Phone: 301-834-5774 | Email: cripplecreek2@verizon.net
Historic Brunswick, Maryland
Brunswick is situated in the southwestern edge of Frederick County, Maryland. It is forty-five miles up the Potomac River from our nation's capitol, and six miles east of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Courthouse records show that it was part of an original 3,100 acre land grant from George II, King of England. This was granted August 10, 1753, to John Hawkins. The area was known as "Merry Peep O’ Day" because the sun could be seen in the early morning directly over beautiful Catoctin Mountain.
On November 7, 1780 Clement Hollyday deeded the tract to Leonard Smith. Smith that year laid out the first part of the town, four lots, for members of his family. The 1780 plat shows 201-1/2 acres made up the town. In 1837 John McPherson bought the town, plus two islands in the Potomac River.
The name Potomac means “gathering place” in the Indian language. Here the tribes met to barter and trade from all corners of the east and mid-west.
There were seven ferries operated across the river to Virginia, until a large wagon-bearing ferry, operated by Jacob Waltman Jr. began operation in 1861, to slow the invasions of the Union Army in the beginning of the Civil War.
The town had many names over the years: Buffalo Wallow, so named by the Indians, because the buffalo wallowed in the muddy flats (present day Rt. 17); in 1728 it was called Coxson’s Rest titled to a small land plot, and used as a trading post by Abraham Pennington, the first known settler; Eel Pot or Eel Town, because the Indians built stone walls in the river and made fish traps since eels were in such large schools and the catches were plentiful. Potomac Crossing was an often used name to supply commodities to the Virginia communities. The name Tankersville was given in 1778, because the northern-most corner to the tract of 17,000 acres was owned by the Earl of Tankersville. Leonard Smith named it Berlin in 1780. Because there was another town with that name on Maryland's Eastern Shore, the U.S. Postal Service renamed it Barry in 1832. The town retained this name until 1890, when the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad bought up the land for a reclassification yard and named it BRUNSWICK, because of the many residents living here who came from Braunsweig, Germany.
The original town was situated between the railroad tracks and the canal. Both the B&O Railroad and the C&O Canal were begun on July 4th, 1828 and both came through this area in 1834. In 1907 the B&ORR yards were completed: eastbound and westbound to reclassify freight trains. Here was the largest and busiest such railroad yard in the world.
Today Brunswick is a city with more than 5000 residents. It is a major stop on the Maryland Rail Commuter (MARC) Train line to Washington, D.C. Many professional people reside here. The town has modern facilities for its citizens: a fire company and ambulance service, fine schools and churches, doctors and dentists, a modern library, a new community center, several parks, fishing and boating on the Potomac River, C&O Canal towpath, many public service organizations, and a fine museum with one of the largest model train layouts on the east coast.
Railroad Days in October and the Veteran’s Day Parade held in November, are the city's two largest events which attracting many visitors. Brunswick is one of the few communities in the USA that continues to celebrate a day in honor of our veterans.
For additional information, please access these related web sites:
Brunswick Railroad Museum: http://www.brrm.net/
City of Brunswick: http://www.checkbrunswickfirst.com/
Brunswick Area Chamber of Commerce: http://www.gbacc.net/
Bean in the Belfry: http://www.beansinthebelfry.com