Alisha Yocum In today’s world, running a restaurant is no easy task, but the Carriage House Inn in Emmitsburg is celebrating 40 years in business this year. While there are many reasons for their success, one thing stands out: They feel like family. The original owners, the late James “Pop” and JoAnn Hance, first opened…

by Richard D. L. Fulton Maryland has been the scene of numerous “firsts” in the annals of aviation, beginning with the first “manned” hot air balloon in America (see “Balloons Over Maryland,” by Richard D. L. Fulton, in the February 2026 issue of The Catoctin Banner) to the first airplane built in the state and…

by James Rada, Jr. Thurmont Emmitsburg Road Flood Mitigation Project On Hold Unless a significant grant can be found to help pay for the Emmitsburg Road Flood Mitigation Project, it has been tabled. The Thurmont Mayor and Commissioners discussed the project during a recent town meeting. The project has been planned, and the needed property…

ThurmontMayor John Kinnaird After record-breaking cold temperatures, snow that wouldn’t melt, and crazy storms, we are hopefully in store for some nice spring weather. Currently, the Maryland State Highway Administration is working to repave Emmitsburg Road from North Church Street to just past Eyler Road. Be careful when driving in the area, and watch for…

Baltimore-Washington HPO Richard D. L. Fulton TThe United States Postal Service (USPS) inaugurated its first Highway Post Office (HPO) on February 10, 1941, and added a Baltimore-Washington route to the HPO system on November 16, 1943. Each time a new route was added to the service routes of the HPO, a commemorative “first-trip cover” was…

Bob Jester Captures First Place Alisha Yocum When The Catoctin Banner announced its 1st Annual Photography Contest, celebrating local landscapes, the response from the community was overwhelming. We published the top ten finalists in the February issue and left it up to you—our readers—to determine the winner. One image rose above the rest: a stunning…

by Richard D. L. Fulton “Wherever he saw a hole, he always wanted to know the depth of it. To him this was important.”  ~Jules Verne, Journey to the Center of the Earth For over a million years, and even in modern times, caves and caverns have often provided humans with places to live, to…

by James Rada, Jr. Thurmont Charter Review Committee Established The Thurmont Mayor and Commissioners passed a resolution to establish a charter review committee, which will review the current town charter and make recommendations to the mayor and commissioners of suggested changes by September 1, 2027. The mayor and commissioners also approved the following residents to…

ThurmontMayor John Kinnaird Thurmont will be celebrating its 275th Anniversary this year, having first been settled in 1751 by families of Pennsylvania-German descent. The settlement grew into a successful community of small businesses dependent on Hunting Creek to power mills and machinery. The town was initially known as Mechanicstown due to the number of manufacturers.…

Friendship Airport Dedication Richard D. L. Fulton A special cover was issued, commemorating the dedication in recognition of the opening of the Friendship International Airport, which had been located nine miles south of Baltimore in Anne Arundel County, on June 24, 1950. Celebratory covers, such as the Friendship International Airport cover, were not printed by…

Richard D. L. Fulton Together We Will Touch the Sky– Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation Etruscan artifacts from around 630 B.C. have been recovered, which depict the legend of man’s first attempt to become airborne, the Greek story of Daedalus and Icarus (the son of Daedalus). According to the legend, Daedalus had designed a…

Thank you to all our readers who submitted entries to our very first Catoctin Banner Photography Contest! This year’s theme, Local Landscapes, invited photographers to capture the beauty of our region in a vertical format. We received many submissions from across the tri-state area, showcasing the incredible scenery right in our own backyard. Narrowing the…

Richard D. L. Fulton Frederick Douglass “A man’s rights rest in three boxes. The ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box.”   ~Frederick Douglass The United States Postal Service (USPS) issued a 25-cent stamp on February 14, 1967, and a 32-cent stamp on June 29, 1995, commemorating Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, better known as…

by James Rada, Jr. Thurmont Rezoning Hearing Held The Thurmont Mayor and Commissioners recently held a public hearing about a rezoning request from property owners of 13 properties in town, and some that town staff identified that needed to be compatible with their zoning. Town Planner Kelly Duty reviewed the properties with the Thurmont Mayor…

ThurmontMayor John Kinnaird As I write this article, we are in the beginning stages of our first major snowstorm of the year, and probably our biggest storm in several years. It looks like we may be headed into an exceptionally cold and snowy winter. There are steps we should all take when faced with this…

Richard D. L. Fulton During the days of televised dance programs, such as Baltimore’s The Buddy Deane Show (precursor of Dick Clark’s American Bandstand), Maryland turned out several rock and roll bands in the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, some of whom achieved stardom.Below are a few of the more-renowned individuals from Maryland or who…

By E. Catherine Curtis Catoctin Banner staff writer Richard D. L. Fulton, the author of “Maryland: The Age of Rock ‘n Roll,” also dabbled in Maryland’s rock ‘n roll era when, at age 15, he had formed a group entitled The Nautiloids, with himself as lead guitarist, and composed Nautiloid Reef and Nautiloid Surf. The…

Calling all photographers—amateurs and pros alike! Show off your best shots of local landscapes and get a chance to be featured in our newspaper. The submission deadline is January 18, 2026. How It Works: Submit your vertical, print-quality photo (horizontal photos cannot be accepted as photo needs to fit our cover format). Our newspaper staff…

First Flight Baltimore/Bermuda Richard D. L. Fulton A special cover was issued to commemorate the first transatlantic airmail flight from Baltimore, Maryland to Bermuda on March 16, 1938. United States stamps used on these covers were variable. On the example provided with this article, the sender posted an eight-cent, winged globe airmail stamp with a…

by James Rada, Jr. Thurmont Impact Fees May Be Raised The Town of Thurmont is considering raising its impact fees paid for new construction in town by 2.81 percent. They are paid for water, wastewater, roads, and parks. The fees currently total $23,320. If the increase is approved, the fees will total $23,965. The commissioners…