Boonsboro Reflections: Boonsboro’s First Library
On July 21, 1900, Major Josiah Pierce Jr., son-in-law of Mrs. Dahlgren of South Mountain House, organized the Republican Club of Boonsboro. He felt that the town should have a club, which, in addition to a political agenda, should have daily newspapers, periodicals...
Boonsboro Reflections: Isabel S. Mason’s poem “The First Washington Monument”
The Daughters of the American Revolution collaborated with Harvey Bomberger in his efforts to restore the collapsing Washington Monument during the 1920’s and ‘30’s, difficult years of stock market collapse and the Great Depression. Isabel S. Mason wrote an...
Boonsboro Reflections: Civic Pride – Maintaining the Washington Monument
For 190 years, our Monument has endured the relentless pull of gravity, weather extremes, lightening strikes, souvenir collectors and vandalism. A curious rumor circulates that an indignant father suspected his daughters of meeting their suitors at the Monument and,...
BOONSBORO REFLECTIONS: Construction of the Washington Monument
It must have been a remarkable sight - on the morning of July 4, 1827 as many as 500 citizens of Boonsboro and nearby communities assembled on the town square at 7:00 am and, headed by the stars and stripes and a fife and drum corps, marched to an area called The Blue...
BOONSBORO REFLECTIONS: Crystal Grottoes
Crystal Grottoes, the only commercial cave now open in Maryland, is also one of the largest in the state. Nearly one half mile of passage was mapped in 1968. The cave was discovered in 1920 as a result of quarry operations for road material. A drill bit (for placing...
BOONSBORO REFLECTIONS: Dr. Peter Fahrney’s Legacy
Dr. Peter Fahrney was born in Lancaster, PA in 1767, orphaned by age two and raised by neighboring families. He learned the trade of a tanner and, together with his wife Eve (Durnbaugh) Fahrney, had 4 children. Sadly, his wife died when their oldest child was only...
BOONSBORO REFLECTIONS: The Storied Past of Inn BoonsBoro
There were only five houses in Boonsboro in 1796: Peter Conn’s Eagle Hotel, a structure on the site of 44 N. Main St. that may have been William Boone’s store, Jacob Craig’s house next to the hotel (now the bakery at 7 North Main St.), Mrs. Short’s log-built store...
BOONSBORO REFLECTIONS: Boonsboro’s Agriculture
Lord Baltimore envisioned an agricultural economy in western Maryland and in 1732 he offered land, free of charge, to settlers provided they establish a farm with an orchard of 100 trees. Fruit trees flourished in the region and apple orchards became a common feature...
BOONSBORO REFLECTIONS: The Fall of Roxbury Distillery
The enterprise of whiskey manufacture at the Roxbury Distillery Company along Antietam Creek generated substantial economic benefits to the community. Barrels were supplied by a cooper’s shop at Devil’s Backbone and the barrel hoops were forged at Edward...
BOONSBORO REFLECTIONS: The Rise of Roxbury Distillery
Ruins of a community that grew up and prospered from 1772 to 1918 can still be seen where Roxbury Bridge crosses Antietam Creek northwest of Boonsboro. John Shafer settled along the banks of Antietam Creek in 1772, eventually constructing a water powered stone...
BOONSBORO REFLECTIONS: Mayor Bomberger Threatened
As reported in last week’s Boonsboro Reflection, Harvey S. Bomberger was an industrious and progressive citizen involved in politics, commerce, civic organizations, publishing and expansion of libraries in the region. Late in his life he served Boonsboro as Mayor...
BOONSBORO REFLECTIONS: How the Black-eyed Susan Became the State Flower
Harvey Bomberger is a famous son of Boonsboro, having served in the House of Delegates and the Maryland State Senate. He was the co-founder and first chairman of the Washington County Historical Society and president of the Boonsboro Cemetery Association. But the...