Currently viewing the tag: "Big Hunting Creek"

Jim Kennedy

Trustee, Brotherhood of the Jungle Cock, Maryland Chapter

In the coming months and years, the gateway to the mountains – the term from which Thurmont derives its name – along Maryland Route 77 will be changing, even if ever so slightly, in response to two opportunities that have recently arisen. These opportunities are the planned removal of the dam that forms Frank Bentz Pond on the western edge of Thurmont; and a planned comprehensive review and update of the recreation trail network in Catoctin Mountain National Park.

The Brotherhood of the Jungle Cock (BOJC), an 80-year-old organization focused on teaching young people about conservation through the sport of fly fishing, was born along the banks of Big Hunting Creek in 1938. BOJC has a vision for shaping these changes in such a way as to expose young people to fishing and conservation while also linking downtown Thurmont to the state and federal parks that comprise the watershed of Big Hunting Creek. The public is now invited to give input.

Not only is Big Hunting Creek a waterway integral to Thurmont’s history and present recreational opportunities, but it is also a place central to the evolution of the modern sport of fly fishing and central to the catch-and-release ethic that is integral to all sport fishing.

Flash back to the earliest days of Thurmont in the late 1700s. The original name of the community was Mechanicstown, which reflected this place where the mechanized devices related to the production of iron were manufactured and maintained.  The town’s industries were reliant on the production of charcoal in places like Foxville and other heavily-wooded communities. Charcoal produced in the woodlands was used to fire the iron furnace that is now showcased in the Catoctin Furnace area of Cunningham Falls State Park.

As the old-growth forests of the Catoctin Ridge were depleted, and in the aftermath of the War of 1812, ironworks in the United States were consolidated in the territories west of the Appalachian Front where both iron ore and coal were plentiful. Wheeling, West Virginia, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, grew, as places like Mechanicstown declined.

In late 1893, after a community debate, the name Mechanicstown was changed to Thurmont, meaning, ‘gateway to the mountains.’

This was in keeping with the times as a shift took attention away from the exploitation of timber and ore to the use of the mountain vistas and recreational opportunities. That is to say, the vision of Thurmont shifted towards conservation as a means of increasing economic activity.

In recent months, the decisions to remove the dam and plan for a better trail system will allow Thurmont to continue this natural progression of capitalizing on the enjoyment of the natural world to spark economic activity.

Though coincidental, the geography of these projects has the potential to allow for a relatively simple development that could help turn Thurmont into more of a fly fishing destination than it already is and could reinforce the rich history of fly fishing started here. Big Hunting Creek and the Blue Ridge in Maryland and Virginia were the locations from which the modern sport of fly fishing evolved. The State of Maryland Fisheries and the BOJC were the fundamental in developing the catch and release sport and the culture of fly fishing. BOJC even has a fly fishing creed.

Whether an angler is fishing for sailfish off the coast of Central America, bonefish in the Indian Ocean, or trout in Big Hunting Creek, the sport’s heritage is rooted in the Catskill Mountains of New York State, the limestone basin of South Central Pennsylvania, and the Catoctin and Blue Ridge Mountains of Maryland and Virginia.

Without getting into the weeds of fly fishing history, it suffices to say Big Hunting Creek and the Blue Ridge streams of Virginia were good places to fish, and, owing to their proximity to Washington, D.C., regularly fished by U.S. presidents.

But, most significantly to the sport of fly fishing, Thurmont, the Federal park at Catoctin, and the BOJC share a common thread dating to the 1930s and the establishment of Catoctin Mountain National Park. The same people who established the BOJC were involved with planning for the national and state parks. Moreover, BOJC founders, most notably Joe Brooks, were responsible for the expansion of fly fishing beyond the pursuit of trout in mountain streams to gamefish in all environs.

Brooks and his friend Frank Bentz, Sr., were also responsible for establishing a means of passing conservation ethics on to new generations through the sport of fly fishing, through the BOJC. Though Brooks had no children, Bentz’s son, Frank Jr., was a BOJC member for the duration of his life. Frank III is an officer in the Brotherhood and Frank Sr.’s great-grandchildren are members, along with well in excess of 500 other active Brotherhood members across the U.S. in chapters in Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, Ohio, and Michigan.

Though it was very much an honor for the pond to the west of Thurmont to be named in honor of Frank Bentz Sr., the fishing opportunity afforded at the pond is less than ideal. With the removal of the dam, however, there’s an opportunity to establish a youth-only, fly-fishing-only area. This would be an international first, which is only fitting. Big Hunting Creek itself, in the era of the establishment of Catoctin Mountain National Park, was among the first fly-only fish-for-fun (catch and release) streams in the country.

