2 is next, then Lot 3 "Lock House."
Lot 24: Southeast corner Potomac and Virginia Avenues (1910 Reformed Church.)
Lot 28: South Virginia Avenue at RR track, east side Virginia Avenue (1873 Redmen's Hall on west end of lot.)
Lot 31: East side of Virginia Avenue, third lot south of RR tracks (The Bruns7`nck Herald, Edw. C. Shafer.)
Lot 32: South of a county road that used to pass there, now part of RR property. Just north of mill property (1855 C. F. Wenner, 1883, B. P. Crampton &Co.)
Lots 48, 49, 50: (1919 Hyman Werntz.) Lot 50 extends to corner of present "B" Street, where there was in 1791 a "still house."
Lot 45: Corner West Potomac and Maryland Avenue (1906 V. Kaplon.)
Lot 42: 1888 W. L. Gross
Lot 41: 1892 Gross Store
Lot 40: Across tracks from Gross Store ("Judge Jordan," "Flynn's Store.")
Lot 39: Second lot across tracks (1850 M. E. Church)
Lot 38: City Hotel, Potterfields
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When the present bridge approach was constructed, Hahn's building was razed, and Mr. Feete "re-recycled" what could be used when he built the apartment house that is snuggled between Petersville Road and Martin's Creek. Mr. Demory of Virginia was the contractor for this last building.
S - Dutch Burns
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At one time Sears and Roebuck houses were bought by mail order and brought to Brunswick on the B&O Railroad. Every board was numbered and the carpenter did the rest.
The Long house at 811 Petersville Road as well as its neighbor, originally built by the Wynkoops, are Sears houses. The design of a house built long ago by Dr. J. G. F. Smith, was called "Maple. " Today it is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Walker, 3529 Petersville Road.
A house built by the late George W. Heffner for hisbride is still in the familyand stands at 812 North Maple Avenue. Jim Haller owns a Sears house at 302 Ninth Avenue.
There are probably many more "Sears Houses" in Brunswick wait ng to be identified.
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Clara's family lived at 15 Tenth Avenue. One of a row of houses high above the road, it did not have steps to help one get into the front yard up to the house. "Duck" made the unlikely maneuver of backing the horsedrawn wagon up the bank as close as he could get, and then the family moved grandmother and the trunk into the house.
Incidentally, Mary Crowl lived there until 1925,
when she died at the age of 96. She did fine handwork until the week before
her death, when she announced that the lace she was crocheting then was
the last she would make. She died the next week.
"Duck" Hathaway was a colorful person. He had a pair of mules with
his wagon. The B&O RR came into a siding at the west-bound station.
Daily there were freight cars coming in with merchandise, which was put
on a long, four-foot high platform to unload. Duck in turn delivered the
wares to the merchants.
The Hathaway house was a rooming and boarding house. A large fireplace in the basement, with ground-level entry, had a swinging arm to hold large cooking pots. The 17-foot wide rooms have been arranged into six apartments.
This is now owned by Gary and Kay Cooper.
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Remember Hudson Row? It was a row of connected frame dwellings on the south side of Potomac Street between Virginia and Delaware Avenues. Upon examing Arthur Lutman's plats of Berlin, one sees "Hudson-Bakery 1892" beside the Opera House, Lot 60; Edward Hudson 1896, Lots 11 and 10, where the Ambulance building now stands and the adjacent lot; and Edward Hudson 5-30-92, Lot 71.
He and his wife, Rose, also owned lots down the east side of Delaware Avenue to Walnut Street including the Nicodemus house. Further research is needed to learn how much more of that block he owned.
Richard Hudson of Frederick recalls his father's accounts of life in early Brunswick—taking horses to the canal for water and falling into the canal because of of the difficulty getting near the water. His father remembered driving their wagon to Harpers Ferry to deliver bread from their bakery. The son is in the process of examining papers from his grandparents, who were in Brunswick by 1892.
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Thomas E. Sigler means two persons when building is mentioned in Brunswick.
Thomas, Sr., began learning the trade with his brother Paul, became dedicated to building and continued with him. Since he launched out on his own in 1969, he has not only built houses, but has also built the streets to put them on in many cases. He constructed "H" Street, put in water, sewer, then bought the taps and paid to tap in! All the parts of "E," and "G" Streets that he developed also followed this method.
Tommy's son, Thomas, Jr., is now making a name for himself by beautifying existing properties as well as constructing houses. Young Thomas would build a house, live in it until another was built, move in and sell the first. He is now on his sixth house following this pattern.
