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Russell Baker, author,
columnist, and host of Masterpiece Theater, wrote a book called
Growing Up, in which he recounts his childhood memories of
Brunswick. He writes: “On the edge of my outer universe lay
Brunswick. I first walked in that vision of paradise
hand-in-hand with my father, and those visits opened my eyes to
the vastness and wonder of life’s possibilities. . . . Brunswick
was as distant and romantic a place as I ever expected to see.”
Brunswick’s history began as a town called Berlin, a trading
post on the C&O Canal. The post grew eventually into a bustling
downtown, a place where folks could buy just about anything they
needed. In the late 1800s, a gentleman from Baltimore came to
town to negotiate the purchase of several farms. He indicated
that he was interested in farming and was particularly
interested in parcels near the river and canal. Several years
later, the farmers who sold out to this “gentleman” discovered
that in fact he had been a land speculator hired by the B&O
Railroad.
From that inauspicious beginning, Brunswick was founded in
1890, and the railroad has defined Brunswick ever since. From a
busy hub during World War II to a commuter community today,
Brunswick has followed the ups and downs of railroad
transportation. Today, Brunswick has a thriving downtown area
with 70,000 square feet of specialty stores and antique stores.
Here, too, is the Brunswick Railroad Museum, which features over
7 miles of HO-gauge track replicating the B&O line between
Washington’s Union Station and Brunswick as it was in the 1950s.
The newest visitors center of the C&O Canal National Historical
Park was opened in downtown Brunswick in 1999.
Visitors to Brunswick may walk down to the railroad tracks,
close their eyes, and let themselves be transported to a time
when thundering steam locomotives carried the building blocks of
the industrial age through the town. When they open their eyes,
they will see an energetic community that has survived economic
ups and downs and is ready for the future with renewed strength
and vision.
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