File:B&O Railroad YMCA was a longtime social hub in Brunswick, not only for railroaders, but for the Brunswick community.jpg

Summary

The B&O Railroad YMCA was a longtime social hub in Brunswick, not only for railroaders, but for the Brunswick community at large. It housed a restaurant, barber shop, meeting spaces for local clubs, card games and storytelling, as well as a bowling alley.

(Credit - Brunswick History Commission)

Frank McKnight Good memories. George Merriman use to cut my hair in that very same building. Used a straight edge razor to shave you and would burn a piece of paper to burn any hair sticking our. You never moved when he gave you a hair cut! A great man!!!

Brenton Barger "Monkey" Runkles was the other barber with George Merriman. The basebal/or sportingl stories told there could have filled volumes of manuscripts on Brunswick and Frederick County sports

The Rotary Club and it's sister organization The Inner Wheel both met at the Y in the big meeting room on the front left side of the building. Thursday night was always fun food night for us--scrambled eggs & bacon--because dad was off at Rotary….Peter

John Younkins The “Y” was the center of the Brunswick culture and was an exciting place to be and experience. My father Marvin Younkins was the General Manager of the Y for many years. I spend a lot of time in the building and have many fond memories of the great people who worked and frequented the Y. I remember waiting for hours to get a haircut listening to George Merriman spin his stories of baseball and doing the “soft-shoe” between customers, attending the annual Rotary Christmas dinner, hearing Gene Green tease old man Mullendore, the railroaders playing dominos that sometimes became very heated, hanging out in Dad’s office listening to all the salesman pitches, watching him type up the menus, taking inventory of the food stock in basement and of course kicking out the “Sneaky Pete’s” that tried to hang out on the porch. The Y reflected the great culture of Brunswick and was a great place to experience and grow up as a youngster. Thanks to Smoketown for bringing back these great memories for me and the people of Brunswick.

If you turn left on Potomac St, heading west, The Y was on our right. Go past the Potomac Grill and the parking lot across the street. As you are coming around the curve the YMCA sat on the vacant lot on your right. There are 2 large bushes with a walkway between them. That was the entrance to the building...Nancy Merchant Langley.