Marker #1 Legend of Johnny Friend
In the mid-1700’s, Neil Friend and his sons held land on the Viriginia side of the Potomac River, where the North and South Branches join. A good location for trade with Indians, but prone to flooding.A decision was made to move on to the Northwest where Neil’s brother Andrew had settled in Pennsylvania, at Turkeyfoot, where the Youghiogheny, Casselman and Laurel Hill Creek merge (today’s Confluence, PA).Neil’s sons, John, Andrew, Augustine and Charles*, followed the Youghiogheny upstream to this valley where a band of Shawnee were encamped. Being Indian traders, they were able to communicate and ask permission for John and his family to settle here. The Shawnee agreed. There was plenty for everyone in this Hunter’s Bowl.The next Spring, the Friend men returned with gifts for their new neighbors including the legendary iron pot. After John built his cabin he brought back his wife Karrenhappuch and their children to the site he had chosen on the rise on the west side of the river.The Shawnee, especially the women, were curious about the cabin, the children and the strange ways of the white people, so they came to visit and see for themselves. Having shared food and become acquainted, the tribal leader told John and Karrehappuck that the women wanted to take little Johnny back with them to visit with their children. John Sr. and the Chief agreed that Johnny would be returned the next day when the sun was high in the sky.Exactly when the sun reached its zenith the following day, the nervous Friend family welcomed their neighbors back, who were carryig the excited little Johnny, proudly wearing a deerskin shirt and moccasins made by the Shawnee women. Johnny was full of stories about his time with the tribe. The story of his sleepover and return has been retold for generations. (John Friend Sr.’s original home site is where the John Friend Sr. Cemetery is, beside the I-68 westbound off ramp).
Marker #2 Native American Visitors
In 1950, the Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh investigated this site in a three-year survey of the entire Ohio River drainage system. In 1972, the Maryland Geological Survey conducted excavations on the areas to be impacted by the construction of I-68. Approximately 49,000 artifacts were recovered from the Friendsville site. The earliest artifacts are from the Archaic Period (approx. 8000 BC to 7000 years BC) and includes spear points, stone axe heads and spear throwing weights. From the Woodland Period (2000 BC to 1400 AD), native people left evidence of early agriculture, such as grinding tools and stones, pipes, knives and pot shards. The assortment of ceramic shards suggests that residents maintained a unique ceramic technology, one that differed from other areas in the Upper Ohio Valley. The hematite-shale and hematite-limestone tempered shards are unique and not found anywhere else. Other objects included numerous projectile points, including Madison arrowheads, a quartzite hammerstone, tubular bird bone beads, a cut bear canine and drilled dog canines used for adornments. Several burials have been discovered over the years with the remains taken by State archaeologists and not returned.A band of the Shawnee Tribe used this site in the summer as a hunting ground known as “The Hunter’s Bowl” where they came to grow corn, beans and squash in the fertile bottomland. The river was abundant with many varieties of trout, numerous other fish species and the famous north-south Warrior Trail passed nearby. In the fall, the tribe would go back to the Ohio River Valley to join other tribes to weather the winter together.The settlers and natives coexisted for several years, but tensions increased and a fort was built in 1775. The last Indian raid took place in 1788 in nearby Preston County WV. In 1830, the Shawnee, along with other tribes, were subject to the Indian Removal Act by President Andrew Jackson that led to the tragic death of thousands of Native Americans in the forced relocation march to western reservations.
Marker #3 Riverside Hotel – Knights of Pythias
Charles Liston, the town constable, was behind the bar of the Collier Hotel (now the Riverside Hotel) when rowdy drifter Lupton Frantz came in looking for Mr Collier. Constable Liston thought he was reaching for a gun, so he shot him. The severely injured Frantz was taken to Dr. Mason’s office and then put on the train to Dr. Whites office in Confluence, where the Dr. said, “Lup, you are going to die. This wound is fatal and operation or not you had better prepare for the end.” A year after the shooting Charles Liston hung himself out of remorse for shooting Frantz.Local legend says that the long abandoned hotel harbored blood stained walls and ghostly spirits. Kids frightened by their parents stories were afraid to peek inside the spooky abandoned building and would run by on their way to church.Records mentioning the Riverside Hotel first appear in 1890, although based on features and add-ons, the 2003 renovators of the hotel, Michael Palencar and Agnes Lichtner, estimated it was built in the 1860-70’s. (Obstacles were overcome during the restoration including the resident haunting spirits and the hotel finally returned to its former glory.)The Knights of Pythias fraternal organization and secret society built the building that is now the Water Street Cafe in the late 1800’s and used it as their meeting place for many years. The ideals of loyalty, honor, and friendship are at the center of the orders philosophy and are inspired by the Greek legend of Damon and Pythias. The Friendsville High School Boys Basketball Team used the open-space upstairs as a practice gym in the early 1900’s. Water Street was the first area to develop in the early to mid 1800’s.