Meanwhile, he acquired Baxter's Apartment, the old East End School, gutted it, then completely renewed all utilities and renovated. Next he turned to the Potomac Furniture Company, which one cannot miss passing through town. He then put into first-class condition the former Dailey Funeral Home two doors west. Payne's Pharmacy, next to Bank of Brunswick on the Square Corner, was his fourth building. At present he is (or will soon be) preparing apartments in the building recently owned and vacated by Junior Moler.
The Siglers deserve commendation for their beautification efforts, which in turn provide much needed housing in Brunswick.
S - Naomi Sigler
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The men at the center were given a small amount of spending money per day. If the money did not arrive from Washington when needed, script was used and repaid when the money did arrive. The unpaid amount frequently climbed to huge sums. At one high point in this "loan" account, the manager of the local center absconded with the government money when it arrived and a generous Brunswick businessman was left holding a bag of worth less script. Dr. Thomas Strother was the center's physician. Upon the men's arrival, he examined them for general health as well as social diseases. He would require the men to have a steaming hot bath in case they were carrying lice. If the nits remained, he would give them medicine, with instructions to return in two days for further treatment.
Some men developed pneumonia and other conditions needing hospitalization. In such cases, Dr. Strother would send them to Frederick CityHospital (now Frederick Memorial).
One man went to Dr. Strother's office, which was just a few doors west of the Transient Camp. After examining the man, the doctor said, "Man, you don't have long to live if you don't listen!. You've got to stay in bed two or three days and take some medicine. You can get it at Barnett's Pharmacy next door." "But I don't have any money for medicine" he said.
"This will be enough to pay for it," Dr. Strother said as he pressed three dollars into the man's hand.
These transients were not bad men; some were very smart men; they were down on their luck because of the general depression and were traveling the best way they could to find work.
One man was a lawyer and carried his papers with him. One was a surgeon, and Dr. Strother is reported to have asked him to remain in Brunswick and practice his profession. Because the man realized he drank excessively and wouldn't want to hurt anyone, he decided to move on. A young man with great feeling for his fellow man, Dr. Strother would "do anything to help a guy," according to Dutch Burns.
S - Dutch Burns
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Another walkway was between the double storeroom where Goodwill has its outlet store and Mrs. Himes Restaurant, which was at 21 West Potomac. This too went to Petersville Road.
Continuing west out the street, beside the house on the corner of Maryland Avenue there was a walkway behind the Arnold Apartments of Maryland Avenue and behind the businesses at 23-25 West Potomac. There was a wooden staircase that went across the back lot, across the creek alongside Smitty's bakery to a well by his house. People as far away as Railroad Street used to fill their containers and carry water to their homes.
There were three passages across Peter's Run (Martin's Creek) to the other road because Maryland Avenue was not at the time a through street. It stopped about 30 feet north of the front porch at 14 North Maryland Avenue.
There was a path along the property at 17 Maryland Avenue (where Nickie Burns lived). People used the driveway as a walkway over to houses on Virginia Avenue, to Shewbridge's backyard and to where the Schnauffer Hospital was (now an apartment) at the corner of "B" Street.
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Six years later, in 1942, the Potomac flooded again,
giving the town its second worst flood.
The flood of November 1985 caused over sixty thousand dollars in damage
to the town's water filtration plant and pumping station.
Fires have caused notable damage over the years, including those which destroyed the Transfer Shed on the B&O (1920's); the destruction of the high school in 1928; the Brunswick mill (1972); the Y.M.C.A., Potomac Street (1980): the Hovermale building, across from the Fire Hall (1979); the Werntz building at First Avenue and East Potomac Street (1980); and the Katie Barnard building at Second Avenue and East Potomac Street (1988).
A "local legend," which must have been somewhat exaggerated, claimed that tornado-force winds stripped the bark from all the City Park trees in 1929. Some other folks, like Sherman Lowery, said "It wasn't that bad, but it did shake a couple of houses and tore a wing from a brick home out of town."
In 1983, a severe tornado-like storm leveled the bowling alley on Souder Road, uprooted trees in City Park, tore siding from houses and toppled trees along North Maple Avenue.
Brunswick isn't really in the hurricane belt, but it is a close facsimile sometimes. In 1972 and 1974 there were Hurricanes Agnes and Eloise, respectively. The May 21,1988, storm was not a hurricane, but a terrible local rain that might as well have been. Roads were closed and rivers rose—slowly, but surely.
