“CHRISTMAS MEMORIES OF HOME”

Denny Black

615 EAST MAIN STREET, THURMONT

Former Home of James F. Black & Family

Current Site of the Thurmont Town Municipal Offices

Image Selected for the Thurmont Lions Club 2025 Christmas Ornament

From an original watercolor (copyrighted) by local award-winning artist Rebecca Pearl

Oh, how I fondly remember that day – November 7, 1959. I was a 12-year-old boy then standing with my dad at the public auction of the property located at 615 East Main Street in Thurmont. There we stood together that cold November day in a small crowd at the front porch of the house as the bidding began. The house and outbuildings on the 1.5-acre parcel of land were in significant disrepair and had long been neglected. It was known that the slate roof leaked, and the next owner would incur expenses from the Town of Thurmont’s planned sidewalk expansion along the front of the property on East Main Street.

The auction that day was being held by the children of Paul M. Little, Sr. (1880-1943) and his wife Agnes (1883-1953) to settle their deceased parents’ estate. Surprisingly, the auction quickly stalled to only two bidders. When Chester Zentz, Sr., noticed that my dad was bidding to purchase the property as our new home, he stopped bidding. And so, that’s how my parents were able to purchase our home that day for $11,600 (only $126,679 in today’s dollars).

The house was a fine example of the American Foursquare architecture popular from the 1890s to the late 1930s with blended features of the Victorian style.

At the time my parents purchased our home in 1959, it had a large wrap-around porch, third-floor dormers on all four sides, and a stately carport extending from the west end of the front porch. The interior was spacious with chestnut trim throughout the first floor, custom bookcases and columns in the living room with a fireplace, a foyer leading to a winding staircase to the second floor, a formal dining room separated by two pairs of French doors, a half-bath, and a small window-lined room on the east side we would use as our special family “sunroom.” There were four bedrooms and a hallway on the second floor with a full-bath, a stairway entrance to the third floor, and a hidden laundry chute built into the hallway closet that extended all the way to the basement. The third floor with its own winding stairway included a hallway, two rooms, and wonderful views from the windows of each of the four dormers. The expansive basement enabled my sisters and me to ride our bikes there on rainy days.

Outside, the property included a two-car garage and a large single “truck garage,” a tool shed, multiple flower beds, an enchanting small pond in which Dad stocked goldfish for us, a driveway that encircled the entire house, a flag pole in the eastern front corner of the lawn, two very tall pine trees and two mimosas that provided the large house with a sense of privacy, and four stately stone pillars along the front of the property on East Main Street.

The State of Maryland tax and assessment records report that the house was built in 1915. Although no written records have yet to be located to confirm, it is nearly certain that the house was built by the Weddle Construction Company. It is interesting to note that the same configuration was essentially used when constructing the homes at 42 Summit Avenue and 312 East Main Street in Thurmont.

The origin of the property and subsequent transfers of its ownership represent an intriguing chapter in the town’s history. Earliest land records describe a “farm located on the road leading from Thurmont to Graceham” that included our 1.5-acre homeplace at present-day 615 East Main Street. In 1829, William Creager (1796-1850) conveyed the farm consisting then of approximately 240 acres to Christian Harman (1770-1843). The property was originally part of a large tract of land called “Stoney Corner” located on the eastern side of town that was owned by William’s father, Lawrence (Lorenz) Creeger (Krieger) (1754-1820) who was one of the earliest settlers who owned large tracts of land in and around the town. In 1831, Christian Harman transferred ownership of the farm to his son, George Harman (1792-1862).

In 1852, ownership of the farm was conveyed to Henry Black (1803-1884) who, coincidentally, was a distant relative of my family. The farm, by then consisting of 209 acres, was subsequently conveyed to Henry’s son, William J. Black (1829-1907), who served as the Chief Judge of the Orphans Court of Frederick County from 1871 through 1875. In a 1907 deed, the children of William Black transferred ownership of the farm to Warner T. Grimes (1881-1966). If the State of Maryland land tax and assessment records are correct, our future home was constructed during Warner Grimes’ ownership of the property.

In 1919, Warner Grimes sold the farm to Charles C. Waters (1867-1926). During the time he resided at our future home, Charles Waters, an attorney and son of a prominent Thurmont physician and druggist, served as the editor of the local Catoctin Clarion newspaper for many years. In the 1919 deed, the size of the farm, which had by then been greatly reduced, was described as “…containing sixteen acres and fifteen square perches of land, more or less.”

