Looking Back -1913
by James Rada, Jr. The End of Rocky Ridge Rocky Ridge disappeared in 1913. “So far as railroad matters are concerned, Rocky Ridge does not exist and hereafter that station will be known as Emmitsburg Junction,” the Catoctin Clarion reported. The Western Maryland Railroad (WMRR) station had opened in Rocky Ridge in 1870, with Sheridan…
Looking Back-1913
by James Rada, Jr. Thurmont’s Part in the 50th Gettysburg Reunion Three hundred cavalrymen rode through Thurmont on June 25, 1913. They arrived on Western Maryland Railroad from Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia. They unloaded their mounts from the train and rode through the town on Wednesday morning. They were part of the second invasion…
Looking Back - 1913
The Catoctin Outlaws and the Origins of Blue Blazes Years before the Blue Blazes became part of Thurmont’s history due to the 1929 raid on the county’s largest moonshining operation, it made the newspapers for another raid, but this one was to capture wanted criminals. In 1913, the Catoctin Clarion reported “a gang of this…
Looking Back – 1913
The Train Derailment No Passenger Noticed by James Rada, Jr. The Western Maryland Railroad mail train left Hagerstown on time on August 26, 1913, just another day on the daily mail run. However, as it rumbled down the steep grade on Horseshoe Curve in Sabillasville, the driving wheels of the engine left the tracks. “The…