S - Glenn Moler (YMCA)
- Paul Gletner (dates)
- Sherman Lowry
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In February of 1969, the town's newspaper editor, Bob Dawson, passed a challenge to the Brunswick Recreation Commission to "pick up the gauntlet" laid before them by the B&O committee. From this the Brunswick Visitors and Recreation Promotions, Inc., later changed to the Brunswick Potomac Foundation, Inc., evolved, aided by the Maryland Department of Economic and Community Development. A nonprofit organization, the Foundation was chartered under Maryland law in 1969. Its original goals had a five-prong thrust: to encompass the town, the railroad, the river, the canal, and the people. The aim was to depict the history of the area and to encourage visitors to utilize local resources for recreation and commerce. For twelve years the best-known activity of the BrunswickPotomac Foundation was the annual Potomac River Festival. Beginning in 1969 it attracted thousands of visitors and featured a variety of tours; historical displays; railroad, river, and canal exhibits; and arts and crafts demonstrations and sales. The Festival traditionally included appearances by the United States Navy Band in concert at Brunswick High School.
Railroad weekends have been held during the past decade.
For the first five years, 1969 through 1973, the Potomac River Festival was headquartered in the Kaplon Building. The first and second floors held displays, and the the large show windows, enclosed at the time, provided small, secured display rooms. Artifacts spoke of the past from these as well as other display windows downtown.
Colleen Selby, art chairman, held juried art exhibits with prizes. Attracting entries from Hagerstown, Baltimore, and Washington, as well as locally, this exhibit grew to be the largest in Frederick County as it moved to the present Foundation building. Michael Nazelrod succeeded Mrs. Selby as art director in the Museum.
In 1974 the Brunswick Potomac Foundation purchased the old Red Men's Hall, later known as the Eagles Club building, at 40-44 West Potomac Street in Brunswick. In the beginning, Museum directors were volunteers. Connie Koenig, the first director, trained Michael Nazelrod under the now defunct CETA program. He succeeded her and was followed by Leona Sauser and Jo Brill. At present, Dr. Eleanor Milligan fills the position as the first paid director of the Museum. Each director has made contributions resulting in an increasingly professional museum. The wooden caboose, built about 1924, was on display near the westbound railroad station until it was transferred to Brunswick High School in 1986. After extensive restoration by Graydon Hollar, of Lovettsville, it now serves as a "mascot" for the local high school and a reminder of the town's past. Foundation presidents have been E. Donald Darr, Lee B. Smith, Darlene Harrison, Bert Thornton, Diane Ellis, and Ed Gladstone.
One of the Foundation's main goals was to build a model railroad depicting the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad's Metropolitan Branch from Brunswick, Md., to Washington, D.C., including yard facilities in Brunswick and in Washington.
On October 1,1976, the process was begun with the signing of an agreement with the Brunswick Model Railroad Club. Members included Walter Mathers, William "Bill" Care, Rev. Harry Ledgard, Jim Barger, Rev. Jack Marcom and Dick Robinson, to name a few.
In the beginning and up through the later years, all rolling stock was owned by club members and other individuals. Funds were scarce! The Board had specified that the layout would depict the late 1950-60's era. Plans were submitted to the Board for approval on all layout work. As many old landmarks as possible were included, such as the coal chute, the YMCA, Point of Rocks station, the old callers of fice, and WB tower—buildings that had to be built from scratch. Eventually the model railroad consumed over 2,000 square feet of floor space on the third floor, more than 3/10 of a mile of track, and four to five miles of wiring. During the years after the Club dissolved, various persons came and went, all working on the layout. Scenery work was handled as a volunteer project by the Brunswick High School Art Club under the direction of Judith Bacorn. Other persons, includingJohn Schletzer, from Baltimore and the Ellicott City Train Museum, further developed the layout. In 1977 and 1980, Lee B. Smith and L. Peter Harper, respectively, became part of the project, adding later Joe Coakley, Jim Barker, and Pat Hollern. These five are still working on the layout.
Finally, two commercial rental units consume the remainder of the building. One is part of the basement, but has a street-level entrance on Maryland Avenue. Funds with which to carry out the objectives of the Foundation are received through membership fees and contributions, proceeds from the Sidetrack Gift Shop and the special events.
S - Lee B. Smith
- Pete Harper
W - M M M
In Red Men's Hall, the first floor is occupied by the Sidetrack Gift Shop and a small theater where visitors see a slide show depicting the early history of the town.
The second floor shows how railroading families lived in Brunswick around 1900, the time when the B&O Railroad made it a boom town. Visitors can see three rooms typical of railroaders' homes. They can see their clothing and tools. A photo gallery shows the history from "the town between the tracks" to modern Brunswick.
The "piece de resistance" is found on the third floor. There one can see a huge HO-gauge model railroad, which depicts all the stops the railroad makes from Union Station in Washington to the Brunswick railroad yards. The Museum owns over 90% of its rolling stock, the remainder belonging to workers. Large contributions of equipment have been made and the staff is continually working to improve the layoutby visiting sites and returning to the Museum to work on that section and bring it into being. An art collection climbs the stairs from entrance to the third floor.
