1997 A Walking Tour of Barton

June 11, 1997

Any genealogist would envy the success of my trek through Barton. Armed with camera and notes, my first stop was Town Hall on Railroad Street. It seemed best to notify the authorities of my intentions to gather photographs and information related to my family research. Here I met Sue Loar. During our conversation, I mentioned that I was researching the Creutzburgs and the Shaws. To my surprise, Sue stopped me in my tracks, when she announced that she was the current owner of Henry Creutzburg's house.

Henry was one of the original Creutzburgs settling in Barton in 1853. He and his parents John and Anna Maria (Schramm) immigrated from Saxe-Gotha-Coburg Germany. Henry ran a mercantile business in Barton from 1869 to 1917. Until my short conversation with Sue, I had not been able to pinpoint the exact location of Henry's store or house. Within less than 5 minutes in Barton, Sue had given me two critical pieces of data in my research. And, unlike many buildings from the 1800's, both the store and house were still standing and in use.

Henry Creutzburg's House and Store

This store is the site where Henry started his mercantile business in 1869, the same year he married Matilda Cooper. Henry and Matilda and their children occupied the house beside the store. Exactly when each was built is not entirely clear, but the business remained in the hands of the Creutzburg family at the pictured site until 1919. One of the difficulties in Barton in the early 1900's and probably in other small communities in the area was that there were too many stores for the population. The coal mining business and the population growth had peeked.

From land records, it has been learned that these properties were sold at auction in 1919 by Henry's heirs. They were unable to cover debts they incurred as a partnership and those inherited from Henry through the normal operation of the mercantile business. The business and all its assets, as well as other properties owned by Henry and Matilda were included in a trust established to satisfy the all debts. The properties were to be sold at auction. This sale conducted by Horace P. Whitworth, Trustee, remains to be investigated. One account of a local citizen indicates that Billy Ayers bought the property on Broadway Street. Later the Keyes family came to own the store and house. Kate Keyes sold the house to Sue Loar. According to Sue, the current owner of the Store is Joe Howell. He uses it for storage. All the details of the land transactions have not been completely researched.

Sue also showed me the plaque listing all the mayors of Barton since its incorporation as a town in 1918. The first mayor of the town was E. Frederick Creutzburg, the eldest son of Henry. According to the biography of Henry in "The History of Allegany County," Henry was active in politics and it appears that Frederick continued that tradition. Later in this account, we will get a peek at Frederick's house.

With respect to the town's history, Sue showed me two works written on Barton which are kept at Town Hall. In addition, she informed me that one town historian still living in Barton is Thelma K. Byers, a former teacher at the Barton School. She then steered me to Peggie Connor, who together with her son Jason, are in the process of gathering data for an updated history of Barton. These are valuable contacts, to be sure.

At this point, I had already gathered enough information to call my trip to Barton a success. Believe it or not, things simply got better as the day went on. Upon leaving Town Hall and rounding the corner onto Legislative Road to take the picture of Henry's house and store, I encountered Ed Robertson, a life-long resident of Barton. I told him of my Creutzburg quest, but he had little to offer on this part of my family. But, he told me a great deal about the town and the mining operations, all of which I intend to incorporate in this document.

My first photo op, after conversing with Ed, was Henry's house and store. From that point, I roamed around Water Street, Eutaw Street and Railroad Street. Several interviews of Barton residents contained in "Bicentennial Memories" by Jo Beynon, referred to this area of Barton. In addition, land records indicated that Creutzburgs owned property in this area. Using these two sources, I selected properties which "may be" former Creutzburg properties. The connection is yet to be established. In one source, which I cannot locate at this writing, I read that a fire claimed 20 buildings in one part of Barton. This fire, which I believe occurred in 1919, led to the formation of the local fire department. The problem is that I cannot recall exactly when or where the fire was. I believe that South Eutaw may have been the site. The photos which follow are attempts to locate Creutzburg properties, and are not necessarily the desired properties.

