File:22 The town between the tracks.jpg

Summary

ccording to James R. Castle in his new book listed below, William Lynch Gross purchased land from Sarah Birmingham at the bottom of S. Maryland Avenue and built a store in 1893. It was a prime retail location in the "town between the tracks." See the buildings on the other side.

The building housed a drug store (on left) and a dentist’s office inside. The building even had an elevator that operated by a rope pulley system.

When he died in 1930, W.L. Gross's body lay in state in the front window of the store for passersby to view.

For more history on the Gross Store, click ahead to the next photo in the "Brunswick Beginnings" album.

Names listed on the reverse side of the photo are Adam Wrench, Bud Ferrell, Hammond Gross, Grandma Gross, Lizzy Jennings, and father.

(Photo courtesy of the Brunswick Heritage Museum and Brunswick Community Library; Frederick County Public Libraries; information from "History in our Attics: Photos and Documents of Brunswick, MD - Volume II")

Abbie Strawsburg Ricketts: Interesting about the pulley elevator. The big pulleys still hang in the back second floor of our store and there is a big square hole that is covered where the elevator or dumb waiter went from the first to second floor. I have sometimes wished it was still in use to move stock up and down!