Motor Lodges
Joan Fry
On my way to Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, last week, I noticed demolition work at the foot of Sunshine Trail. What was left of Red Run Cabins was being turned into rubble. According to an article in The Record Herald in 2005, the Red Run Lodge was built of chestnut in 1940, and cabins were added over several years. Red Run Lodge was demolished in 2005, and the cabins were left to disintegrate. I remember the lodge’s famous chicken in the basket.
In 1917, Henry O. Smith bought a twenty-seven-acre tract of land, where he and his family cleared about fifteen acres and grew strawberries and raspberries. When Route 16, the Sunshine Trail, was built in 1938 to replace old Route 16, the new highway split the property in two. Smith donated the eight acres on the north side of Route 16 to the Borough of Waynesboro for Red Run Park, which thrives today with many activities, including car shows, singing entertainment, and miniature train rides for the young at heart.
The lodge was closed in the late 1960s, and the farm continued to sell fruit at the adjoining stand until several years ago. The property was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994, after being purchased by Red Run Enterprises, based in Washington, D.C., from the Smith heirs.
When automobiles made family travel common and travelers wanted a convenient and inexpensive place to rest, new accommodations sprang up along the roadsides across the country. Unlike the downtown hotels, tourist courts and motor inns appeared that were automobile friendly. These “mom and pop” businesses sometimes consisted of cabins in a “U” shape, with one shared bathroom facility and parking in front of each unit.
Local lodges such as Red Run Lodge and Cabins were popular stopovers in the 1930s and 1940s, when passenger trains became a thing of the past and automobiles were the new way to travel. The large hotels around Pen Mar Park in Washington County and Braddock Heights in Frederick County were no longer the latest in lodging for summer visitors from the city.
There were many other motor lodges in the area at the time. In Thurmont, Camp Cozy and Shangri-La Cabins on old Route 15 were keeping up with the times, and Barbara Fritchie Cabins and Francis Scott Key Restaurant and Motel, along Route 40 in Frederick, were catering to the tourist trade.
Barbara Fritchie Cabins was located on Route 40, having forty cabins, steam heat, and private showers. The price for two people ranged from $3.00 to $5.00 per night. The restaurant is still thriving, serving good food and their famous pies.
On my way to Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, last week, I noticed demolition work at the foot of Sunshine Trail. What was left of Red Run Cabins was being turned into rubble. According to an article in The Record Herald in 2005, the Red Run Lodge was built of chestnut in 1940, and cabins were added over several years. Red Run Lodge was demolished in 2005, and the cabins were left to disintegrate. I remember the lodge’s famous chicken in the basket.
In 1917, Henry O. Smith bought a twenty-seven-acre tract of land, where he and his family cleared about fifteen acres and grew strawberries and raspberries. When Route 16, the Sunshine Trail, was built in 1938 to replace old Route 16, the new highway split the property in two. Smith donated the eight acres on the north side of Route 16 to the Borough of Waynesboro for Red Run Park, which thrives today with many activities, including car shows, singing entertainment, and miniature train rides for the young at heart.
The lodge was closed in the late 1960s, and the farm continued to sell fruit at the adjoining stand until several years ago. The property was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994, after being purchased by Red Run Enterprises, based in Washington, D.C., from the Smith heirs.
When automobiles made family travel common and travelers wanted a convenient and inexpensive place to rest, new accommodations sprang up along the roadsides across the country. Unlike the downtown hotels, tourist courts and motor inns appeared that were automobile friendly. These “mom and pop” businesses sometimes consisted of cabins in a “U” shape, with one shared bathroom facility and parking in front of each unit.
Local lodges such as Red Run Lodge and Cabins were popular stopovers in the 1930s and 1940s, when passenger trains became a thing of the past and automobiles were the new way to travel. The large hotels around Pen Mar Park in Washington County and Braddock Heights in Frederick County were no longer the latest in lodging for summer visitors from the city.
There were many other motor lodges in the area at the time. In Thurmont, Camp Cozy and Shangri-La Cabins on old Route 15 were keeping up with the times, and Barbara Fritchie Cabins and Francis Scott Key Restaurant and Motel, along Route 40 in Frederick, were catering to the tourist trade.
Barbara Fritchie Cabins was located on Route 40, having forty cabins, steam heat, and private showers. The price for two people ranged from $3.00 to $5.00 per night. The restaurant is still thriving, serving good food and their famous pies.