Prior to the 1930s, the sport of fishing presumed all fish, except those too small to eat, would be kept for eating. Beginning in the post-Civil War era of the late 1800s, population growth and the catch-and-keep ethic tended to result in the depletion of natural gamefish populations. A conservation movement arose. The movement achieved a high level of public attention under the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt.

With regard to fisheries management, there were differing schools of thought, with one component focusing on efforts to protect wild populations and another favoring supplemental stocking of hatchery-farmed fish. The latter won out and prevailed well into the 1900s and persisting today, but the latter did not vanish. Indeed, the protection and management of self-sustaining wild fisheries is an increasingly preferred option for fisheries managers and anglers alike.

When Catoctin Mountain National Park was in its formative stages as the Catoctin Recreational Demonstration Area in 1939, Big Hunting Creek was designated as a fly-fishing-only area. Fly fishing goes hand-in-hand with the catch-and-release ethic of wild fisheries management because fish that are hooked in the mouth will immediately spit an artificial fly if not hooked when they first strike. When bait is used, fish will generally swallow the morsel of bait containing a hook, typically resulting in fatal injuries. Thus, a fish caught on a fly can be released and reasonably expected to survive, grow, propagate the species, and even be caught again, providing multiple recreational opportunities. Modern research has established that fly-fishing catch-and-release is a solid management technique for maintaining a viable self-sustaining recreational fishery.

In the years prior to the 1939 establishment of the Catoctin Recreational Demonstration Area, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania had established a fly-only limited kill section along Spring Creek near Pennsylvania State University. The location was known as “Fisherman’s Paradise.” Fisherman’s Paradise had become a legendary fishing destination by 1939, and some of those enlisted to help plan for the new Catoctin Recreational Demonstration Area proposed making Big Hunting Creek a Maryland version of Fisherman’s Paradise.

Among the existing tributes to this period already along the banks of Big Hunting Creek is a monument to Joe Brooks. It is on Cunningham Falls State Park property, across Md. Route 77 from the National Park’s visitors’ center.

Owing to their proximity to Washington, D.C., the Catoctin Mountains had been a destination for U.S. presidents who enjoyed the sport of fly fishing, among them Grover Cleveland, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was under Roosevelt that the Catoctin Recreation Demonstration Area became a federal installation, and one of its installations, Camp Hi-Catoctin, became an informal presidential retreat. Hi-Catoctin would, under another avid fly angler, Dwight D. Eisenhower, become the official presidential retreat known as Camp David (after his grandson). Subsequently, Jimmy Carter also fly fished in Big Hunting Creek.

This rich history will continue to be coveted and shared through BOJC volunteers, students, and anglers in general for generations. With your input, we can create a plan that unites all who are interested in the changes forth-coming while ensuring that the plan has a functional user-appeal coupled with an environmentally careful implementation.

Catoctin Mountain Park Comprehensive Trail

  Plan Public Scoping Meeting Follow-up!

Thank you for those who joined the National Park Service (NPS) on March 10, 2021, for a public scoping meeting regarding the development of a Comprehensive Trail System Plan/Environmental Assessment for Catoctin Mountain Park.

The meeting featured a definition of scope and purpose of a project to provide comprehensive guidance for enhancing the Park’s trail system and visitor experience throughout the park in a manner that is sympathetic with the natural and cultural surroundings and balances resource protection with intended trail uses and long-term management.

The plan is explained in detail on the NPS planning website at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/cato_trailplan.

This is the internet location where your input can be submitted through April 10, 2021. Public participation is vital to the planning process. If you prefer to mail your comments, make sure they are postmarked by April 10, 2021, to receive consideration. Mail comments to: Superintendent, Attn: CATO Comprehensive Trail Plan, 6602 Foxville Road, Thurmont, MD 21788, or email CATO_Trails_Plan@aecom.com.

The final plan will provide park managers with a framework by which they can manage and maintain existing trails; close/realign existing trails when needed; add new trails and access points where appropriate; and, where feasible, create trails that are universally accessible to meet the Architectural Barriers Act Accessibility Standards.

Follow directions above to submit comment specifically about Catoctin Mountain National Park trail plan. Follow the directions that follow to submit comment specifically about a fly-fishing trail after the Frank Bentz Pond and dam are removed. Please email news@thecatoctinbanner.com, and we will forward the comments to the State of Maryland, the Town of Thurmont, and the BOJC. Thanks so much for helping shape the Gateway to the Mountains trail system to make it user-friendly, environmentally friendly, and connectively smart.

