Ridgely Celebrates 150th Birthday

RIDGELY — The Town of Ridgely celebrate its 150th birthday Saturday, Sept. 23, with a large parade, ribbon cutting to open the restored train station and street festival with free rides.

Ridgely was founded in 1867 with land purchased by Thomas Bell and the Rev. Greenbury Ridgely, for whom the town is named.

Ridgely enjoyed a golden age of sorts in the first two decades of the 1900s. Multiple canneries and related businesses thrived as farmers, investors and pickers flocked to the bustling town. Local strawberries were especially in demand as growers made use of new refrigerated railroad cars to ship their produce all across the East Coast.

Many homes and commercial buildings in the downtown area today, as well as civic organizations or traditions such as the volunteer fire department, athletic associations and a reputation for live music, stem from this period of prosperity. Each May, the Ridgely Lions Club hosts its annual Strawberry Festival to remember and honor the heritage of The Strawberry Capital.

The Mid-Shore Community Band kicked off the celebration with a performance at the Ridgely Train Station, leading up to the parade.

At noon, the parade began at Martin Sutton Park and went up Central Avenue to Belle Street. Participates included the North Caroline High School Band of Blue, Colonel Richardson High Marching Band, Ridgely Lions Club, local veterans, Ridgely Historical Society, grand marshal Tommy Rampmeyer and former Gov. Harry Hughes.

After the parade, the community gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the restored Ridgely Train Station, which has been turned into an interpretive center for the town, to go along with the Rails to Tails and the historic Telephone Exchange Building next door.

The historic railroad depot, along Belle and Railroad streets in downtown Ridgely, opened in 1892. Ridgely's first railroad station, built by the Maryland and Baltimore City Land Association, stood near the Central Avenue crossing since the town's birth in 1867. The second floor of the station provided the first school for Ridgely until 1872. Then in 1892, Ridgely's brick railroad station was built with a porch, protecting patrons from rain showers and summer heat.

The Ridgely Historical Society took the lead in the grant writing process to secure funds to restore the town building. The project costs $407,700, with $326,160 coming from a Federal Transportation Alternatives Program Grant, $47,482 from a Department of Natural Resources Project Open Space Grant, $3,500 in donations from the historical society and $30,128 from the Town of Ridgely.

Renovations included a covered deck surrounding the depot on four sides, and the construction of the roof over the deck along with rehabilitating the interior of the building. Ed Bombaro was the architect who designed the project. Ridgely Public Works Director David Crist was the project manager for the restoration.

Caroline County Historical Society member J.O.K. Walsh spoke at the ceremony and commended Cathy and Rick Schwab of the Ridgely Historical Society for their dedication to restoring the Ridegly Train Station and celebrating the town's rich history.

"Ridgely is a town of many great stories," he said. "Ridgely revolutionized the strawberry industry by shipping strawberries for the first time in refrigerated railroad cars. That is how Ridgely became known as the Strawberry Capital."

Sen. Steve Hershey, R-36-Upper Shore; Del. Jay Jacobs, R-36-Kent; Del. Jeff Ghrist, R-36-Caroline; Del. Steve Arentz, R-36-Queen Anne's; Caroline County Commissioners Larry Porter, Wilbur Levengood and Dan Franklin; U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, R-1st; and representatives for Gov. Larry Hogan and U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., presented Ridgely commissioners Anthony Casey and John Buckle with proclamations for the town's 150th birthday and for the restoration of the train station.

"We've worked with so many wonderful people," Cathy Schwab said. "The town of Ridgely has always been behind us with this project.

"This belongs to all of us," she said. "We all have history and roots here. That makes me very proud.

"The train station was the hub of the town," said Cathy Schwab of the Ridgely Historical Society. "This is where people came. We've had baseball heroes come in and out back in the day. Jimmie Foxx would come here to play with Home Run Baker.

"This town is awesome," she said. "We are transplants, and we cannot believe the history in this town. It is awesome what we find here. We are proud to help restore this train station during the town's 150th anniversary."

The celebration culminated at dusk with a fireworks display.

The town's sesquicentennial year has been one for the history books with the opening of the new Ridgely Volunteer Fire Department fire station, the raising of the town's first flag designed by Yolanda Meyers, the annual Ridgely Lions Club Strawberry Festival and coming in October, the fourth appearance by NASCAR Richard Petty at the Ridgely Car Show, which will be held Sunday, Oct. 15.