The Monterey Tea House

by Richard D. L. Fulton

The Monterey Tea House operated for decades in Blue Bridge Summit.  An advertisement in the June 4, 1924, edition of The (Baltimore) Sun had announced the opening of the “New Monterey Gift-Shop Tea-House” at the Monterey Golf Course.

The tea house was located at Tracy (also known as Tracey’s) Corner, “on Route 16 at the top of Sunshine Trail,” and the golf course (club) is located on Monterey Lane.

According to an advertisement placed in the June 20, 1924, edition of The (Baltimore) Sun, Monterey Tea House patrons could partake of “meals being served at all hours (with chicken and waffle dinners being cited as a speciality),” and music and dancing was featured as well.

In addition, the Monterey (also billed as the Monterey Tea House and Gift Shop) offered rooms for rent, “with or without baths.”

In 1929, the business assumed the name Dunbrack Inn and Monterey Tea House, and further stated in an adverstisement that the business featured golf, tennis, swimming and riding. Apparently, a separate structure had been constructed to provide rentals, and later, apartments were added.

By 1946, Dunbrack Inn had been dropped from the name, and Monterey Tea House also began promoting the availability of “meals, whiskey and beer.” In 1947, the Monterey was additionaly offering Southern fried chicken and steaks.

An advertisement placed in the November 3, 1950, edition of The (Chambersburg) Public Opinion, reported that the Monterey Tea House was subject to a sheriff’s sale, the tea house itself being described as “a 2 story (15 room) stone and frame building,” with a “2 car composition shingle garage.”

The first time names of anyone actually associated with the Monterey business were noted in an article published in the May 24, 1926, edition of The (Frederick) News, which stated that “Mrs. Gittings Merryman, daughter of Judge Eugene O’Dunne, and her mother-in-law” had been managing the Monterey Tea House (and dining room) “during the illness of Mrs. O’Dunne.”

The next mention of anyone associated with the Monterey appeared in an obituary published in the April 6, 1962, edition of the Mount Union Times, which stated that William R. Flood had died, whom the article had identified as the owner and operator of the Monterey Tea House, noting that he had purchased it in 1951 (apparently as the result of the 1950 sheriff’s sale).

Another obituary published on a funeral home website had stated that William L. Trace had owned the Monterey Tea House “for a number of years.”

Following the death of Flood, there was an effort to sell the establishment, spanning several years. However, The (Chambersburg) Public Opinion reported on June 19, 1964, that the Monterey was then under new management, listing the proprietors as being Paul and Peggy Harbaugh Beach. The business was officially incorporated in 1969.

A few years later marked the end of the Monterey Tea House, and it never opened its doors as such again. Efforts were subsequently made to convert the tea house and/or what was left of it into apartments.

In 1972, the building was reported as being owned by Thomas Wetzel, when the tea house was virtually destroyed in a devastating fire. According to The (Hagerstown) Morning Herald, when firemen arrived at the scene, the building was “engulfed in flame.” 

The Gettysbuirg Times reported on July 31, 1975, that the 1972 fire was apparently caused by a spark from a plumber’s welding torch during a renovation.

In 1973, the property was put up for auction in a bankruptcy sale, the property being decribed as “improved with a burned out (structure known as the Monterey Tea House).” 

On July 31, 1975, the building once again caught fire as it was (again) being converted into an apartment house by a new owner, identified as Raymond Stevens, The Gettysbuirg Times reported. 

According to the The Gettysburg Times, the fire had been caused by an arsonist who had thrown a fire-bomb through the front doors.

A rare, circa-1930s Monterey Tea House postcard.

The burned-out remains of the Monterey Tea House in the wake of the 1972 fire.