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…

Richard D. L. Fulton There was a time in history when the country was laced with short-line railroads. In fact, almost all of the early railroads were short-line railroads, until many were absorbed through consolidation with larger railroads, years later. Most short-line railroads were created to serve limited purposes, as dictated by local economies. Many…

by James Rada, Jr. 1922 – The marines Conquer Thurmont More than a quarter of the U.S. Marine Corps arrived in Thurmont on June 25, along with the equipment to outfit an even larger group. They had been on the march for six days. Their ultimate destination was Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, but first, they had to…

by Priscilla Rall John Henry Lehman was born in Reed near Hagerstown in 1922 to J. Henry and Elizabeth Hege Lehman. His grandfather, a Mennonite, owned and operated the Lehman’s Mill on Marsh Creek, one mile south of the Mason Dixon Line. The mill, first built in 1869, had been rebuilt three times, the last…

Precipitated by a Fatal Prank in 1901 Earl Eyler On a pleasant summer morning, August 18, 1901, Mary Finnefrock, with her companion, Mrs. Lewis Wecker, boarded an excursion train at York, Pennsylvania, bound for a day of fun and relaxation at the celebrated Pen Mar Park, not aware it would be the last day of…

The late George Wireman was a long-time writer for The Catoctin Banner. He also wrote for several other newspapers. He was Thurmont’s honorary resident historian, a local WTHU radio broadcaster, a volunteer conductor for the Walkersville Southern Railroad, and quite a character to know. He took great pride in building a huge model railroad display…

Hunting a Killer Across the Country by James Rada, Jr. Note: This is the second of two articles about the murder of Leo Creager and the pursuit of his murderer. While trying to escape from Frederick and the robberies they committed there on October 18, 1923, Clarence Wallace and George Williams rode the trolley to…

Note: This is the first of two articles about the murder of Leo Creager and the pursuit of his murderer. by James Rada, Jr. Note: This is the first of two articles about the murder of Leo Creager and the pursuit of his murderer. In the early morning hours of October 18, 1919, Clarence Wallace…

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…

Joan Bittner Fry The railroad through Sabillasville has always been a part of my life.  In the ‘40s and ‘50s, we would pick up Uncle Ned at the state sanatorium station, where he would visit our family from Baltimore. I recall a time when the train was stopped at Manahan’s Store. We were on our…

James Rada, Jr. Beulah Zentz (pictured right) may not have been born in Thurmont, but the town’s oldest resident has become a part of the town’s history. She was born on May 26, 1916, near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Fresh out of high school, she met Ethel Hockensmith. Beulah went to help Ethel with housework at her…

Note: This is the third of three articles about the wreck of the Blue Mountain Express between Thurmont and Sabillasville in 1915. by James Rada, Jr. On June 25, 1915, the Blue Mountain Express bound for Hagerstown crashed head-on with a mail train coming east from Hagerstown, crumpling the two engines and sending a baggage…

Recollections of the Civil War by James Rada, Jr. Editor’s Note: This is the first of two articles recounting Sarah (Six) Schnure’s recollections of life in Thurmont during the Civil War. Schnure wrote her recollections while living in Hollywood, California, in the 1930s. Sarah Six was ten years old in 1861. Her family lived in…

225 Years in the Making by “My Father’s Son” Founded in 1794, after Joshua Delaplane purchased six hundred acres, lying in both Carroll and Frederick Counties, straddling its namesake waterway, is the former village of Double Pipe Creek. Delaplane expertly harnessed the opportunities of the energetic waterway intersecting his tract—a confluence of Little and Big…

by James Rada, Jr. Bessie Darling’s Murder Haunts Us Still When the mail train from Baltimore stopped in Thurmont on Halloween, more than the mail was delivered. George F. Schultz, a sixty-two-year-old employee with Maryland Health Department, left the train. Schultz hired Clarence Lidie and his taxi to give him a ride to the Valley…