Marker #4 Commerce, Custer & Rylands Stores
David ‘Bud’ Sheridan Custer had the Custer grocery store and furniture store built here by George Kolb in 1888. He served on the board of the Methodist Church in Friendsville and as superintendent of the Sunday School. In 1917 he became affiliated with the Friendsville Milling Company and helped to found the First National Bank in Friendsville and organize the Bruceton Bank in West Virginia. The long poles in the photo are fishing poles and the store was reported to have a barrel with live trout, which were plentiful before acid mine drainage decimated fish stocks from coal mining upriver.In the book “Indian Blood,” it is told that Bud walked to Oakland to get his marriage license in order to marry Minnie May Friend and he was so in love that as he got closer he walked faster and faster. When he got excited he would sometimes stutter and use his smarts and humor to get laughs. At one time Mr. Shoemaker, who was indeed a shoemaker, used a portion of the store.William Ryland operated a store with the front painted in squares, called the “Checker Board” on Water Street across from the bridge on the site of the brick home built by the Custer’s in 1920. It appears to have been another general merchandise store and for a time a feed store. With farming growing in the surrounding area, Friendsville in the late 1800’s was booming and expanding, becoming an important hub for commerce. With the arrival of the train in 1889 the town exploded with lumbering, sawmills, stores of many types, flour mills, hotels and bars.
Marker # 5 Water Street North, E.M. Friend
The land occupied by Wilderness Voyageurs was once the site of the livery stable for the Riverside Hotel. The house pictured above was the home of Captain Elijah Monroe Friend, grandson of Gabriel Friend, son of John Friend the first white settler in Garrett County. The home sat on his 300 acre farm on the west side of the river and along Water Street that used to extend downstream to the Youghiogheny Iron Company Foundry.Elijah Monroe Friend was born in 1836 and educated in the district schools. He enlisted in Company 1 Second Maryland Regiment of Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil War as a Private and served three years. He was promoted to Corporal, Sargeant and Sargeant-Major while in the field. In February of 1865, he was ordered to Cumberland to act as an enrolling officer and given the rank of Captain. He served until the fall of Richmond and was granted an honorable discharge.In 1873, he helped take the census of the western part of Allegany County and divide it into Garrett County. For several years he traveled extensively around the country as a salesman and in 1879 returned to his home in Friendsville . He engaged in farming and in 1887 was elected to the Maryland Legislature. In 1890 he married Emma C. Shroyer, daughter of J.D. Shroyer and they had three children: Earl Morril, Ruth Adele and Ada Blanche.In 1828, a large 3 stack iron furnace on Bear Creek called the Youghiogheny Iron Company was built to produce pig iron and a foundry was built down river from this site. Eventually, the difficulty of transporting the iron to the National Road could not compete with furnaces and foundries along the Ohio River causing this industry to close. The old Water Street extension reached the foundry which was later converted by Leslie Friend into a hydroelectric plant that in 1895 supplied electricity to the new electric Unique Mill in the center of town and Friendsville homes for 75¢ a month.
Marker #6 Maple Street and Morris Avenue
During the late 1800’s, the junction of Morris Ave. and Maple St. is where people congregated most. The building now occupied by Precision Rafting was originally W.W. Savage’s Furniture and Clothing Store. His father, Salathial Savage, was the town’s undertaker and when he died W.W. turned the store into a funeral home and took up his father’s business as the undertaker. Later it became a restaurant and Dr. Greenwald’s office.The Central Hotel on the northeast corner was built by J. Cuppett and was later operated by C.R. Long. It then became Dr. Mason’s Medical Center followed by Engle’s Meat Market, Schlosnagle’s Meat Market and Clothing Store and finally Tabor’s Pizza Parlor and store.The buildings shown below on Maple Street from right to left are C.V. Guard’s Store and Post Office which became Cecil Schroyer’s Store. It was last used to build theatrical sets for Broadway until it burnt down in 1985. The second building (at this sign marker) was a home as it is today. The Friendsville Drug Company was next (3rd from right) which then became “Turkey Bill” and Effie Friend’s Store and Lunch Counter, then Ray McCullough’s Store. Ken Friend started a bar in the building and today it is Ken’s Irish Pub. Beside the pub (4th building) was Wolfe’s Store, which became the Clover Farm Store now the S&S Market. By the railroad tracks was Ross’s Feed Store.On the north side of Maple Street was August Neil’s Photography Studio/Newspaper and Jewelry Shop. Many early local photos were taken by “Augie” Neil.
