Secrets of Washington County coming early next year
I thought I would share an update for my newest Secrets book. Secrets of Washington County was cruising along smoothly earlier this year until COVID hit, and the places I needed to visit for research were closed. With things opening up, I’ve been able to restart the work. It’s about two-thirds complete, and I’ve been finding out some interesting things about the county. Did you know Hancock is earthquake central for Western Maryland? Hagerstown, Williamsport, and Boonsboro were all considered for locations for the national capital. While Fort Ritchie’s soldiers successfully fought Nazis during WWII, a single woodpecker was able to take out the fort’s power. I’ve got a few leads on additional stories I’m trying to track down. I expect the finished book to have about three dozen little-known stories or forgotten history about the county and around 50 Read more…
Talking about Spanish Flu on WTHU
I was a guest on WTHU Radio in Thurmont, MD, to speak about the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. Here is the interview. You might also enjoy these posts: The Spanish Flu hits Adams County (Part 1) The sneeze that killed October Mourning
Wild Frostburg, MD, During Prohibition
Although the United States government banned the sale, production and transportation of alcohol in 1920, it made no difference to the residents of Frostburg. Liquor and beer flowed so freely in the Mountain City that drunks staggered through the streets with little fear of consequences. Once the U.S. Congress ratified nationwide Prohibition in January 1919, the Volstead Act, passed later that year, provided the means to enforce liquor and beer sales and manufacture. Prohibition went into effect on midnight January 17, 1920, and the first arrest under the Volstead Act was made less than an hour later (in Chicago). The first arrest in Frostburg of someone violating the Volstead Act didn’t happen until October 21, 1922, nearly three years after Prohibition started. By then, the city had a statewide reputation for out-of-control drunkenness and not enforcement of Prohibition. A 1921 Read more…
Frederick County (MD)’s Journey Through Hallowed Ground
Beginning in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, you can travel south on Route 15 and Route 231 for 180 miles until you reach Charlottesville, Virginia. “This part of the country has soaked up more of the blood, sweat, and tears of American history than any other part of the country. It has bred more founding fathers, inspired more soaring hopes and ideals and witnessed more triumphs, failures, victories, and lost causes than any other place in the country,” Yale University Professor C. Vann Woodward said of the route. And around 37 miles of the route runs through the middle of Frederick County. This is The Journey Through Hallowed Ground, a National Scenic Byway and a driving trip through America’s history and some of its scenic vistas. The Journey Through Hallowed Ground organization works with state and municipal governments to create joint tourism opportunities Read more…
Start your engines!
The Cumberland (MD) Municipal Airport has never been busier than when sports cars raced around its runways. Yes, sports cars. Not airplanes. Each May from 1953 to 1971 racers from across the country would travel to Cumberland to test their sports cars against other top cars to see whose was the fastest. Roger Penske, Shelby Briggs and Carroll Shelby all raced at the Cumberland Airport. The races featured some of the greatest racing cars of the time: Birdcage Maserati, Ferrari Testa Rossa, D Type Jaguar, Porsche 356 Speedster, Cobra, Mustang, Camaro, Sunbeam Alpine, Austin Healy 100, and the Howmet Turbine Car. “It was a great time,” said Dave Williams. “A who’s who of American sports car racing came through Cumberland.” Williams watched many of those old races as a young man and he remains a racing enthusiast and promoter of Read more…
Thurmont’s Seminary gave students an advanced education
At the beginning of July 1875, the parents and family members of 38 students of the Mechanicstown Male and Female Seminary gathered in Mechanics’ Hall for the first graduation from the school. “The stage was beautifully decorated and ornamented with flowers and evergreens, and everything looked charming as the children and young ladies, all dressed in white, were pyramidically situated upon it,” the Catoctin Clarion reported. The seminary had opened the year before by the Middle Conference of the Lutheran Synod of Maryland. It was located in the Stoner House on East Main Street. The Rev. Victor Miller was principal. The school’s prospectus said that “Its aim is to impart a better education, intellectual and moral, than is afforded by public schools—an education thorough in character and practical as possible.” The school taught three grades, though they don’t correspond to Read more…
The music never dies
For longer than anyone has been alive today, Frostburg has always had the Arion Band. Before Alexander Graham Bell said, “Mr. Watson, come here I need you,” Watson could listen to the band playing a march or other popular piece of music. Through the Great Depression and victory at war, the Arion Band brought joy to Western Marylanders and celebrated with them whether it was a holiday or victory at war. Even as music styles changed, the Arion Band kept up with them and adapted. “The Arion Band is believed to be the oldest, continually operating band in the country,” says Blair Knouse, president of the band. You might find bands that have been around longer, they have gaps in their history where most likely they weren’t performing for a time. While the Arion Band’s membership fluctuates from season to Read more…
The morning Oakland burned (part 2)
Note: This is the second of two articles about the Great Oakland Fire of 1898. As a fire rampaged through Oakland, Md., during the morning of July 12, 1898, the townspeople had formed a bucket brigade to fight the fire. The fire department had a chemical engine that was also being used to try to put out the fire. It was overwhelming, and Oakland Mayor R. S. Jamison telegraphed Mayor George A. Kean of Cumberland for help. Kean promised to send a fire company, but that help would be hours away. Jamison’s message may have been one of the last to get out of Oakland before the fire burned down three telegraph poles, taking the wire with it. A correspondent with the Warren (Pa.) Democrat had been transmitting a story to the newspaper when he had lost communications. The message read, Read more…
The final trip of Maryland's last interurban trolley
February 20, 1954, was an overcast Saturday morning that drizzled rain in Frederick County. The somber weather matched the feeling a many people as they watched trolley cars No. 171 and No. 172 pull out of the East Patrick Street car barn in Frederick and head north. About 100 people crammed the trolley, which is more passengers than it had seen on a single trip in a long time. One report noted that the leather hand straps riders could hold onto inside the trolley cars were as good as new. This was because the cars were rarely crowded enough for them to be used. The Thurmont Trolley had transported 3.8 million riders around Frederick County in 1920, but by 1940, that number was down to 500,000 riders. With ridership dropping and the popularity of cars skyrocketing, the decision had been Read more…
Western Maryland Moonshining
When the sale, production and transportation of alcohol were banned in the United States in 1920, Western Marylanders had to choose between becoming teetotalers or criminals. Many law-abiding citizens chose the latter. “Illicit liquor, manufactured in countless stills in homes, farmyard barns, and even auto repair shops, could be bought all over the county.” Harry Stegmaier, Jr. wrote in Allegany County – A History. One of the first raids in the county on these places where illegal liquor was sold and produced came about almost accidentally. On June 2, 1920, Elmer Dumar, owner of the Vimy Restaurant on North Mechanic Street was not very happy. His wife, Jennie, had spent part of the evening flirting with “a Spaniard,” according to the Cumberland Evening Times. Dumar finally lost his patience and got into a fight with the Spaniard. The man ran Read more…
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