Evening star., 1938-06-23
ROSSB0URC INN
PROJECT IS BEGUN
Restoration of Famous Old
Stopping Place Of
Travellers Started.

Restoration Of historic Rossbourg
Inn on the Baltimore boulevard at
College Park began yesterday as .
Works Progress Administration prof.
ect.
Lack of sufficient workers has held
up the project since September, 1885,
when it was first approved. When the
w. p. A. regulations were changed
in 1887 to provide for the expenditure
of 80 per cent Of the allotment for
labor instead of the 70 per cent
previously allowed, new approval Of
the ALLEGATION was made necessary.
Backed by the University of Mary
land, present owner of the building,
the approval was rapid. 1t merely
entailed the appropriation by the uni
versity of a little more money than
It had previously agreed to spend
Under the present grant, the w. p.
A. furnishes $l9.04260 and the uni
versity S7.7l0 OF the estimated cost
Of $26.752.2o.
Old Dress in Modern Times.
With the completion of the restora-
tive work. the old building, which
stands at the intersection Of the
boulevard and University lane, will
have taken on an appearance new
to the present generation. The task
will put back things that have been
lost in the l40 years since it was
built.
The inn was built of brick from
England. On the keystone is the
legend: 1T. Coe, London" and the
date 1898.
Now housing the Agricultural Ex-
pertinent Station Of the University OF
Maryland, the old inn was stopover
on the trip between Washington and
New York.
Passengers leaving Washington early
In the morning could enjoy q late
breakfast at Rossbourg. 1t was here
that the horses were changed, the old
stables where the horses were kept
having long since been torn down.
They were west of the present barn.
The history Of Rossbourg Inn shows
1t once had Colonial gabled roof
which was changed in 1888 to a man
sard roof At the same time the pres
ent Colonial front porch was built
The upstairs floor, The stairway, the
railings and the archway on the first
floor are the originals.
Where once the reception room
housed the elite of the day, a mod
ern laboratory now is established. A
back room was the taproom, with a
stairway leading to the wine cellars.
Tradition has it that George Wash
mgton once made an overnight stop
at the famous old inn. but historians
have been unable to prove this. 1t is
an established fact, however, that Gen.
Lafayette stayed overnight in the old
building on his last visit to America.
The building became part of the
Maryland Agricultural College, now the
University Of Maryland, in 1856. For
long time 1t was allowed to deteri-
crate. Finding no other use for it,
man named Braboskii. head of the
military and agricultural departments,
was allowed to use 1t for his home.
Taking pride in the old building, Mr..
Graboskii made several repairs and
planted the row Of naples along the
drive back Of the house.
Has Civil War History.
It was at the Rossbourg Inn that a
detachment of Jubal Early's Confed-
crate Army camped while attempting
to cut OF reinforcements for the Union
Army from Baltimore.
It is the oldest building at the
university and one Of the Oldest In
Prince Georges County.
Just what happened to puncture
what probably was the first real estate
promotion scheme in Prince Georges
County nobody seems to know. But
researchers have determined that the
inn, constructed on the old Ross estate,
was to have been the central develop
ment IN a new town Of Rossbourg,