Marker #7 The Lost Settlement of Kendall
With the arrival of the train to Friendsville in 1889, the Yough Manor Lumber Co. extended the tracks upriver two miles to service a sawmill. A. Knabb and Company had already set up a stave mill for barrels in 1891 and the town’s name became Krug, after Henry Krug one of the company officials. The Kendall Lumber Co. bought the land to begin logging operations further upstream and was shipping out 3.5 million board feet a day. The rail line was to extend to Oakland but it never did. Narrow gauge temporary rail lines extended from Kendall on to National Falls where sheer cliffs required a bridge to cross the river. The narrow gauge railway pushed further up various hollows and Youghiogheny tributaries as far as Sang Run and Swallow Falls.In the early 1900’s on Sundays after church, Friendsville residents would take an enjoyable train ride up to Kendall to picnic. B&O Officials would also come to hunt, enjoy nature and stay in the big log building known as the “Clubhouse”. The supposedly inexhaustible timber resources collapsed around 1912 but the train continued to carry coal from the valley. Kendall residents left in the years that followed. The railroad tracks were removed to Confluence, PA in 1942, prior to the filling of the Yough Lake.Visitors can now hike two miles from town to Kendall (and beyond) on the old railroad bed into the Youghiogheny River Wild and Scenic Corridor. Youghiogheny is a Shawnee name (YO-WAH-HO-NAY) for “river that flows in a contrary direction” (locals call it the “YAWK”).The town of Kendall was on the west side of the river at Laurel Run. You must wade the river to get to it. So be wary of dam releases! Little remains, except for a few overgrown foundations and perhaps the spirit of a town and residents long gone.
Marker #8 Opera House, Morris Avenue and Walnut St.
Morris Avenue became another hub for the town’s activities and included Wat Guard’s Store, Dr. Nedrow’s home and office, Shevel’s Harness Shop and the home of the industrious entrepreneur, Leslie E. Friend. The Opera House became a focal point for Saturday night square dances, accompanied by alcohol, which sent many Lumbermen to the lock-up across the street to “sleep it off.” The Opera House transformed into the Grand Theater and began playing silent movies accompanied by Iva McCullough on piano.The theater then offered serial episode ‘talkies’ (mostly westerns) that continued the next week and classics like Ben Hur and the Ten Commandments. The movie cost 15¢, and popcorn 5¢. The theater also hosted musical variety acts from Fairmont and Wheeling, WV radio stations. The Grand Theater became a bowling alley and burnt down when the boiler exploded in 1965.Red Jenkins’ barber shop included a restaurant and bar. Upon Red’s retirement the barber shop was taken over by Bill Durham, then Davie Sellers. The barber chair can be seen at the Friend Family Assoc. Heritage Museum.The 10 Pin Alley came and went and Yank Holman’s Blacksmith Shop and Shevel’s Harness Shop attended to the needs of a horse drawn era. The Leslie and Ida Friend Home was built with German siding around 1885 by Mr. Kerling, who received a $125 bonus for completing it in one year. Leslie Friend started the bank, the flour mill and at one-time operated the larges tdepartment store in the county.
