Adams County’s Forgotten Centennial by James Rada When Adams County, Pennsylvania, turned 100, no one cared enough to throw a party. While surrounding counties celebrated various anniversaries in the late 19th century, Adams County’s big anniversary—its centennial—went relatively unrecognized and uncelebrated. As Adams County’s centennial approached, a group of public-spirited citizens met in the mid-1890s…

Emmitsburg Goes Dry by James Rada Things were pretty dry in Frederick County in November 1974. Rain hadn’t fallen in weeks, and the county had placed a leaf-burning ban in effect to try to avoid an out-of-control fires. Meanwhile, Emmitsburg town staff watched as the water level at Rainbow Lake continued dropping. When it reached…

by James Rada Colleges Take to the Skies When World War II started in 1939, the United States had roughly 38,000 trained pilots. It wasn’t enough to fight a war. Men were willing to join the Air Corps, but there weren’t enough instructors to train them all. Often, the men waiting to become pilots were…

Hoof and Mouth Disease Hits Local Farm In the fall of 1908, the State of Maryland started killing cattle in Frederick and Carroll counties in an effort to protect residents from falling ill. Hoof and mouth disease first appeared on H. M. Kneller’s farm in Lineboro, where it was reported that his entire herd was…

Speeding Up Snail Mail by James Rada, Jr. Rural Free Delivery came to Frederick County in 1901, a decade after it was first introduced in Westminster in 1891. In that time, it had become popular among those who had it. The Catoctin Clarion noted in 1900, “The rural free delivery grows more unpopular every day,…

An Isolated Town Arrives in the 20th Century Although Catoctin and South mountains aren’t the largest mountains in America or even the Appalachians, their crooks and crannies provided land where isolated communities sprung up. One of these communities was Friends Creek, west of Emmitsburg in Frederick County. “Friends creek dashes musically over its rocky bed,…

Littlestown Man Dies of Fright John McCall of Littlestown, Pennsylvania, was one of the oldest engineers working on the Northern Central Railroad in 1909. He had worked for the railroad for over 30 years and even lost a leg eight years earlier in an accident on the railroad. So, what could a man who had…

The Woodpecker vs. Fort Ritchie Sitting atop South Mountain, Fort Ritchie helped save the world from the Nazis during World War II. However, the camp didn’t fare as well against woodpeckers. Fort Ritchie’s history dates back to 1889 when the Buena Vista Ice Company of Philadelphia purchased 400 acres on South Mountain. The company developed…

Where the White Frogs Frolic In 1932, Charles Clyde (C.C.) Moler was shopping at Lilypons goldfish nurseries in Frederick County when something in the water caught his eye. The water rippled with activity from the thousands of goldfish in the ponds that been drained to a low level for harvesting. C.C. saw flashes of orange…

An Unusual Visit to Thurmont by James Rada, Jr. On June 20, 1923, a young Prince Georges County man had a visit to Thurmont that he didn’t enjoy. W. E. Trego was a salesman for the Isaac A. Sheppard Co. in Baltimore, but he lived in Thurmont. While traveling from Roanoke, Virginia, to Washington, D.C.,…

Area connections to the Star-Spangled Banner by James Rada, Jr. Frederick County native Francis Scott Key was a lawyer, who is not remembered for his legal expertise, but for a poem he wrote. In 1814, the War of 1812 was still raging. Some historians call it the second American Revolution. Less than a generation after…

Emmitsburg supports troops in the War to End All Wars by James Rada, Jr. The United States became involved in World War I when Congress declared war on Germany in April 1917. At that point, the war had already been fought in Europe and Africa for nearly three years. The Weekly Chronicle ran editorials supporting…

John Lafarge Helped Expand the Art World by James Rada, Jr. The Statue of Liberty was introduced to her husband by a Mount St. Mary’s graduate. French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi created his first plans and model for the iconic Statue of Liberty in the New York studio of John LaFarge, a Mount St. Mary’s…

Frederick County’s Golden Immigrants by James Rada, Jr. Note: This is part three of a series about goldfish farming in Frederick County. In the early 1900s, goldfish farming produced a major cash crop in Frederick County. “By 1920, Frederick County was producing 80 percent of the goldfish in the United States, and they were being…

Frederick County’s Golden Immigrants by James Rada, Jr. Note: This is part two of a series about goldfish farming in Frederick County. The first record of a goldfish farmer in Frederick County is Charles J. Ramsburg. He was born and raised in Lewistown, but he attended college at Eaton and Burnett’s Business College in Baltimore.…

Was Elias Steinour Murdered? by James Rada, Jr. Charles Hoffman woke early in the morning of February 14, 1912. He stoked the fire in the stove to warm up his home. When he went to the window to look out into the darkness of the new day, he noticed that it wasn’t as dark as…

Parking meters Paid for the Emmitsburg Police When the Emmitsburg Burgess and Board of Commissioners decided that the town needed a police force for public safety, they had to find a way to pay for it. They voted to install parking meters along Main Street in 1949. “Naturally, there was a lot of opposition to…

the unsolved murder That Haunted Hagerstown by James Rada, Jr. It seems Betty Jane Kennedy of Hagerstown was doomed to lead a short life, but her death continued to haunt Hagerstown for years afterward. When Betty Jane was just six years old in 1933, a car on West Washington Street hit her. She suffered cuts…

1896 – too much Married by James Rada, Jr. Sigmund Freud once said, “If you want your wife to listen to you, then talk to another woman; she will be all ears.” If that’s true, just imagine how attentive Phoebe Stouffer was in 1896 when she saw her husband talking to his other wife, Mary…

1921        Thurmont School’s First 7th Grade Graduation Ceremony In 1921, the Thurmont community had two school graduations: one for the high school students and one for the grade school students. “For the first time in the history of our schools, a Seventh Grade public commencement will be held in Town Hall, this place,” the Catoctin…