On my way to Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, last week, I noticed demolition work at the foot of Sunshine Trail. What was left of Red Run Cabins was being turned into rubble. According to an article in The Record Herald in 2005, the Red Run Lodge was built of chestnut in 1940, and cabins were added over several years. Red Run Lodge was demolished in 2005, and the cabins were left to disintegrate. I remember the lodge’s famous chicken in the basket.
In 1917, Henry O. Smith bought a twenty-seven-acre tract of land, where he and his family cleared about fifteen acres and grew strawberries and raspberries. When Route 16, the Sunshine Trail, was built in 1938 to replace old Route 16, the new highway split the property in two. Smith donated the eight acres on the north side of Route 16 to the Borough of Waynesboro for Red Run Park, which thrives today with many activities, including car shows, singing entertainment, and miniature train rides for the young at heart.
The lodge was closed in the late 1960s, and the farm continued to sell fruit at the adjoining stand until several years ago. The property was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994, after being purchased by Red Run Enterprises, based in Washington, D.C., from the Smith heirs.
When automobiles made family travel common and travelers wanted a convenient and inexpensive place to rest, new accommodations sprang up along the roadsides across the country. Unlike the downtown hotels, tourist courts and motor inns appeared that were automobile friendly. These “mom and pop” businesses sometimes consisted of cabins in a “U” shape, with one shared bathroom facility and parking in front of each unit.
Local lodges such as Red Run Lodge and Cabins were popular stopovers in the 1930s and 1940s, when passenger trains became a thing of the past and automobiles were the new way to travel. The large hotels around Pen Mar Park in Washington County and Braddock Heights in Frederick County were no longer the latest in lodging for summer visitors from the city.
There were many other motor lodges in the area at the time. In Thurmont, Camp Cozy and Shangri-La Cabins on old Route 15 were keeping up with the times, and Barbara Fritchie Cabins and Francis Scott Key Restaurant and Motel, along Route 40 in Frederick, were catering to the tourist trade.
Barbara Fritchie Cabins was located on Route 40, having forty cabins, steam heat, and private showers. The price for two people ranged from $3.00 to $5.00 per night. The restaurant is still thriving, serving good food and their famous pies.
On my way to Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, last week, I noticed demolition work at the foot of Sunshine Trail. What was left of Red Run Cabins was being turned into rubble. According to an article in The Record Herald in 2005, the Red Run Lodge was built of chestnut in 1940, and cabins were added over several years. Red Run Lodge was demolished in 2005, and the cabins were left to disintegrate. I remember the lodge’s famous chicken in the basket.
In 1917, Henry O. Smith bought a twenty-seven-acre tract of land, where he and his family cleared about fifteen acres and grew strawberries and raspberries. When Route 16, the Sunshine Trail, was built in 1938 to replace old Route 16, the new highway split the property in two. Smith donated the eight acres on the north side of Route 16 to the Borough of Waynesboro for Red Run Park, which thrives today with many activities, including car shows, singing entertainment, and miniature train rides for the young at heart.
The lodge was closed in the late 1960s, and the farm continued to sell fruit at the adjoining stand until several years ago. The property was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994, after being purchased by Red Run Enterprises, based in Washington, D.C., from the Smith heirs.
When automobiles made family travel common and travelers wanted a convenient and inexpensive place to rest, new accommodations sprang up along the roadsides across the country. Unlike the downtown hotels, tourist courts and motor inns appeared that were automobile friendly. These “mom and pop” businesses sometimes consisted of cabins in a “U” shape, with one shared bathroom facility and parking in front of each unit.
Local lodges such as Red Run Lodge and Cabins were popular stopovers in the 1930s and 1940s, when passenger trains became a thing of the past and automobiles were the new way to travel. The large hotels around Pen Mar Park in Washington County and Braddock Heights in Frederick County were no longer the latest in lodging for summer visitors from the city.
There were many other motor lodges in the area at the time. In Thurmont, Camp Cozy and Shangri-La Cabins on old Route 15 were keeping up with the times, and Barbara Fritchie Cabins and Francis Scott Key Restaurant and Motel, along Route 40 in Frederick, were catering to the tourist trade.
Barbara Fritchie Cabins was located on Route 40, having forty cabins, steam heat, and private showers. The price for two people ranged from $3.00 to $5.00 per night. The restaurant is still thriving, serving good food and their famous pies.