Marker #9 Cider Mill, Shanty Town & Baseball
This area was an important gathering place for the townspeople. Early on it was an orchard and the farm of Gabriel Friend, whose cabin on the high ground was known as ‘Look Sharp’. In 1830 Gabriel (son of John Friend Sr.) was appointed Friendsville’s first Postmaster. At that time the town changed its name from Friends to Friendsville.Much later, this area became the town park and site of carnivals, circuses and the town’s many legendary baseball games. Local sports icon and player Charlie Bill Welch established a reputation for fast pitching and hard hitting. Welch was a great player but also a hard drinker and oftentimes he would be sequestered somewhere to stay sober before a game. Scouts once asked him to tryout for the Pittsburgh Pirates but on the way to Pittsburgh he got intoxicated and never made it.Baseball rivalries between towns became so intense that after a particularly hard fought game a car was burned. Sometimes, baseball game celebrations grew so enthusiastic the revelry could be heard at farms miles away. Many residents are still avid ball players to this day. The town however has gone from five drinking establishments to just one.The Kamp family ran a steam powered cider mill near this site for many years and many people fondly remember bringing apples that were pressed into cider or processed into apple butter and super sweet apple jelly. The Kamp Mill also served as a cannery.The homes here long ago were simple dwellings that became known as Shanty Town. Over the years local families improved their homes and it lost its ‘shanty’ reputation. Slightly upriver from where Bear Creek meets the Yough was a very popular swimming hole known as The Sandhole. An island used to exist in the Yough River but was removed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after causing a large ice dam that flooded Water Street and caused erosion on the west river bank.
Marker #10 Unique Mill
From the beginning of recorded time people have milled grain as an important part of their diet. Along Bear Creek and the Yough several mills operated in the 1800’s, using water as the power source to turn the mill stones. As soon as the railroad reached town in 1889, local entrepreneur Leslie Friend built this building to specification to house an electric mill ‘package’ that arrived on one of the earliest trains to town.In anticipation of the millworks arrival, Leslie Friend developed a hydroelectric plant using water from an impoundment left idle by the old iron forge on the west side of the river across from the park. A water wheel powered generator sent electricity on wires to the mill, which distributed the power to street lights, businesses and private homes. At this time at the turn of the century, very few rural communities had power. The power to the town and the mill was shut off at 9 p.m. Homes had simple lighting with a single bulb hanging from the ceiling.
Marker # 11 Yough Motors, Bands & Confectionary
Quincy Murphy built the Yough Motor Company in the early 1900’s as a full service auto repair shop offering parts and painting. Quincy’s sons Ralph and Robert worked in the business as mechanics and the whole family lived upstairs in the apartments.Quincy built the brick building next door for their new confectionery business and he and his wife Mary Martha moved into the apartment upstairs. The Confectionery featured sweets and a classic soda fountain ambience with many a town romance beginning at its counter.The town’s first bandstand was located at a forgotten spot called Oak Grove. When the railroad came to town, townspeople moved the bandstand down to the railroad tracks for a huge celebration to greet the first train. It was then moved to where the Post Office is now, then finally beside Yough Motors. Quincy Murphy placed speakers on the roof and it became a popular town gathering place to listen to the news, special events and most importantly to KDKA and the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball games.Most of the storefronts in town had benches for the old timers to sit on and pass their time talking and watching the townspeople go by.
Marker #12 Bank, Leslie Friend Store, Military Honors
Leslie Friend built the largest department store in the county in the 1890’s where the First United Bank now stands. Leslie also helped charter and build the First National Bank of Friendsville in 1902, now the Friend Family Association Heritage Museum (both buildings pictured above). Friendsville became a bustling hub for the farmers and families in the surrounding countryside and an important center of commerce.Business was booming with the railroad bringing salesmen as well as merchandise for the local stores to sell. Barrels made at Kendall were shipped out and poles for mine supports were sent to the mines in Pennsylvania. Records show lumber and coal were shipped to WV, VA, PA, DE, NY and Ohio.A train load of barrels made in Krug (Kendall) were used for storage of numerous commodities. A. Knapp and Company, Krug, MarylandThe department store was noted for its “stitch Gothic’ ornamentation and classic 19th century architecture. The store failed during the Great Depression and from 1930-1963 the building was partitioned and one side used as a Post Office. The building was eventually torn down around 1970. Ornamentation was saved and is on display at the Friend Family Association Heritage Museum. Some ornamental parts of the store were used to build a new altar at the Methodist Church on Water Street.
