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were under water, which covered Railroad Street

behind the station. The water reached the American Legion Home on South Maple A venue and the Gross alley off South Maryland A venue. Gallons of oil and kerosene were lost on the railroad. Cleanup was tedious and complicated. This was the worst occasion of flooding locally. Six years later, in 1942, the Potomac flooded again, giving the town its second worst flood. The flood of November 1985 caused over sixty thousand dollars in damage to the town' s water filtration plant and pumping station. Fires have caused notable damage over the years, including those which destroyed the Transfer Shed on the B&O (1920' s); the destruction of the high school in 1928; the Brunswick mill (1972); the Y.M.C.A., Potomac Street (1980): the Hovermale building, across from the Fire Hall (1979); the Werntz building at First Avenue and East Potomac Street (1980); and the Katie Barnard building at Second Avenue and East Potomac Street (1988). A "local legend," which must have been somewhat exaggerated, claimed that tornado-force winds stripped the bark from all the City Park trees in 1929. Some other folks, like Sherman Lowery, said "It wasn't that bad, but it did shake a couple of houses and tore a wing from a brick home out of town." In 1983, a severe tornado-like storm leveled the bowling alley on Souder Road, uprooted trees in City Park, tore siding from houses and toppled trees along North Maple A venue. Brunswick isn't really in the hurricane belt, but it is a close facsimile sometimes. In 1972 and 1974 there were Hurricanes Agnes and Eloise, respectively. The May 21, 1988, storm was not a hurricane, but a terrible local rain thatmightas well have been. Roads were closed and rivers rose - slowly, but surely.

resting on its laurels as a booming railroad town. Almost 80 years later, the town witnessed the changes wrought by the move from steam to diesel power and it began searching in earnest to compensate for the economic loss it foresaw. Brunswick called upon the railroad itself to study the problem. By early 1969 the town had received the report of a Baltimore & Ohio Railroad committee's survey concluding that Brunswick had no hopes of industrial development, because geographically there could be no railroad spur lines for transportation. The committee suggested that the town attract retired people and tourists by publicizing its recreational and historic surroundings: the Potomac River, the C&O Canal linear park, nearby Appalachian Trail, and the historic railroad. In February of 1969, the town's newspaper editor, Bob Dawson, passed a challenge to the Brunswick Recreation Commission to "pick up the gauntlet" laid before them by the B&O committee. From this the Brunswick Visitors and Recreation Promotions, Inc., later changed to the Brunswick Potomac Foundation, Inc., evolved, aided by the Maryland Department of Economic and Community Development. A nonprofit organization, the Foundation was chartered under Maryland law in 1969. Its original goals had a five-prong thrust: to encompass the town, the railroad, the river, the canal, and the people. The aim was to depict the history of the area and to encourage visitors to utilize local resources for recreation and commerce. For twelve years the best-known activity of the BrunswickPotomac Foundation was the annual Potomac River Festival. Beginning in 1969 it attracted thousands of visitors and featured a variety of tours; historical displays; railroad, river, and canal exhibits; and arts and crafts demonstrations and sales. The Festival traditionally included appearances by the United States Navy Band in concert at Brunswick High School. Railroad weekends have been held during the past decade. For the first five years, 1969 through 1973, the Potomac River Festival was headquartered in the Kaplan Building. The first and second floors held displays, and the the large show windows, enclosed at the time, provided small, secured display rooms. Artifacts spoke of the past from these as well as other display windows downtown. Colleen Selby, art chairman, held juried art exhibits with prizes. Attracting entries from Hagerstown, Baltimore, and Washington, as well as locally, this exhibit grew to be the largest in Frederick County asitmoved to the present Foundation building. Michael Nazelrod succeeded Mrs. Selby as art

S - Glenn Moler (YMCA) - Paul Gletner (dates)

- Sherman Lowry W - WHH -MMM

BRUNSWICK POTOMAC FOUNDATION The editor of the Brunswick Herald newspaper, Edward Shafer was prophetic in his first half-year of publication: he urged the town to develop its potential for tourism and recreation. Already it was

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