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By JOR EISENHAUER Few today can visualize West Church street as having brick s Sidewalks and being paved with cobblestones. How many remember when the Independent engine house was sandwiched between Trinity Cha pel and a bowling alley? How many recall the appear ance of the south side of that first block of West Church street be fore the Masonic Temple and the ty. M. C. A. were built? History of that particular block is inseparably linked with that of the Reformed Church (now Trin ity Chapel) and the engine house of the Independents. The history of the chapel being relatively well-known, this account particu larly applies to changes wrought through more than half a century. Data concerning the early days of the Independents is rather vague. A cornerstone taken from the first Engine House that was located just north of the Court House, bears the date of 1816 and is now in the present quarters on Church street. While organization of the Independent Hose Com pany was affected in the years 1818, the records from that time until 1839, when the Company in corporated, have been lost. On August 19, 1845 the Inde pendents purchased from Mr. and Mrs Lawrence J. Brengle a lot on the south side of West Church street for the sum of $750. Ad jacent on the east was the Re formed chapel, paradoxically on the west a log house and saloon. The lot had a frontage of 31 feet. Ground was broken April 3, 1846 for a two-story building, the west side to house the engine, the east side for the meeting or bunk room, and a hallway running through the center to the rear where a two-story dwelling was for the custodian of the property. The new quarters were occupied immediately upon completion, William E Satter and family oc cupying the dwelling from 1846 until Mr. Salter’s death in 1862. He was succeeded by David H. Kolb, who continued to reside there until his death in 1912. The continued faithfulness of the family, Mrs Kolb and Mrs. Charles B. Schope, is well remembered by many Fredericktonians. Independent Hall has always acc upied a prominent part in the life of Fredench citizens One of the city’s outstanding public struc tures, for years it was also the home of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. It later housed Frederick Lodge, No. 684 B. P. C. Ellis, and Co A. M WN. Inter mittently, the hall was and con tinues to be the meeting place for various groups when occasion arises. The Independent Hose Company building was rebuilt in 1895, the year after the first meeting of the Maryland State Firemen's Associa tion was held in Frederick The state organization was formed In 1893, his first president being J. Roger McShery, one of the origi nators and who incidentally was secretary of the Independents. It was just about that time that the Independents purchased their first ‘hose carriage. Just to give you an idea of the public spirit of firemen of those days, mention is made of the In dependent Drum Corps, organized in 1889. Its roster included such familiar names as William Kolb, drum major, Murray Baer, Charles Engie, Richard Keyser, George Crum, Albert Baker, Edward Baumgardner, Frank Scholl, Wil liam Davis, Ernie Mobley, George Kolb, John Gittinger, George Salt er and George A. Paisley. Most were little fellows then. Remember the old State cham pion of the Rec Teams? It was composed of Millard Nusz. cap tain: Albert Baker, Robert Fratey, Murray Baer, Johnson Buirrall, Charles R Mussetter, Joseph F. Haller, Merle Dixon, Harry Scholl, Thomas Eisenhauer, Frank Salter ,George Wallace, Charles Wein berg, Albert Mattoon, William ©. Nusz, James Brust and Philip Scheel—all good old Frederick names. The Independents bought their first automobile engine in 1808— it was also the first in the state of Maryland. Its purchase was rec ommended by a committee com posed of Frank L. Bentz, William D. Zimmerman and Robert E. Delaplaine, being bought from the Howe Engine company of Indian apolis, at a cost of $460. The Independent engine house in course of time underwent other changes necessitated by the transi tion from horse-drawn to motor ized equipment, and was remodel ed in 1940. All the while, changes were tak ing place in the immediate neigh borhood, particularly on the south side of West Church street The former old log house and saloon had disappeared. Immediately ad jacent to the engine house was the establishment known as Ships 3 Bowling Alleys,” about which lit tle is remembered It was replaced early in the 90's by the spacious home and offices of the late Jacob Rohrbach, prior in the holding here of the first State Firemen's Convention in 1898 coincidentally with the Independent's 75th an niversary celebration. At that time the conservative stately residence of the Dr. Fair fax Sehley family adjoined the Rohrback property on the west It subsequently became the home of Mr. and Mrs. William H. (Jen nie Sehley) Miller. Mr Miller was the assistant cashier of the Central National Bank, at the southwest corner of Church and Court streets (the present Cramer Building) and adjoined the U. S. Post office on the southeast corner of Church and Court streets was the popular Frederick hostelry known as The Carlin House, operated by Mitchell Douglass and later by Pat Long. Long identified in local and Braddock hostelry. Then came the turn of the cen tury. First major change was the raz ing of the Miller property and erection of the Masonic Temple, the cornerstone of which was laid in 1901. Six years later, the hotel structure on the corner site fell prey to progress, the corestone of the present building of the Young Men's Christian Association being laid in 1907. Otherwise, recent decades have brought few physical changes. Concrete sidewalks have re placed brick, macadam the cob blestones and parking meters the ornamental hitching post The days of the derby hat and high top button shoes are gone. ‘istered Holstein cow in the herd owned by McKendree Walker, Gaithersburg, Md, has further added to her outstanding lifetime production of more than 100,600 pounds of milk. Her production records are officially recorded by The Holstein-Friesian Association of America. In 6 yearly milking periods, this cow has produced a total of 101, 917 pounds of milk and 3,872 pounds of butterfat. Her highest single record was made at the age of 8 years 2 months when she produced 17,464 pounds of milk and 653 pounds of lutterfat, ee oe Photo courtesy James Fo Messersmit: SIXTY-ONE YEARS AGO—This gives a clear picture of what the first block of West Church street looked like back in the very beginning of the Day #0’s The original engine house of the Indepen dent Hose Company and the adjacent area were decorated for a celebration by loreal firemen. This pho tograph was dated July 4, 1890. The same area of the same street today. Photo by Frank Keefer
Newspaper Details
News
Frederick, Maryland, US
Sat, Jul 14, 1951
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Earl E.
USA 25 Aug 2026
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