Pen Mar (short for Pennsylvania and Maryland) is a small community bordering the Mason-Dixon Line between Fort Ritchie, MD and Rouzerville, PA. What makes this such a unique spot is the ridge it occupies. It sets at South Mountain, which is isolated in a break of the Blue Ridge Mountain chain, and has wonderful overviews of the entire Cumberland Valley for dozens of miles. Also nearby is the beautiful Glen Afton Spring.
Pen Mar area became an attraction with the development of a resort in 1877 by Colonel John Mifflin Hood, owner of the Western Maryland Railroad Company. He believed that a resort in the Blue Ridge Mountains would encourage the public to use his trains to travel to the area. Not only did the Western Maryland Railroad develop a resort, but also an amusement park that included a scenic lookout, roller coaster, movie theater, dance pavilion, picnic shelter, miniature train, photo studio, concession stand, carousel with a penny arcade, dining hall and children's playground. The park was a huge success with thousands of visitors taking the 71 mile trip from Baltimore to Pen Mar. During this time, the average daily attendances ranged between 4000-5000 persons. The Appalachian Trail also runs directly through the park area.
A few miles up the ridge road would bring you to High Rock Lookout which once sported a massive lookout tower for even more stupendous views. It is now mostly a large outcropping of graffiti covered rock but still has an amazing view of the surrounding valley.
By the end of the 1920's the once glorious park began to decline in popularity. By the end of the decade virtually no one travelled there by train. In 1929 the park no longer turned a profit for the Western Maryland Railroad. The park was then leased to a private investor who was able to keep the park going until 1943.
With the fall of the park, the decline of the surrounding area came as no surprise. The Pen Mar post office officially closed in the 1960s and the area slowly dwindled in size and stature within the state of Maryland. By the 1970’s the now empty park was turned into a County Park and today stands as a nice History reminder of glorious times gone by. It still provides wonderful views and a nice stopping point on the Appalachian Trail where hikers can find a friendly local resident to run them into nearby Waynesboro PA to resupply and rest.
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