House on the West side of South Eutaw

I cannot say that this house is on lot #6, but it is near that lot. To the right of this house is a modern brick dwelling. To it's left is a parking lot. This house does not appear in the 1897 picture of Barton. but possibly the house visible past the parking lot does. That property fronts South Railroad Street.

On August 14th, Henry's heirs sold Lot #6, located on the West side of South Eutaw to Archibald T Broadwater. Henry purchased this property in 1886 from Patrick Griffen et ux. The records are located in the Allegany County Court House, division of Land Records. The 1886 purchase is in book 62, folio 617, and the 1917 sale is in book 124, folio 203.

Presbyterian Church - 1921

Legislative Road, Barton

Built 1858 - Rebuilt 1919

The Presbyterians were the first religious group to build a church in Barton. For the sum of $980, they constructed a frame structure in 1859. Other denominations, including the Methodists and Lutherans used their building for services at various times. This structure is clear in many of the older pictures of Barton. It stands boldly on the south side Broadway Street, near George's Creek. This structure was destroyed by fire in 1919.

The Creutzburg connection with the Presbyterian Church is through Ernest Creutzburg, one of the Church's trustees. In that capacity, together with other trustees, Ernest participated in the purchase of the property, upon which the church currently stands, from Andrew B Shaw et ux in 1915, as recorded in book 115, folio 674 of the Allegany County Land Records. The property is described as Lots 3 & 4 on the East side of South Eutaw, fronting the South side of Broadway (now Legislative Road). The sale price was $1.00. After the town's incorporation, the Church "purchased" the land from the Trustees.

The site of the new church is clearly occupied by a building marked as a Meat Market in at least two photos from the early 1900's, but I cannot find this building in the 1897 picture. One source indicates that Tom Campbell ran a butcher shop on the site.

There is another sale in 1915 by the trustees to Andrew B Shaw recorded in book 116, folio 458. I did not research this sale.

Ernest Creutzburg is the eldest son of Valentine and Martha Creutzburg, and according to census records immigrated from Saxe-Gotha-Coburg, Germany with his parents in 1854. He is most probably a cousin of Henry, though this has not been proven.

Buildings on North Eutaw & North Railroad

Possibly Lots 9 & 10 on North Eutaw

Possibly Lots 9 & 10 on North Railroad

Recorded in 1888 is the purchase of four lots in Barton by John Creutzburg, Henry's younger brother. According to the record in book 64, folio 650, Andrew B Shaw assisted John in the purchase of this property from the estate of John S. Combs. It consisted of Lots 9 & 10 on both North Railroad and North Eutaw Streets. The properties on Eutaw adjoined those on Railroad. In July 1895, a judgment in favor of Thomas G. Evans and Co. resulted in the seizure of this property and it's ultimate sale to Samuel Bradley, as the highest bidder, for $1,760.00. The pictures here are not necessarily the lots once owned by John Creutzburg, but they appeared to be the most likely possibility.

John Creutzburg married Maggie Lutz of Frostburg in March 1889. They were married in St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Frostburg. At this writing, I have not been able to determine if they had any children. According to "The History of Allegany County," by 1923 Maggie had remarried. The last evidence of John is in the 1900 census where he is a boarder in Barton, listed as married for 12 years. Maggie is not with him.

After wondering through this eastern portion of Barton, I stopped for lunch at the luncheonette on Railroad Street. While eating, I studied old photos and the land records to try to figure out which buildings in the old photos still existed. I was able to identify Henry's store and the relative location of his house in a picture of Broadway Street from the early 1900's, It appears that a man and woman are standing on the front steps. Perhaps they are Henry and Matilda. Three horse drawn vehicles occupy the roadway, which is unpaved, and has streetcar tracks traversing the south side of the street. None of the buildings in that picture on the south side of the street, remain today. This is clear from the picture of Legislative Road today.