The dam at Frank Bentz Pond

Wild Song Farm operates on a historic property known as Father’s Farewell on Moser Road in Thurmont. In 1738, the farm was part of the 500-acre Taylor’s Lot, owned by Johann Jacob Weller. Fifty acres were later passed to his stepson, John Henry Firor, who is believed to have built the beautiful stone home on the property, from 1765 to 1780. The property earned its name, Father’s Farewell, when son John Leonard Firor inherited it from his father, who moved west. The farm stayed in the Firor family until about 1872.

Since then, the farm has seen a dairy operation, beef cattle, sawmill and woodshop, horses, and even a goldfish-growing operation. Since 2015, when Thomas and Nicole Luttrell purchased the property, they have been preparing a farm business called Wild Song Farm. The name is appropriate because of the music of nature heard every day on the farm—song birds, frogs, and crickets. After big storms, you can hear Big Hunting Creek roar. Lately, the sound of clucking chickens and quacking ducks can also be heard.

Thomas grew up in Frederick and Nicole grew up in the Poconos, Pennsylvania. They met while attending Washington College on the Eastern Shore. Thomas studied economics, and Nicole studied biology and chemistry. While in school, they became interested in growing food and learning how to be self-sufficient. They both worked for a successful small produce farm called Colchester Farm, where they were part of the strong local food movement in Chestertown, Maryland.

After graduating, the couple moved to Frederick. Thomas worked for Hometown Harvest, a home delivery service for local food, while Nicole worked for the Frederick County Office of Sustainability, helping homeowners get energy-efficiency upgrades. She then worked with Ecologia Design, installing edible landscapes. Nicole still offers design and consultation services for edible and natural landscapes and homesteads through her business Deeply Rooted Design (www.deeplyrooteddesign.us).

On the farm, Thomas tends to take charge of the machines and animals, and Nicole tends to take charge of the produce and business management. They come together for many projects and to develop plans for the future. There are many reasons why the Luttrells decided to start a farm. The main reason was for their own health. They wanted to be in control of the food they eat. They also wanted to become more self-sufficient.

Nicole said, “It seems that so many skills are being lost. Farming has pushed us to learn about a very wide range of subjects. Not just plants and animals, but machines, electrical, plumbing, carpentry, and business management. We’re very excited about the possibilities of agriculture and all of the opportunities for innovation.”

While their current focus is on short-term crops like eggs and produce, they are also working on establishing some long-term crops like shiitake mushrooms grown on logs, unique and disease-resistant fruits such as paw paws, and even nut crops such as hazelnuts and Chinese chestnuts.

Another aspect of the farm that is very important to the Luttrells is connecting with the local community. There is something very special about knowing where our food comes from, and knowing the farmer who grows it. Thomas said, “We love this property because it is tucked right into Thurmont, a short walk to the library and to the trolley trail that leads to Main Street. We are surrounded by neighborhoods, including Jermae Estates just up Moser Road. There are many farmers that understandably drive to the D.C. area to sell produce, where there are more people and higher prices. But for us, we really want to feed the local people and do our part to help Thurmont’s local economy grow. And what better place to do it than a farm so close to town?”

The Luttrells have a flock of about 130 chickens living out of a big coop on a hay wagon that is moved around on pasture and through their gardens to do soil prepping. They make their own soy-free, non-GMO feed with local grain to ensure quality and freshness. They have a small flock of ducks that free range in their yard. They are currently selling eggs from the farm, and the eggs are also sold at The Lion Potter Market in Gettysburg.

They grow produce using organic practices, building rich and healthy soil. It’s important to the Luttrells that their soil is rich in nutrients and minerals, which then are passed into the food that customers eat. This year, they will grow a variety of greens, carrots, beets, radishes, turnips, cabbage, onions, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, summer squash, melons, garlic, winter squash, and shiitake mushrooms.

If you want to see a show, stop by and watch them cut and bale fifty-pound round bales of hay with a walk-behind two-wheel tractor, hay rake, and baler. They use that hay for chicken bedding and composting, and plan to start selling it this year.

Their farm stand will open soon, starting Saturday, May 13, at 13720 Moser Road. Expect Saturday and Sunday hours at the start of the season, with some weekday hours added as they move into summer. Eggs, produce, baked goods, and plants are available for sale. They are looking into offering some specialty items for sale from other local farms as well. Stop by their stand on Saturday, May 27, during Thurmont’s Sip N’ Stroll event for a special “buy two dozen, get one free” on eggs. Customers can also enter their names in a drawing for a $20.00 gift certificate.