Marker #13 Railroad Station & Hotels
The Confluence and Oakland Railroad (C&O) was completed between Confluence, PA and Friendsville in 1889. Upon completion, it was leased to the B&O Railroad for 99 years. In Confluence it connected with the B&O Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Chicago Railways.In 1889, the train was welcomed with a celebration and a new era was born with Friendsville becoming a chief business center and shipping point for timber and agricultural products. The railroad provided access to what was considered an “inexhaustable” timber resource and the booming lumber business of Garrett County. It was hoped the rail line would create a shortcut to the B&O Railroad in Oakland (which it never did).Mixed freight and passenger trains operated once a day to and from Confluence, PA. The large gauge train continued upriver to Kendall where it dropped empty cars, turned around and came back with oak barrels and lumber. From Kendall, the narrow guage rail extended into the extremley rugged middle gorge as far as Sang Run and Swallow Falls. Hotels such as the Crawford Hotel (site of the Northern Garrett Rescue Squad), Central Hotel and Russell Friend’s Youghiogheny Hotel on Morris Avenue opened up and were used by visitors, business people and salesmen traveling to town selling wares not only to the town’s businesses but also to the numerous stores in the outlying area. The timber resources became surprisingly scarce in 1912. Lumber companies closed or switched to coal, which was mined upriver and also shipped out by train. On March 31, 1942 the last coal train, along with some passengers, left town and an era ended. Harry J. Black the station agent since 1890 closed up officially on April 9th. The tracks were removed around 1942 when the Yough Lake Dam was completed and the reservoir was filled in 1944.
Marker #14 Friendsville School History
In 1891 the old log house that was used as the school (located in the vicinity of the Methodist Church on Water Street) became too small for the growing student population and the School Board purchased a 1/2 acre lot on Water Street from John T. and Priscilla Garey for $125. In 1892 the two room school was completed and Alpheus Welch fenced the lot for a price of $46.The school house contained 180 square feet of blackboard and in 1900 it is believed that Friendsville was the fastest growing school in the county school system.Many small schools were located throughout the surrounding countryside. Lindale School 1936. photo courtesy Bill SlageIn the Fall of 1902, F.G. Fox put an addition on the school for a total of $992. In 1903, Cell Coddington sunk a well at the school and the School Board insured the school for $1,000. In 1905, the janitor got a raise from $8 to $10 and in 1925, the janitor’s salary was increased to $75 per month. In 1906, the County High School at Friendsville was established. The fall enrollment in 1907 was 124 and by 1912 the enrollment had expanded to 165. In 1906 The State Board of Education extended the required course of High School study from three to four years. In 1924 the local School Board increased the amount of fire insurance to $5,000, but later that same year the foundation was permanently damaged by the infamous flood of 1924. Because of the flood damage, a new brick school building was built on the west side of the river in 1928 for a total cost of $46,000. Demaree Inflatable Boats took over this building in 1982 with operations that continue to this day. In 1976 the current elementary school opened on First Avenue near the orginal site of Gabriel Friend’s farm and orchard called “Look Sharp.”
Marker #15 J.W. McCullough – Lumbering & Mining Titan
Drawn by the rich forest timberlands of Garrett County, John W. McCullough arrived in the Friendsville area in the 1890’s and figured prominently in the expansion of the town. He constructed several sawmills in the area and in 1894 built a 36 inch narrow gauge line, called the Clark & McCullough Railroad that traveled along Bear Creek.This line extended eastward and climbed Negro and Meadow Mountains and eventually to Swanton with spurs including 25 miles of track in very rugged terrain making it the longest narrow gauge line in the county.The large sawmill in Friendsville was sawing up to 50,000 feet a day in 1900, by 1912, the logging industry collapsed as this resource became decimated. J.W. then purchased the Fike Mine upstream of town along the river and mining continued until the railroad closed in 1942.J.W. served as a State Senator and a County Commissioner. In 1931, J.W. suffered a heart attack and died in the Garrett County Courthouse right after addressing the County Commissioners on the critical need for a hard-surfaced road to connect Friendsville to Pennsylvania.
