Pen Mar Park is a scenic area in

Pen Mar Pen Mar is an unincorporated community in Washington County, Maryland, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is one of the border towns in the United States with a portmanteau name. Pen Mar came to prominence as a resort in the 2 ...

Washington County, Maryland Washington County is located in the western part of the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 154,705. Its county seat is Hagerstown. Washington County was the first county in the United States to be named for th ...

. It is located on Pen Mar High Rock Road adjacent to the

Mason–Dixon line The Mason–Dixon line, also called the Mason and Dixon line or Mason's and Dixon's line, is a demarcation line separating four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia (part of Virginia ...

. In 1877, the site was opened as an amusement park and resort area by the

Western Maryland Railway The Western Maryland Railway was an American Class I railroad (1852–1983) which operated in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It was primarily a coal hauling and freight railroad, with a small passenger train operation. The WM beca ...

(WM). During the summer months the railroad offered frequent train service on its "Blue Mountain Express" from

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

to Pen Mar. The WM also ran trains from Hagerstown, Maryland to Pen Mar. By the turn of the century, the Pen Mar area had become one of the most popular resort destinations in the eastern United States. Weekday crowds in the summer were often 4,000 to 5,000. The single day park attendance reached close to 20,000 visitors. Many hotels and over 100 boarding houses were built to accommodate the visitors to Pen Mar. Prominent among these lodgings was the Blue Mountain House, built by the WM in 1883, which accommodated 400 guests. High Rock at Pen Mar MD

The WM sold the park in 1930, and the park closed entirely in 1943. By that time the park had contained a roller coaster, carousel, miniature train and railroad station, a dining hall seating 450 people, and a dance pavilion. The park was reopened as a county park in 1977. In 1980 a group of citizens from both Pennsylvania and Maryland raised funds to build a multipurpose, public pavilion at the site of the original dance pavilion. The county currently sponsors dance concerts with live music in the pavilion during the spring, summer and fall seasons. Other attractions include recreation areas in the county park; the

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian ...

, which passes through the area; and nearby High Rock Summit in South Mountain State Park. The summit is at an altitude of , and provides an outlook from the top of Quirauk Mountain.

References

External links

1905 Pen Mar Muller Carousel
- Carousel History {{Coord, 39, 43, 01, N, 77, 30, 29, W, region:US-MD_type:landmark_source:GNIS, display=title Defunct amusement parks in the United States History of Washington County, Maryland Parks in Washington County, Maryland