How did this museum come to be? From 1969 to 1973, a temporary "museum" was developed annually on two floors of the Kaplon building with additional displays by townspeople in storerooms for viewing during its annual Potomac River Festival.
In 1974 the Foundation bought a substantial brick structure built in 1904 for the Improved Order of the Red Men. The down payment of $8,000 came from Festival profits, three loans, a $1,000 contribution and membership fees. The museum began with an empty building and a $22,000 mortgage. Gifts and displays poured in from the community, and in 1978, the Foundation's president, Donald Darr, died leaving an inheritance. With this money, the Foundation hired a professional model railroad engineer from Ellicott City; his services hastened the completion of the third floor layout.
The Railroad Museum, owned by the Brunswick-Potomac Foundation, has become a big attraction for railroad buffs and history lovers. It is meeting a challenge presented to the town over twenty years ago to become a tourism center and attract visitors.
S - M M M, and the Museum
W - Eleanor Milligan, Museum Curator
The Frederick County Library was supportive of the local undertaking from its inception, and eventually the Brunswick Public Library officially became a part of the County Library system.
Continuing good use and support led town and library officials and backers to seek a more modern facility with improved parking and better access for the handicapped. On March 17,1988, the Frederick County Commissioners accepted from the Town of Brunswick the 1.5-acre site at 915 FJorth Maple Avenue and approved construction of a new library building there. Construction got underway in 1988 and the new 2,500 square-foot building was officially dedicated on Sunday April 9, 1989. Brunswick Public Library Inc., the support group which had succeeded the Brunswick Library Association, raised $10,000 for additional books, audio-visual equipment, and landscaping. The new facility, boasting almost 13,000 titles, electronic checkout and return, plus a computer for public use, is well patronized and fully enjoyed by the citizens of Brunswick and the surrounding area.
Mrs. Patricia Cage Hortman was Brunswick's librarian
from 1963 until her retirement in April 1989. She was succeeded by Betty
Moser who had been a Branch Assistant at Brunswick.
Sources - Rev. Leonard Carmack
- Mrs. Patricia Cage Hortman
W - B R H
The first 'Y' measured 90 by 45 feet, cost $16,000, and opened on April 5,1907. It contained dormitories with a total of 46 beds. First officerF were W. E. Shannon, Chairman; H. M. Jones, Treasurer; and Mr. McNeally, Secretary. Directors wer Dr. Levin West, J. J. Haskett, T. A. Sigafoose, L.E. lvIcBride. Z. T. Brantner, Oscar Merriman and Mr. Radley.
Improvements were made steadily over the years including electric laundry equipment costing $1652 installed in tl oasement of the Annex Building in 1927, and a $2300 electric refrigerati . n system completed in 1928 to provide cold sto. ge facilities as well as kitchen and dining room refrigeration.
The Y.M.C.A. planned activ: .es that were beneficial to the B&O RR as well as to Brunswick. The athletic field on New York Hill was developed in 1928-29. The active support and cooperation of the B&O's General Manager, E. W. Scheer, led to its being named after him. Brunswick was justifiably proud of +Scheer Stadium. It was, without a doubt, the finest baseball diamond in the entire area. The "Y"s 1930 plans included a bathing beach, athletic and social programs and an annual athletic meet.
Tragedy struck on December 24, 1934 when a fire, starting from a short circuit in the basement, spread to all three floors, causing extensive damage. The structure was rebuilt immediately and continued serving the railroad and town until Friday night, November 8, 1980 when an electrical short in the first floor office and lobby touched off another disastrous fire which destroyed the historic structure.
While there was a lot of sentiment for again rebuilding on the same site, that idea was eventually ruled out because the site was considered too small and, ironically, too close to the railroad. Over the next few years several other sites were considered, including the area of the old high school at the top of 4th Avenue hill. This also was ultimately found to be unacceptable and the site search continued while train crews with layovers were taxied to motels in Sandy Hook, Charles Town, and elsewhere. Finally selected was the site of the former bowling alley on Souder Road next to Brunswick Cooperative and construction soon got underway.
The frustrating five-and-one-half-year period of
being without a "Y" ended onJune 28,1986 when the new $3.7 million facility
was dedicated. The 30,000 square-foot brick building has sixty rooms with
single beds, private baths and individual temperature controls. It also
has a restaurant, meeting rooms, exercise and weight-lifting equipment
and physical fitness directors. A small chapel is highlighted by a stained
glass panel originally dedicated in 1916 in memory of a railroad division
manager. The window was salvaged from the 1980 fire and kept at the Brunswick
Museum until it was fitted into the Chapel.
