Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-02-17
Government Is Asked to Restore
First Monument to WASHINGTON
Stone Ruin Bmbe Patch MARYLAND Was Once Con-
I Tower of Granite With Winding Stairway on About
Sixty-hve Miles From Washington Zitlestown

try were fired. when we all returned
to town in good order.
This monument is f1fty-four feet
In circumference at it's base and fif-
teen feet high 1--WE contemplate rails
Ing 1t thirty feet after the busy sea-
son has passed). The wall is COM
posed OF huge stones, many weighing
upward OF a ton, with the whole of
the center filled up. with the same
material. A flight of steps COM
mencing at the base and running
through the body of the fabric en-
ables us to ascend to the top, from
whence the most beautiful prospect
presents itself that the eyesean pos
sibly behold. Shepherdstown, Hagers-
town and Cavetown are distinctly
seen. with all the fertile ,fierds of
Jefferson, Berkeley and Washington
counties. affording a landscape, TEEN
Ing with life and wealth. -
ITO the summit of this ,motfntain
Is a rugged path, but the view will
afford q rich compensation for the
labor. Twelve feet from the base.
upon the side fronting Boonsboro.
was inserted a white marble slab
with the following inscription:
Erected in memory Of Washing
ton. July 4, 1927, by the citizens of
Boonsboro.'
"At the laying of the monument
several revolutionary soldiers ascend
ed and fired three rounds from it's
top"
For many years patriotic celebra-
tions were held there. Lightning,
however. struck the tower, knocking
on the upper part. August is, 1884,
the Odd Fellows of Boonsboro re-
stored and covered it with white
stucco. which the rains and winds
have worn completely away.
Lightning again shattered the up
per fifteen feet of the memorial.
and at the beginning of the world
war further damage was done by one
supposed to be an alien enemy, who
exploded dynamite under one por-
ton of the base and made a large
crack up the side. He was never ap-
pretended.
Bomberger has made many attempts
~ A'AeSAScS thS t&dtiOudt government
in rebuilding the tower. He is a
descendant Of Lawrence Bomberser,
to whom the sixth Lord Baltimore,
Frederick Calvert, gave a large tract
in July, 1865. embracing the Blue
Rock region
The cost of rebuilding the mona-
ment has been estimated at less than
$1,000, because all materials, except
cement. are at hand. An additional
sum would be required to repair the
road and clear away the briars
Maintenance would cost little, be-
cause 1t could be attended by the
same force which cares for Antietam
and other government reservations
in the neighborhood
The plan calls for restoration to
the original height. thirty feet, with
a platform on top. winding STAIR
way within and a beacon light burn
ing nightly, that all who pass by
motor from north to south or along
the great artery from east to west
may be reminded of the man for
whom it stands.
Boonsboro itself is full of the
project. The town has had an in
teresting history. It was there that
Oliver Wendell Holmes came when
his son, the present Supreme Court
justice, lay wounded during the civil
war. The place was settled in 1857
by William. cousin of Daniel Boone
Abraham Lincoln's grandfather, John
Lincoln, was a brother OF William
Boone's mother.
In 1927, when the monument was
built. Boonsboro had about zoo in
habitants. Scotch Irish and German
Its earliest church had q bell cast
by Thomas Mears, who cast the great
bell for the Glasgow Cathedral. An
thony Beltzer, fifer of the revolu-
tionary army, ended his days here.
Thomas 3. Starlight in his history of
the "Old Pike" states that "in its
palmy days the old town was a lively
place" 1t had its two large hotels
with swinging signs. the Eagle and
The United States, with stables for
fifty horses each. 1t has had it's
newspaper for seventy-five years and
took sides in the civil war.
A tradition has it that powder for
the revolutionary army was manu-
featured in sequestered corner near
the edge of the present town. 1t was
a recruiting station for the war of
1912. In it's modern aspect it has
lights. water, high school, two banks,
public library, new addition" and
board Of trade.