Legislative Road from Railroad Street

Prior to snapping this picture, I once again ran into Ed Robertson on Railroad Street. I showed him a picture I had of the Barton Hotel, the depot and some other unidentified building, and asked if he could tell me where these building were. All three had been torn down, but once occupied the three grassy lots in the foreground of this picture; hence, the angle of this photo.

In the immediate foreground, just across the tracks lie the remains of the depot's foundation. The empty lot across Railroad street was the site of the Barton Hotel (lot # 1). The hotel appears in several of the old pictures. It was also known as the old Welsh Hotel building. It housed various enterprises, including the post office, and a restaurant run by Monica Arnold McPartland's father. Continuing down the south side of the street, you can see a small gray structure set back from the road. This is the Barton Garage, built around 1920, and currently in very poor condition.

The next visible landmark on this side of the street is the "new" Presbyterian Church, completed in 1922. It replaced the original wood church seen in the earlier pictures of Barton.

The original church was located several lots to the east on the south side of Broadway Street, and is clearly identifiable in several old pictures. Also clear in some of the old pictures is the Meat Market on the site of the "new" church. That property was purchased from Andrew B Shaw in 1915, and at one time housed the butcher shop of Tom Campbell. The Meat Market does not appear to have been built until after 1897, based on a photograph from that year. However, given the angle of the photo, perhaps the "old" church is blocking the view.

Returning to the intersection of Railroad and Legislative, and viewing the north side of the street, the corner lot is currently a town park. The lot was once occupied by a large building which housed a number of retail establishments. According to an account by Howard Wilkes, Bill and George Ayers, R.K. Snyder and Joe Inskeep all operated stores on this site. Joe Inskeep ran a confectionery store according to my tour guide, Ed Robertson. The next two buildings are the home and store of Henry Creutzburg. Next to the store is a residence once owned by Patrick Cadden, and according to Monica Arnold McPartland, the site of the first Catholic Mass in Barton.

The next lot is empty, and I have found no reference to what once stood on the corner of N. Eutaw Street and Legislative Road. Crossing North Eutaw, the First United National Bank & Trust occupies the lot upon which the Davis Store once stood. According to Ms McPartland, this was "the" place where teenagers of Barton met. Today, the next building heading east is the "new" firehouse built in 1948. In the building which once occupied this site, Floyd Lininger, husband of Henry's youngest daughter, Lucretia, once operated a movie house. Howard Wilkes remembers paying only a nickel to see a show at Floyd's movie house. Floyd later ran a movie house in Westernport.

The last building on the block is the former residence of Dr. Samuel Boucher and his wife Lulu. The Bouchers were the proud owners of the first automobile in Barton. I cannot determine the make of the car, but it is clearly an early model, complete with crank and running boards. Mrs. Boucher served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1930 to 1946. The doctor was the last resident physician in Barton.

View of Barton 1897

Henry's Store (look hard below the 1)

Depot Roof at end of Broadway Street

Old Presbyterian Church (1859-1919)

Site of Joe Inskeep's Confectionery Store

Building on the corner of N Eutaw and Broadway (Legislative Rd)

Next to Old German Lutheran Church (look to the right)

Points to German Street ???

May be James "Pete" Shaw's Farm

Location of Floyd Lininger's movie house or Davis' Store

House faces South Eutaw

New bridge runs a similar route over George's Creek

House on High Street which is still standing

See blowup of this area below

Probable mining site-pathway to town (RR tracks to deliver coal)

Area #13 Enlarged

After photographing Legislative Road, I walked north on Railroad and photographed an area which probably includes Lots 9 & 10 on North Railroad Street, former property of John Creutzburg. I also took a picture of the Schram property.

Schram's Store

It is possible that the Creutzburgs are linked to the Schrams of Barton. Henry's mother was a Schramm, and perhaps a family connection with the Schram's led the Creutzburgs to settle in Barton. Casper and Henry Schramm each were involved in land transactions with John Creutzburg and his wife between 1858 and 1864. According to Sue Schram Loar, her family has a long history in the area.