Customers can call or text an order to 240-405-7622, email wildsongfarm1780@gmail.com, or just stop by the farm.

For more information, visit www.wildsongfarm.com or check them out on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wildsongfarmthurmont.

James Rada, Jr.

Rifle use has been known to cause hearing damage, but Thomas Worthington’s Armstrong rifle once helped restore Worthington’s son’s hearing.

Worthington, who lives in Sabillasville, was born and raised in Annapolis. His family lived with his grandparents, because a month after Worthington was born, in September 1929, the stock market crashed, heralding the start of The Great Depression.

“We were in bad shape financially, so we all lived together,” Worthington said.

As his family struggled to make ends meet, Worthington’s world was the streets of Annapolis.

His father enjoyed reading outdoor magazines. Once, when Worthington was looking for something to do, he found one of the magazines. The cover showed a man fishing in a beautiful mountain stream.

“I’d never seen anything like it before,” Worthington said. “It was just gorgeous. I’d never seen a mountain before then because I had never been out of Annapolis.”

Worthington decided that he wanted to learn to fly fish like the man in the picture. He asked his father to help him. His father didn’t know how, but he did find a man who was a customer of his insurance business. The man agreed to have the eight-year-old Worthington come to his house twice a month on a Saturday morning. Worthington began to learn to tie flies, cast, and fish.

Once Worthington had learned the skills, the man took him fishing in Frederick County.

“We rode in a Model A,” recalled Worthington. “It took us about four hours. There were no superhighways or anything like that. We rattled along at 35 miles per hour, and usually, there’d be a flat somewhere along the line.”

They went to a spot on Big Hunting Creek at the base of McAfee Falls. They waded into the water, and Worthington started trying to cast where his instructor told him to. The problem was that he kept pulling the fly back before it hit the water. The instructor told him to let the fly land.

“No sooner did the fly hit the water, then the brook trout hit the fly,” said Worthington.

He remembers that his first fish was so red that he thought it was bleeding, but he learned that it meant the trout was a spawning male.

The trip to Frederick County began an annual trip that Worthington would make with the man.

Back in Annapolis, he soon discovered another passion.

Often, he would run errands for people to make a little extra money. Two of the men who he ran errands for were Confederate Civil War Veterans. He would do chores for them and listen to their stories.

At some point, said Worthington, the Veterans “decided to teach me to shoot a musket, in case they had trouble with the Yankees again.”

So they pulled out their old weapons and began instructing the young boy on how to care for them, load them, and fire them. Not that they could fire the weapons in the city, though. For that part of the instruction, the Veterans and Worthington traveled to a farm owned by Worthington’s uncle.

“I was too small to shoot, really,” said Worthington. “I had to stand on a kitchen chair to load the musket.”

Using a reduced charge, the young boy was allowed to fire at a target. He discovered that not only was he good at shooting, but he also loved it. On his fishing trip, he told his instructor about the thrill of shooting a rifle.

Instead of going to Hunting Creek that year, they went to visit the instructor’s friend, who lived in Emmitsburg. They fished on the man’s property. When the man learned of Worthington’s interest in shooting, he told the boy that he thought he had an old muzzleloader in his attic that he would be willing to sell him.

Worthington agreed, and he returned to Annapolis on a mission. He spent the next year running more errands and saving his nickels and dimes. By the time the next year rolled around, he had saved $24.00.

After fishing up in Emmitsburg, the man brought out not one, but two old rifles. One was a flintlock, and the other used a percussion cap. They were covered with soot and years of coal dust. The man offered to sell the percussion cap rifle for $10.00 and the flintlock for $8.00. Worthington agreed and had purchased his first rifles at ten years old.

“They were so long, we couldn’t fit them in the Model A,” Worthington said. “We had to put some sacking on them and put them in the rumble seat.”

When they got back to Annapolis, Worthington and his fishing instructor began cleaning the rifles, exposing the wood curves and metal inlays. They also discovered that the barrels had been filled with beef tallow to keep them from rusting. They held the rifles with the barrels pointed down over a hot stove so that the tallow melted and drained out, leaving the barrels clean and rust free.

In examining the rifles, they determined that Emmitsburg gunsmith John Armstrong made the flintlock. Melchior Fordney, a Lancaster gunsmith, had made the percussion cap rifle.

