Harney: A Place Where the Fire House and the VFW Post are Where the Action Is

Written By David Greisman

Depending on your perspective, Harney is either a faraway crossroads or a locale close to being crossed off the map.

By one definition, Harney is remote, peaceful land nestled snugly in the northwest corner of Carroll County, near the Pennsylvania border and the old Mason-Dixon Line.

The area is quaint and quiet – it is miles away from busy highways, big box stores and suburban sprawl, so small that it no longer has a school, post office or general store, and nearly all roads leading to it are called Harney Road.

Nevertheless, Harney belongs on the map for the features that contribute to its character, the streets that take one outside of this outpost and the paths that its people have pursued.

Local lore has it that Harney predated the official founding of Carroll County by more than two decades. Its first permanent settler is believed to be Nicholas Eckes (or Ickes), who supposedly built a small log house there around 1815, according to “History of Harney,” an extended narrative penned in 1895 by J.W. Reck and found at the Historical Society of Carroll County.

For decades, the growing town was known informally as Monocacyville – the Monocacy River flows nearby on the west, separating Carroll and Frederick counties. But in the late 1850s, residents lobbied for their own post office, only to learn that another Maryland post office had a claim to the name.

Meanwhile, in 1857, William Selby Harney was in the news as a general leading troops to the scene of an antigovernment uprising in Utah. Word of his mission traveled across the country, and local officials thought his name might be a good one for the town that could not be called Monacacyville.

And the community grew.

By 1887, approximately 150 people called Harney their home. The town had multiple businesses, including a hotel, a school, three general stores, three blacksmiths, a miller and a cabinetmaker, according to historical records.

Although Harney’s population is not much larger today, the economy peaked long ago and shows few signs of improving.

The Harney General Store closed in April 1992. Ridinger’s Store, located on the northeast corner of the Harney and Conover roads, shut down several years later.

For years, however, Harney Woodworking accomplished a rare feat by running a successful business in town. But it, too, left the area, moving more than four miles down the road to Taneytown.

Some commerce remains; Harrington’s Service Center deals in outdoor equipment from its Conover Road location. But by and large, longtime residents say both the town and the times have changed.

“There used to be a lot of small businesses,” said Donald Yingling Sr, fire chief of the Harney Volunteer Fire Company. “It’s like a lot of the smaller communities throughout the area. The Mom and Pop stores get wiped out, and bigger places take over.

“The whole area is changing. You’re really not that far away from any of the larger towns. Everything has an advantage and a disadvantage. When I grew up in the area, it was strictly a farming community. Now farming is becoming a thing of the past.”

With the modern mindset and mobility, larger towns with larger stores are just a short drive away. From the crossroads at which Harney and Conover roads meet, one can turn in any direction and end up in any of four nearby municipalities. Harney sits on the edge of Carroll County, stones’ throws from Frederick County in Maryland and Adams County in Pennsylvania. Between Taneytown and Littlestown, Emmitsburg and Gettysburg, there are four historic main streets that invite shoppers and tourists with proverbial open arms.

But these same roads also bring people in, guiding them toward two popular destinations that define Harney’s character.

The Harney Volunteer Fire Company, formed more than half a century ago with 65 members, sits on Harney Road by the Mason-Dixon Line, with the Blue Ridge Mountains visible north and west of the building.

Officials estimate that approximately 100 firefighters and paramedics are currently listed as contributing to the fire company, with about a quarter of them actively working.

“A lot of our members are employed as career firefighters in other areas,” said fire company president Jim Waybright. “Some are in Virginia and Montgomery County, but they live right here in the community.”

Waybright’s son Andrew was one of the company’s volunteer firefighters, a 23-year-old who worked as a paid emergency medical technician for the Taneytown Volunteer Fire Company. In 2002, Andrew collapsed and died of hyperthermia during a training run just days after he was hired as a full-time firefighter for Frederick County, according to an article in The Baltimore Sun.

Waybright spoke of the ways his fire company gives to the area. The people, he said, return the favor.
“Our goal is to preserve life and property; that’s foremost,” he said. “Besides that, we’re somewhat of a social gathering place. We provide some activities for the community which also act as moneymakers for us to provide services.”

Once known for its Saturday oyster and turkey dinners, the Harney Volunteer Fire Company has 14 events scheduled for 2007, from its ham and turkey drawings in March and November, respectively, to its annual carnival in July.

“Most jurisdictions get certain amounts from the county, [but] it’s not enough to run the fire department,” said Fire Chief Yingling. “Usually you have to generate your own money. We try different things, and whatever seems to work we stick with and modify.”

Many area residents also gather at Monocacy Valley Memorial Post 6918, a Veterans of Foreign Wars center on Conover Road. The post has 16 events scheduled for this year, including social gatherings and their annual Memorial Day and Veterans Day observances.

In the building’s basement is the canteen, a bar presided over by Jesse Wojtkowiak, a men’s auxiliary member whose son is currently serving with the Navy in Bahrain.

The canteen is reserved for post members and their guests. Members said that approximately 200 customers come to the bar each week for its television, games, liquor and camaraderie.

“This is like a second home; I tell people I’m here eight days a week,” said Donnie Koontz, who served in the Navy for about four years, including during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Koontz’ father, George Elwood, built the post in 1948, after serving with the Navy in World War II.

“Everybody likes everybody here,” said Donnie, “They haven’t had any trouble in this place in a long time, as far as I can remember.”

A picture of Army Spc. Erik Wayne Hayes sits on a shelf in the canteen next to various awards and certifications the post has received. Hayes, who grew up in Harney, was killed in 2004 in Iraq when a bomb exploded near his vehicle.

When they died, Erik Hayes and Andrew Waybright put Harney on the map – not just for where they had come from, but also for what they had achieved and where they had gone.

Although some families have left, others have put down roots in Harney and its surrounding areas, generation after generation.

“It’s where I grew up,” said Koontz. “I’ve been in the service. I’ve been overseas five to six times. I’ve been all over the U.S. And there ain’t a place that I’d rather enjoy myself than here.”