Tea at Trianon: 6 Deserted and Forgotten Towns in Maryland

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Sunday, July 30, 2023

6 Deserted and Forgotten Towns in Maryland

I never heard of any of them, although I drove through what used to be Harmony Grove all the time. And I have been to the Spring Bank Inn. From AZ Animals:

Harmony Grove in Frederick County is another historic Maryland ghost town, left forgotten. You can find this ghost town close to U.S. Route 15. From what we know, Harmony Grove developed as a mill town in the 19th century. It thrived into the 20th century until the decline of the railroad, which led to the demolition of the railroad building. Not many people were traveling to Harmony Grove, and yet the population was stable. The town’s decline rapidly increased after the school closed in 1910. After the schoolhouse was closed, it was turned into a teahouse and a home. Not much is left of Harmony Grove, only a few buildings, but it’s worth a visit if you like exploring deserted towns. The main buildings remaining are an old 1878 church and the Spring Bank Inn. Sadly, a lot of the other buildings were destroyed as the area around the ghost town developed. (Read more.)