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Looking Back 1889

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The Mountain Seaside

by James Rada, Jr.

It was supposed to be a Maryland seashore on a mountaintop.

In 1889, the Buena Vista Ice Company bought 400 acres of land where Fort Ritchie would eventually be built, and set aside 20 acres for a lake.

“The business had counterparts on the East Coast below the Mason-Dixon Line,” according to the Hagerstown Morning Herald.

Perhaps forgetting that the purpose of the lake was to freeze in the winter, so the ice could be cut into blocks and sold, people were more interested in its summertime uses. They began picturing the area as the next Ocean City.

The Catoctin Clarion reported in August 1901, shortly after Lake Royer opened, “They now have a miniature ‘shore’ up on top of the mountain: by feeding at proper intervals, several barrels of fish salt into the stream that feeds the ‘lake,’ sea water may be imitated; by hiring a small boy to teeter a log in the water, modest breakers may be fashioned; high and low tides may be accomplished by lowering into and hoisting from the lake kegs of nails, twice in every twenty-four hours; the rattles taken from the rattlesnake skins that the mountain belles are wearing for belts, might be scattered about the beach to represent sea shells…”

The writer envisioned Blue Ridge Summit becoming the ultimate summer destination. Of course, Pen-Mar was already a popular summer getaway, and the lake would only cement its reputation.

“Lake Royer is a lovely sheet of water, covering about 21 acres, and is located near Buena Vista Station, and within easy reach of Pen-Mar, Blue Ridge, Monterey and Blue Mountain,” the Frederick News reported.

Col. John Mifflin Hood, president of the Western Maryland Railway, created Pen-Mar Park in August 1877 as a way to attract people to use the railroad to get out of the heat of the city during the summer. The park offered a view of over 2,000 square miles and two mountain ranges at an altitude of 1,400 feet. It is located on the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania, hence the name.

“From here on a clear day, one could see the town clock in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, at a distance of 24 miles—with binoculars, of course,” Frank and Suanne Woodring wrote in the book, Images of America: Pen-Mar.

Pen-Mar Park featured a dancing pavilion and a dining room that could seat 450 people. An observation tower was added in 1878. Lake Royer’s opening in 1901 allowed the park to offer one more attraction.

Trains heading to Blue Ridge Summit left Baltimore daily at 9:15 a.m. and advertised the new lake. Tickets cost $1, plus an extra 50 cents if you wanted to eat dinner at Pen-Mar.

“The popularity of Lake Royer is shown by the big supply of bathing costumes hanging up to dry every day. Last Sunday, nearly 100 were strung up at one time,” the Baltimore Sun reported in August 1901.

Pleasure boats were allowed on the water, and bathhouses had been erected allowing visitors to go swimming. They could even rent a bath “costume” for 25 cents.

The park quickly became a popular destination for tourists who traveled on the railroad from towns and cities all over the East Coast to the Maryland and Pennsylvania mountains. The peak single-day attendance at the park was 20,000 people.

Demand for natural ice declined over the years as refrigeration technology improved, and the Buena Vista Ice Company discontinued operations at the site in the mid-1920s.

In 1926, the State of Maryland purchased 580 acres to establish Camp Ritchie as a Maryland National Guard training area. Acquisition of additional property increased the camp to 638 acres by 1940.

“Camp Albert C. Ritchie was built and the last ice houses razed. One of them was still two-thirds full of ice,” according to the Hagerstown Morning Herald.

The new camp also ended the public use of Maryland’s mountain seashore.

(above) Historic postcard view of Lake Royer.

(below) Aerial view of Lake Royer.

Looking Back 1915

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The Wreck of the Blue Mountain Express, Part 1

by James Rada, Jr.

Note: This is the first of two articles about the wreck of the Blue Mountain Express between Thurmont and Sabillasville in 1915.

On June 25, 1915, the Blue Mountain Express, bound for Hagerstown, pulled into the Western Maryland Railroad Station in Thurmont about twenty minutes late for its 5:10 p.m. stop in town. Apparently, the train had had a hotbox that needed to be repacked while the train was in Union Bridge, according Charles Eyler in George Wireman’s book, Gateway to the Mountains.

In Thurmont, the train hurriedly took on water and dropped off Baltimore’s afternoon newspapers for delivery. The stop was short, in hopes of making up some lost time.

The express was made up of a Pullman Parlor Car, three coaches, and a baggage car. “Although it was primarily a freight line, the Western Maryland became famous for the excursion trains it ran to the Blue Ridge, and for the Blue Mountain Express, said to have been the finest train in the East,” Wireman wrote.

Meanwhile, in Hagerstown, the train dispatcher, Edgar Bloom, was busy trying to keep trains moving along the stretch of track that he watched over. Of the 180 miles under his supervision, all but 20 miles were single track. That meant if two trains were coming from different directions, he had to notify the nearest station to have one train pull off onto a siding until the other train passed.

“Bloom had been doing this for a while and knew his job, but, today, he was having trouble communicating to the east. A storm earlier in the week had knocked down a telegraph line. Add to that, the general confusion of a very busy day and Bloom lost track of countermanding an order that gave the Blue Mountain Express the right of way,” according to the Adams County News.

From Thurmont, the next stop was Sabillasville. Outside of Thurmont, the Blue Mountain Express started up the mountain on a section of single track that ran for just over two miles.

Around 5:30 p.m., local residents heard the familiar sound of the Blue Mountain Express’s train whistle, but instead of stopping, it continued blowing. People knew something was wrong and rushed to where they heard the whistle.

On the tracks, it’s not certain how soon the engineers saw the trouble coming at them. The eastbound Baltimore Unlimited came head to head with the westbound Blue Mountain Express. “It is presumed that the engineers of both trains believed the other had been ordered to take the siding to allow his train to pass, …all-steel cars helped minimize loss of life,” the Adams County News reported.

The two engines hit. The impact crumpled some cars and knocked others off the High Bridge, over Owens Creek, and into the ravine one hundred feet below.

Seconds before the crash, Fireman Vendergerst, on the Baltmore Unlimited, “made a thrilling leap for safety,” according to the Frederick News. It did him little good. He was found later with a broken back and legs broken in several places. He was taken to the hospital in Hagerstown.

  1. B. Taylor of Westminster was sitting in the smoking car when he felt the train slowing. He thought the engineer might be applying the emergency brake.

“I thrust my head out of the window and beheld a terrifying sight,” Taylor told the Hagerstown Herald Mail. “The engine and tender of the Blue Mountain was over the bridge, while the baggage car was smashed in, part of it falling into the ravine behind the engine and tender.”

Uninjured, Taylor grabbed his things and headed for the door, along with the other passengers in the car.

He was one of the lucky ones.

high-bridges-wreck-002-co

Train wreck at High Bridges, taken June 24, 1915. This view shows the east bound engine; the other had been moved.

Photo Courtesy of Thurmontimages.com