#16 Hunters Bowl & Historic Cemetery
The bend in the Youghiogheny River and the geographical shape of the mountains formed a natural funnel for game and the early Native Americans knew this place as the “Hunter’s Bowl”. The fertile bottomland, now the Community Park, once formed part of Gabriel Friend’s original land holdings. Gabriel would often soak his feet in Bear Creek and claimed the icy water had healing powers. The fertile bottomland has been farmed over the years by the Steele, Lininger and Guard families.View of the Hunter’s Bowl and farm field (top middle-right) before the town park.With mills on the waterways and train service in the 1890’s, Friendsville exploded as a hub for farmers and farm products. Most homes in Friendsville had big gardens and kept small livestock, chickens or a dairy cow. A popular form of commerce was the selling of heavy cream. Area farmers and residents separated their heavy cream and shipped it out in cans with their family tag on it for return. The heavy cream could sour and still be useable. The cream cans were shipped by train and later by the mail carrier.Claude Fike’s milk can label.The train pictured in the photo above (steam plume) was coming from the nearest town of Selbysport, Maryland, which was flooded by the Yough Lake in 1944`. The Yough Lake Reservoir extends to the town boundary just downriver from the park during extreme highwater. The original train trestle supports still exist just downriver and plans are underway for the construction of a new bridge and trail for hikers and cyclists to access State land across the river as part of a regional loop trail.The Steele cemetery on the slope above the park is named after Abraham Steele who inherited this land from his step-father Gabriel Friend. Many of the townspeople mentioned on the historical tour can be found buried there, as well as military veterans from many wars. Some of the graves are marked by a simple stone with no inscription and the cemetery is a quiet place for reflection under the large hardwoods and cedars.
Marker #17 Bear Creek Lumber -Meat Market – Old Bridge
When the River Road connected Selbysport and Friendsville, the original way into town was past the cemetery, across Bear Creek, at the cement arch bridge location; and down Walnut Street to Morris Avenue. The more daring could cross on foot, using the railroad trestle further downstream where the Route 53 bridge is now. An iron works was located upstream from here near where I-68 passes overhead. Homes lining the south side of Walnut Street included the home of the Lytle Family, who kept a stable on the creek side, next to their meat market. A large sawmill existed along the north side of the creek behind the The Bear Creek Lumber Company store. When Bear Creek overflowed its banks in the great flood of 1924, the water smashed the meat market against the side of the Bear Creek Lumber Company, which was the J.W. McCullough Company Headquarters. When J.W. switched to coal mining after the collapse of the timber resources, the lumber company store became the company store for the miners. Karol and Bessie Rush made and sold ice cream in the building for a short time. Apartments were vacated and the McCullough building was demolished in 2001.The Old Selbysport Road Bridge is the longest-spanning concrete single arch bridge in Garrett County. It was built by the Luten Bridge Co, York PA, and is typical of the 1888 patented concrete arch bridge designs of the famous bridge engineerDaniel B. Luten. The bridge was built in 1920. The Barnes Bridge further up Bear Creek is also a Luten arch bridge.FRIENDSVILLE COUGAR! In 1993, Paul Schroyer videotaped a cougar slinking up the side of Bear Creek about 1/2 mile upstream from this location. “That’s one big cat” said Maryland DNR biologist Ms. Leslie Johnston. “We’ve had hundreds of sightings, but this one is on tape.”
Marker #18 Walnut & Third Street – F.G. & Sons
As Friendsville branched out from the river, Walnut Street became the site of Frederick Fox’s planing mill, then hardware store, the Post Office and a tin shop. Fred Fox was also a builder and many of the old buildings display his handiwork and were built with his materials and expertise. He also sang in the quartet and directed the Friendsville Military Band. When David A. Custer built a flour mill next to the Fox complex, a second hub of activity was established. The large foundation stones of the mill can still be viewed in the basement of the buildings now used as a hardware store and motel (Northeast corner of Walnut Street and First Ave.)George Savage built the home beside the small church across from the motel. Phil Garlitz purchased the home when his mill was flooded along Mill Run during the construction of the Youghiogheny Reservoir. Mr. Garlitz placed the mill stone from his mill in the sidewalk in 1945.The small chapel was originally Bill Bowers Shoe Repair. Charlie Barr lived there and in 1970 Reverend H.B. Rittenhouse bought the property and created the small Church which was used primarily as a wedding chapel. The reclusive Reverend Rittenhouse recorded gospel radio shows in a small recording studio on site and leased airtime on nine radio stations. His wife Betty Rittenhouse was the last occupant of the home and died in 2007 at the age of 81. Truck drivers would sometimes hear the radio program in far-flung places and residents returning to town would know they were close when they heard his program on area and national radio stations. The house with the columns on the SW corner is where August Neil offered photography, clock repair and worked as a jeweler. His second shop and home moved to Maple Street, where he also began selling newspapers and comic books.Thomas and Priscilla Gary built the house on the NW corner (pictured right and still standing) which then became shopkeeper Henry Wolfe’s. He sold his home and main street business to Evelyn and Olin Friend who turned his shop into the Clover Farm Store, now the S & S Market on Maple Street.