Worthington held onto his treasures. He never hunted with them, but he did shoot them in competitions. When he was in his late twenties and married with two children, one of his sons had a traumatic hearing loss. He was told that it could be treated, but it would cost $18,000, which was a huge sum in the mid-1950s. He wasn’t sure what he would do until the doctor’s medical partner, heard about Worthington’s rifles.

Worthington showed him the rifles and told him their story. The doctor offered him $4,500 for each one, on the condition that he never tell anyone who the doctor was or the farmer that sold him the rifles. Apparently, there was some bad blood between the families.

Worthington accepted the offer, and he never saw the rifles again. However, with half of the money for the operation raised, the bank was willing to loan the family the rest. The operation was a success, and Worthington’s son’s hearing was restored.

“I’ve always missed that Armstrong rifle, though,” expressed Worthington. “It was such a beauty.”

In fact, he missed it so much that he commissioned a copy to be made that he has hanging in his living room.

 

Thomas Worthington and his Armstrong rifle replica.

 

Denny Black

As all boys did in small towns during the 50’s and 60’s, I explored every street and alley in Thurmont. Nestled at the foothills of the beautiful Catoctin Mountains in Northern Frederick County, Thurmont offered a kaleidoscope of images, whether you were walking high on the Western Maryland Railway tracks along Altamont and Woodside Avenues, racing down Canning Factory Hill on your bike, walking the path along Big Hunting Creek to the old town office, or venturing through the backyards and alleys along Main Street. And at nearly every spot along the way, you would most likely see at least one of the church spires in town.

Back then, Thurmont was an idyllic place in which to live—no fast foods, no shopping centers, no drive-in banks, and no large developments. My boyhood world was bounded within just a few blocks surrounding our town square—all open to exploration to a boy and his bike. It was a place where local businesses delivered dairy and bakery products to your door, and families functioned quite well with just one car, one telephone, and one black and white television.

As a direct descendant of one of Thurmont’s founding German families (the Wilhides), who settled in and around the town, I developed an interest over the years in Thurmont’s early history, especially prior to 1894, when Thurmont was called Mechanicstown. Becoming an avid collector of old photo postcards later in life, I have been able to use those visual images to time-travel in my imagination back to what Mechanicstown must have been like for a young boy out exploring its streets and alleys.

Since 1751, when Mechanicstown was first settled, religious practice continues to be an integral part in the lives of many of our town’s citizens. By 1894, Mechanicstown changed its name to Thurmont, and the following eight denominations had built splendid houses of worship clustered together within a few blocks in this small town: (1) Weller’s United Brethren Church (1831); (2) Thurmont Methodist Church (1851); (3) St. John’s Lutheran Church (1858); (4) Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church (1859); (5) Thurmont Moravian Church (1874); (6) Trinity Reformed Church (1880); (7) St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church (1892); and (8) Thurmont Church of the Brethren (1892). (Years are dedication dates.)

It is no surprise that religion has played such an important part in the history of Thurmont since it is believed that the first church structure (a log cabin) to exist in Frederick County was erected around 1732-1734, just a short distance away at or near the village of Monocacy (now Creagerstown).

I have seen numerous postcards and paintings depicting the Clustered Spires of Frederick, and have long wondered why no artist ever captured the images of the beautiful, historic church spires of Mechanicstown. By using the photographic images of the Mechanicstown churches preserved in my postcard collection, I could guide an artist on a trip back in time to an imaginary point in Mechanicstown where all of its houses of worship would be visible in one scene.

In July, I turned to award-winning local artist Rebecca Pearl about my concept. Rebecca is recognized for her paintings of many Frederick County scenes, and has taken a special interest in capturing historic Thurmont images in her artwork. During the past several months, with the use of photographic images, she and I have time-traveled back together to walk the streets of Mechanicstown as it existed over 120 years ago. It would be a challenge for any artist to convey my concept through their own artistic expression, while also trying to balance the historical accuracy of the imagery. I am confident that Rebecca’s creation, entitled “The Spires of Mechanicstown,” will soon become a recognized work of art, successfully capturing a special history of our unique town, located at the Gateway to the Mountains.

MECHANICSTOWN SPIRES_EAward-winning local artist Rebecca Pearl will be at the Thurmont Main Street Center during the Thurmont Gallery Stroll on Friday, November 13, 2015, where the original of her painting “The Spires of Mechanicstown” will be unveiled. The Thurmont Main Street Center happens to be located in the old Thurmont Moravian Church, one of the churches included in her painting.