In 1929, ownership of the 16-plus-acre farm was conveyed by the trustees of the estate of Charles Waters to Paul, Sr. and Agnes Little. The tract of land became known as “Littleton” and “Little Flower Farm” which the Little family operated as a working farm for growing flowers and fruits. From 1929 through 1946, the 16-plus-acre property was bounded on the front (south side) by East Main Street, on the west side by Apples Church Road, on the north side just beyond present-day Poplar Avenue, and on the east side along present-day Orchard Drive. Following Paul, Sr.’s death at home, Agnes subdivided the farm in 1946 into 51 lots under the “Plan of Littleton.” The house, along with the 1.5-acre lot designated as Lot No. 51, was subsequently sold to my parents in November 1959.

It was just two weeks before Christmas 1959 when our family moved into 615 East Main Street, and our new home forever became a very special place in our hearts. The twenty years between 1959 to 1979 when our family lived there were the formative years for my two sisters and me. During that time, our parents survived our teenage years, supported us through school and college, and watched us leave home to start our own families. And along the way, we shared the grief over the deaths of loved ones.

I have so many fond memories of home at 615 East Main Street, but so little space to cover. With each new season, I will recall special occasions that take me back. Springtime always reminds me of the flower beds and the mimosa trees and wisteria in full bloom, the large garden that Dad planted behind our goldfish pond, and the Easter egg hunts around the lawn. Summertime always kept me busy mowing the large lawn and anticipating our annual vacation to Ocean City. In the fall, I remember Mom at work canning and freezing vegetables for the coming months and her large Thanksgiving dinners in the dining room. During the long winter months, I remember our family time watching television together during the evenings in our “sunroom,” playing with my electric trains in the basement, and what seemed to be an endless job of shoveling snow. And as a prelude for what would become of our home, I remember how it served as a place where Dad held many meetings to discuss town business during the nearly 20 years that he served the citizens as the mayor of Thurmont.

The most cherished memories that I have of home are those of our Christmases and the large, decorated Christmas tree that we would always place each year in the one corner of our living room. Our family was blessed to eventually share 20 Christmases there.

In 1979, my parents made the difficult decision to downsize that inevitably comes with retirement, including selling our homeplace.

That year, my parents sold our home to Robert Dailey, Jr., who converted the property into a funeral home. Although the interior of our home was left essentially intact, significant changes were made to parts of the property that had survived since 1915. An addition was constructed in the back to provide for workspace. The carport on the western side of the house was sacrificed to make way for a large addition for conducting funerals. This resulted in the removal of the driveway that encircled the house. The lawn on the eastern side and our small goldfish pond were eliminated to make way for a parking lot. Dailey’s Funeral Home operated at 615 East Main Street from 1979 until 2011.

In 2013, the Town of Thurmont purchased the property from Whitehorse Real Estate that had previously acquired the 1.5-acre property from the Dailey family in 2011. Immediately, the Town of Thurmont made significant changes to other parts of the property that had survived since 1915. To accommodate the consolidation of the Town’s Municipal Offices on the property, the living room bookcases and other unique chestnut wood trim on the first floor were removed to install a public counter. The original beveled-glass front door and its stately transom and side lights were discarded to make way for a handicapped-accessible door. Many of the windows in our beloved “sunroom” were eliminated to accommodate more office space. The winding staircase in the foyer leading to the second floor was encased in a wall. On the second floor, the unique closet shared by the two large bedrooms was removed to create one large meeting room. Outside, a handicapped-accessible ramp was installed; and the original garages were demolished to enlarge the parking lot. The four stately stone columns at the front of the property were eliminated. Sadly, the property is hardly recognizable to the families who made it their home for over 100 years.

Many Christmases have passed since our family shared that special time at our homeplace at 615 East Main Street. But with each new Yuletide, my heart always turns to my Christmas Memories of Home.

To paraphrase a classic Christmas song… Christmas time will always find me in thoughts of home where fond memories endure. I will surely be at our homeplace for this Christmas, if only in my dreams.

Note: The author gratefully acknowledges with much thanks the invaluable research that James Rice (JBR Drafting Services) and Shaun Carrick, Esq. (Principal Researcher, Thurmont Historical Society) contributed to this article.

Thurmont Lions Club 2025 Christmas Ornament

Photos Courtesy of artist  Rebecca Pearl