At one time, Miss Winnie Comer operated a millinery shop in the Schram's store. She later relocated to Sam Bradley's large combination Grocery/Mercantile store also on North Railroad. Between these two locations, but not photographed is Boal's Funeral Home. It is possibly the site of Dave Boal's grocery store on "Main Street." Dave also owned a huge building on Eutaw, where he stored caskets and rough boxes.

My next target was the site of the Barton School on Latrobe Street and the Methodist Church on Legislative Road at Latrobe. As I was photographing the church, Ed Robertson and his wife drive up to me. They had just been to visit Violet Malcolm, who owns and resides in the beautiful home on the other corner of Latrobe and Legislative Road. Ed was telling her about my quest, and she told Ed to let me know that she has diplomas of some Creutzburgs. After providing me with the details of how to contact Mrs. Malcolm, the Robertsons drove off.

The Methodist Church of Barton

This church is significant in our family, as the Shaws were well known members. Our link to the Shaws comes as the result of the marriage of James P Shaw to Johanna Creutzburg on October 14, 1883. They had four children, Clarence, Ernest, Mattie, and Elva. The year of the marriage may be suspect as Clarence was born 12/9/1882, nearly a year before the marriage.

The church where Pete and Hanna (as they were more commonly known) probably were married, burnt down in 1919. The current church was completed in 1922. It is the probable site of Elva's marriage to Dave McGee. The exact year of the marriage is yet to be established.

This connection becomes even more significant when you consider the following. My mother, without hesitation, recognized the names Ernest and Elva, as being those of cousins my maternal grandmother, Alice Creuzburg Kinney, and her sister, Pearl Creuzburg visited. The Creuzburgs mentioned here were from Buffalo, New York. They were both born in the late 1800's. This arm of the Creutzburgs also immigrated around 1853, but settled in Buffalo. The connection between the families, if it even exists, lies in Germany.

For some time we have been trying to track the set of cousins, who lived on a farm, near Cumberland around the turn of the century. Before I mentioned that there were other children, my mother told me that there was an older brother whose name she could not recall. More on this when we get to Elva's house.

Now, elated with the prospect of obtaining access to the Creutzburg diplomas, appropriately, my next stop was the site of the Barton School (1893-1978). Today it serves as a playground. On the north side of the site, bordering the Malcolm property, stands a memorial to the school.

Site of Barton School 1893-1978

The school, which no longer stands on this site, was an impressive building. Edith Creutzburg, daughter of Henry was one of the three students in the first eight grade graduating class. Later, Edith attended school in Montgomery County, according to accounts in the Piedmont Herald between 1892 and 1896.

No doubt, the Shaw children also attended and are numbered with the 799 graduates from the Barton school. We know that both Ernest and Elva pursued higher learning, Ernest at a commercial college, and Elva at Valparaiso University, Indiana. Evidence suggests that both the Creutzburgs and Shaws valued a good education. Ernest and Henry Creutzburg, the eldest sons of two Barton Creutzburg families were both educated.

School Memorial

Believe it or not, the best is yet to come. While looking around the playground, I spotted Ed's car, and heard his wife calling me. They had returned to tell me that Mrs. Malcolm's address was listed under John Malcolm. As we stood by the Methodist church, I told them of my interest in the church because of the Shaws. I mentioned that Elva Shaw McGee and her brother Ernest may be related through their mother, Johanna Creutzburg. They told me that they knew Elva and her husband, Dave, very well. They also knew Ernest, more commonly know as Ernie. We talked at length about them.

Ed described Elva as the "tallest person in Barton." She was the only resident who had to duck under the branches of the trees on either side of the entrance way to his house. Ernie, unlike his father Pete Shaw, apparently was not the most ambitious person. Sue Loar remembers that there was an old man on Caledonia Hill who owned a lot of dogs. That property, in her days, was off limits to the kids. This could have been Ernie. Today the once lush farm land is totally overgrown, and the house, if still standing is inaccessible.