The support of the railroad and the community resurrected a landmark
that has always been synonymous with Brunswick.
W -BLC
- B R H
The February 18, 1914, deed by William W. Wenner, trustee for Joseph Waltman (deceased), completed the June 11,1870, bequest of Waltman to Wenner for the land, still used as a graveyard, to be held for burial until the incorporation of an Evangelical Lutheran Church or congregation. At that time the land was to be conveyed to that "church or congregation." At William W. Wenner's death the trusteeship descended to his son of the same name.
On the ninth of September, 1892, such a congregation as stipulated did incorporate as "Bethany Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brunswick" (Corporations A No.2, Frederick County Circuit Court), and the land was transferred as specified (H.W.B. 308/182 &c).
This is known as the old Lutheran Cemetery, and is located at the east end of Brunswick Street and the corner of West "B" Street.
When the Lutherans finally organized and built a church in 1892, they chose to build close to the middle of the town rather than at the inherited site. The cemetery was eventually deeded to the town of Brunswick.
Four family lots still exist—Kidwell, Evans, Lutman, Sigafoose—and were once inclosed by handsome iron fencing, little of which exists today.
Few tombstones remain today, but as recently as the 1930's school children were making a "short cut home" through a path between rows of markers. These rows of stones still existed as late as the 1950's. As the stones were displaced by children playing there, eventually a small area became a baseball field until the town prohibited such activity. By then the damage had been done; the loss was irreplaceable.
Jacob Mehrling Holdcraft, in Names in Stone, states "It has remained virtually nameless, even to local residents. Only one Lutheran is buried there." The author ends with "(78 names. 1959)."
Some of those names have descendants living in Brunswick today; at least one of those intends to be buried in the Berlin Cemetery.
Source: - Jacob Mehrling Holdcraft, Names in Stone, Monocacy Book Co.,
Redwood, CA, 1966, pp 18-19. - Bethany Lutheran Church Records - Ellwood
Wineholt
W-MMM
As shown on an aerial photograph, the cemetery is heartshaped. The body of Mrs. Anna W. (Amos) Haller (1860-1914) was the first buried at Park Heights. Her monument is seen at the south border of the east curve of the heart. Another early burial was made on the east side of the same curve; here George M. Roeder's body lies at rest (18951918).
Mr. Jones reserved several lots for his own family. He and his wife are interred near where the road divides; their stone is easily seen, as a planting of azaleas hugs the stones from their back.
One mausoleum has been built at Park Heights. At the entrance is the resting place of six members of the Ault and Myers families.
Since March 1988 Jim Bradley has managed the cemetery for the former owners, John Parise, Sr., Paul Interdonato, Mrs. Josephine Schamel, and John V. Del Vecchio, until a recent change.
The cemetery property was transfserred to the Park Heights Cemetery Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit organization in mid-1990. The local Jaycees facilitated this change, which was two years in the making. All members are volunteers. President and vice-president are Jim Bradley and Leonard Brooks, respectively. Dawn Bradley is secretarytreasurer; Bill Woullard is the representative from the town council.
S - Dawn Bradley - Jim Bradley
W -MMM
That th. recreation area developed on New Yorkhill for $ss,noo, sponsored by the National Youth Association in cooperation with the YMCA, B&'O, and the community, was turned over to the town? The project was built on railroad property?
How the Catholic Church on Catholic Church Hill looked?
It had steps up each side of thefront, similar to theformer Lutheran Church
on "C" Street. That "C" Street church is now a dwelling; the Catholic Church
burned down.
That the railroad hauled much captured equipment from wwn? It was always
covered, had afour-man guard, and was not allowed to be touched.
The flagmen at the railroad crossings and the long waits caused by standing trains blocking the roadway? Sometimes they would "cut" the train so the cars could cross.
When churches used to sponsor their wiener roast picnics at the Farmers Picnic Woods and at Braddock Amusement Park? Each family took its own food; then gathered for fellowship and group singing.
Before Brunswick streets were paved, the ruts were filled with cinders from the railroad—free of charge?
When Mr. Feete, the undertaker, used to bury bodies in a coffin? A coffin had six sides. Caskets are used now. They have eight sides.
When bread was delivered by train from Hagerstown in canvas carts with nothing but a piece of paper over them? Some had a slab of board on top along with the paper.
Fitabella Roccosina? His store was beyond the tracks
and he had a big, big shoe hanging outside. When he moved to Hudson Row,
he brought the shoe inside.