Ring the bell at Boonesborough Days

Boonsboro kicks off annual fest this weekend

September 10, 2009|By TIFFANY ARNOLD

BOONSBORO -- Phased out of fashion by automobiles and buses, the last trolley left Boonsboro's trolley station in 1938.

But on Saturday, the old Boonsboro trolley station will hum with activity once again, more than a century after it greeted its first carload of passengers.

The old Boonsboro trolley station will be dedicated during Boonesborough Days, a yearly fundraiser for the Boonsboro Historical Society.

Boonesborough Days will be Saturday, Sept. 12, and Sunday, Sept. 13, at Shafer Memorial Park. Organizers estimate the event attracts 10,000 people each year.

The festival will have its standard offerings as an homage to the town's roots. As in prior years, there will be about 150 craft vendors, most of whom will demonstrate and sell wares typical of what Boonsboro's early settlers would have used and sold.

Attendees can tour the renovated trolley stop, a spur off the trolley system that ran from Hagerstown to Frederick, Md., according to town officials and local historians. The unveiling comes after a $69,000 make-over, said Boonsboro Town Manager Debra Smith.

Historical society President Wanda Heuer said the trolley stop would now be used as a museum.

"The trolley helped develop this part of the county," Heuer said.

The first trolley rolled out of Boonsboro in 1902. Trolley stations back then were similar to today's Metro system in and around Washington, D.C. Local historian Doug Bast said having a trolley came with a major perk: If your town had a trolley, your town was guaranteed to have electricity.

Bast is a board member of the historical society. His museum, the Boonsborough Museum of History, will be open during Boonesborough Days.

If you go ...

WHAT: 38th annual Boonesborough Days

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12, and Sunday, Sept. 13; dedication of the Boonsboro trolley station is at 6 p.m. Saturday.

WHERE: Shafer Memorial Park, off Main Street, Boonsboro

COST: Free admission

MORE: Free parking is available at Boonsboro school complex off Campus Avenue, near the intersection of Maple Avenue and Main Street. A trolley will take people to and from the park for free.

CONTACT: For more information, call the Boonsboro Historical Society at 301-432-5889.

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