Elva and Dave's house, on the other hand was quite accessible, and the Robertsons offered to take me there. So I hopped in their car, and we drove down to Railroad Street, past the post office and the Robertsons' house.

The Barton Post Office

Isn't it cute? I couldn't resist this picture. This building, on South Railroad Street, originally served the community as a bank. It was built in 1901, the year Elva Shaw McGee was born. The house, to the right of the post office, is Ed Robertson's house. It was built in 1903. The next lot traveling south was owned by Dave an Elva McGee. The building on the lot was recently demolished. Ed currently owns the property.

In the 1897 Photo, the area described appears to be empty lots.

Behind the post office, a portion of Dan's Mountain can be seen. Dan's Mountain forms the eastern boundary of George's Creek Valley, while Savage Mountain forms the western boundary.

After passing the Robertsons' property, we turned west on German Road, and traveled a short distance to Elva's House, which is located in an area known to Ed as Dutch Row. This area sounds like it could be the location of the property purchased by Valentine in 1866 from Conrad Hohing.

Elva's house is currently owned by Louise Colmer. Elva willed the property to Louise because, when Elva was ill, Louise took excellent care of her. I plan to contact Louise to see if she has any information to pass on about Elva, Dave, Ernest and any of the other family members. Located on the property of Bob Kelley, two houses north of Elva's property is the Old German Lutheran Church, built in 1870.

Elva Shaw McGee's House

Elva and her brother Ernie are probably the cousins my grandmother and her sister visited around the turn of the century. Although many of the pieces fit, we have yet to make a positive match. Perhaps, this house holds the key to our puzzle. Hopefully, Louise saves pictures, and possibly letters. We shall see.

Old German Lutheran Church

As with most things German, this church was built to last. Try as she may, even Mother Nature is having a hard time overcoming this building. I will have to check on this, but I believe that the building has been idle since 1920. What I do know is that Valentine Creutzburg and Henry Creutzburg are listed, though their name is misspelled, in the History of Western Maryland, published in 1882, among the founding members of the congregation. Few people today seem to know that this congregation ever existed.

I believe that I have located the church in the 1897 photograph. It is the small dark building to the right of #6. If that ID is accurate, then Dave & Elva's house is located along the road marked with the line and the #7. Obviously, the house was built after the photo was taken. Actually, the entire area behind the first row of houses on the street (German Street) are overgrown. Mother nature has reclaimed much of Caledonia Hill.

After visiting the German street sites, I said farewell to the Robertsons, and proceeded up to High Street. At the south end of High Street lies the remains of the road which once lead to and from the Shaw farm. It is currently impassable. Heading north on High Street, situated on the western side of the street, are several properties once owned by Henry. Lots 32-35 all were at one time purchased by Henry. Henry's son, Fred, lived in the house occupying lots 33 and 34.

Enoch Frederick Creutzburg's House

Frederick was the first mayor of Barton from 1919 to 1921. He was also the eldest child of Henry and Matilda Creutzburg. He and his wife Katherine Cowan Creutzburg had two daughters, Freda and Neva. Katherine died in 1962 and the house was passed on to Freda. Both Frederick and Neva died before 1962. Freda died in July 1963. The house was sold to Richard D Laughlin and his wife in 1964 during the settlement of the estate. Ruth Laughlin still lives in the house.

Looking North on High Street

The first house on the west side of High Street is visible in the 1897 photograph. It is marked with the #12. The Creutzburg house is three houses north of this house. If you walked due south from the spot this picture was taken, you would encounter paths, one of which should lead to Pete Shaw's farm.

High Street was my final stop in Barton. With this effort, I have only begun to relate the information gathered during my three hours in Barton. I offer a heartfelt thanks to all those who contributed to such a profitable venture.