Broad Run and Locust Valley Scenes
Burkittsville is surrounded by small hamlets and communities with histories that extend back as early as the town itself. Broad Run, located at the intersection of Catholic Church, Picnic Woods, and Broad Run Roads, was settled in the mid-18th century as the surrounding land was purchased for farms by English and German families. Among these families were the Arnolds, Huffers, Houses, and Groves. Broad Run had its own post office from 1868 until 1901. A brick store was constructed at the intersection by Manasses J. Grove in 1851 and in later years was operated by the Huffer and Beachley families. Broad Run also had its own school house and the Pleasant View Church of the Brethren was organized in the village around the time of the American Revolutionary War.
The David Ausherman Farm, seen in this late-19th century photograph, stands on Picnic Woods Road opposite the Pleasant View Church of the Brethren. The original alignment of the road leading from Burkittsville north towards Middletown (today's Maryland Route 17) originally ran along the front of the Ausherman Farm, but has since been rerouted to the east. Photograph donated by Rick and Denise (Guyton) Boyer.
The Dunkard Brethren Congregation of Broad Run was organized during the years of the American Revolutionary War and met seasonally in schoolhouses and private homes around the area for a century before the present church was erected in 1876. At the time of its completion, the long-serving minister of the church, Burkittsville native Emanuel Slifer, purportedly gave the congregation its present name "Pleasant View," referring to the sweeping vista of the valley from the church's hill-top site. Photograph from the Brethren Historical Society and Archives.
The brick store in Broad Run was built in 1851 by Manasses J. Grove, a Frederick County industrialist who founded the M.J. Grove Lime Company. Grove was born in Broad Run in 1824. In addition to serving as a general store, the building also housed Broad Run's Post Office from 1868 until 1901. Photograph from the Maryland Historical Trust.
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Locust Valley is a small village of houses, churches, and small farmsteads scattered along the base of Lamb's Knoll, the second-tallest peak of South Mountain during its run through Maryland. In 1741, Miles and Frances Foy received the first land tract patents within present-day Locust Valley after fleeing a violent conflict in their home community north of Baltimore, land that was disputed between Pennsylvania and Maryland. The first recorded instance of the name "Locust Valley" is found on a land tract from the 1790s. The village began to take shape in the mid-19th century and by the time of the Civil War, Locust Valley had a church and a schoolhouse. By the turn of the 20th century, Locust Valley grew to include two schools (one for white and another for African American children), two churches, general stores operated by the Younkins, Rohrback, Marker, and Freed families, and a butcher shop owned by the Burtner Family. Today, Locust Valley is a quite community that has preserved its rural character.
For half a century, the heart of the community of Locust Valley was the large general store that was built by the Marker Family in the early-20th century. Dorye Davis Marker built the store into a thriving business which sold groceries, hardware, feed, and gasoline. The Markers also operated a grain elevator and chicken hatchery, known as the "South Mountain Hennery Company" on the adjoining property. In 1933, Marker sold the store to Edwin and Mary Freed, who operated it until 1965. Photograph donated by Velma (Burtner) Shepard.
Dorye Marker and his wife, Mabel Fern (Weddle) Marker, built a Craftsman-style house in Locust Valley in the 1920s across the road from the store. In addition to their business interests in Locust Valley, the Markers also operated a grocery store on South Bentz Street in downtown Frederick. Dorye and Fern Marker often entertained their employees at picnics held at their "country residence" in Locust Valley, a scene captured in the lower photograph. The Markers were also philanthropic towards the Locust Valley community, donating land and funding the expansion of the church in the 1940s and 1950s. Photographs donated by Velma (Burtner) Shepard.
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Dorye Marker's brother, William Carlton Marker and his wife, Bettie, operated the chicken hatchery and granary in Locust Valley from the early-1920s until William's tragic death from an automobile accident in 1934. Photograph donated by Velma (Burtner) Shepard.
The Locust Valley Church of God was originally organized in 1852 as the "Sigler's Bethel Church of God" following a camp meeting revival held by Rev. John Winebrenner (founder of the Churches of God). After worshiping in the Locust Valley schoolhouse for 27 years, the congregation erected this building on land donated by the Sigler family in 1879. The bell tower was added in 1913 and subsequent additions were made to the church in 1947 and 1957. Twice in its history, the Locust Valley Church has divided, once over a dispute among members in 1907 and again in 1966 when the entire denomination suffered a schism over ecumenical issues. After 1966, the old church became known as Locust Valley Bible Church. Photograph donated by Velma (Burtner) Shepard.
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When the Locust Valley Church of God split in 1907, a faction of its members built a stone church higher up on the Mountain Church Road which they named "Mount Hope Church of God." After being abandoned and falling to ruin in the 1950s, the church was rebuilt in 1974 and rededicated as the Locust Valley First Church of God. This photograph was taken in the early-1950s before the church roof collapsed. The bell in the tower was rehung in a new belfry when the church was rebuilt in 1974.
Photograph donated by the Locust Valley First Church of God. |
Students gather for a class photograph outside the Locust Valley Schoolhouse in 1919. Among the students are Carroll Younkins, Dorothy Sigler, Mary Young, Mary Marker, Pauline Moss, Elsie Rohrback, Orpha Rohrback, Annabelle Rohrback, and Daisy Marker. The teacher of the school at this time was Mabel Fern Weddle, later the wife of Dorye Davis Marker.
Photograph donated by Velma (Burtner) Shepard.
Photograph donated by Velma (Burtner) Shepard.
From 1877 until 1939, African American children in the Locust Valley area attended this school, officially named the "Burkittsville Colored School," but known to many locally as the "Mollie Bruner School." Mollie taught students in this one room school for over thirty years. From the Frederick County Historical Society.
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The home of George and Annabelle Shank is seen in the background of this World War II era portrait taken of Edward Fink. The Shank House is exemplary of the the vernacular dwellings that are found throughout Locust Valley. Built in the late-19th century of log construction, the front portion of the house was a "hall and parlor," while the kitchen extended from the back.
Photograph donated by Jody Brumage. |
For many years, people relied on the Burtner Family in Locust Valley for their country hams. Burtner's Meat Market was a thriving enterprise managed by two generations of the family, originally founded by Noah Burtner. The family lived in the Craftsman-styled house seen next door to the butcher shop, built in 1938. Photograph donated by Velma (Burtner) Shepard.