New Windsor: Still Waters Run Deep

Written By Patricia Bianca

It is hard to imagine anything interesting about the little town of New Windsor, Maryland. Its tidy streets, with their restored Victorian mansions and mature shade trees, are as peaceful as a placid pond. But look a little closer, beyond the flowers and gingerbread in this community of just over 1,425, and you’ll make some extraordinary discoveries.

New Windsor is located on the western flank of Carroll County at the intersection of Routes 75 and 31. It was a well-traveled route back in 1797 when Philadelphia businessman Isaac Atlee opened an inn on the corner of what is now Main and High streets and laid out a modest town of 28 lots. A military road, constructed in 1820, and the railroad, which came through in 1862, helped the town prosper and attracted several businesses and more than a few Civil War soldiers.

It was the town’s fabled “medicinal waters,” however, that attracted wealthy city folks to the wilderness of New Windsor and led to even greater prosperity. At that time, it was believed that the spring waters there contained sulphur, hence the many references to “Sulphur Springs” which linger to this day.

The original springhouse remains and is currently undergoing extensive renovation by the New Windsor Heritage Committee. Archeological digs are being conducted around the humble structure, where spring water still flows vigorously below. According to New Windsor’s mayor, Sam Pierce, a study recently found that it was iron, not sulphur, that caused the orange scum that so entranced “the rich folk” of its day.

Today, it is the townsfolks’ dedication to preserving its historic structures and its quiet, small-town atmosphere that seems to attract people to New Windsor; visitors and homeowners alike. Low taxes enhance the appeal.

“Our tax rate is the cheapest in the county,” said Mayor Pierce. “It’s 16 cents per hundred. Most [towns in Carroll County] are up to 30 to 40 cents per hundred.”

Fortunately for Mayor Pierce and his part-time staffers, the real estate value of the properties in New Windsor make up for the low tax rate. This isn’t a case of inflation run amok, either. Many of the homes in New Windsor where built around the turn of the century by retiring farmers who were eager to “outdo” each other in that thriving era by building the grandest homes that money could buy.

Mayor Pierce acknowledges that New Windsor can’t exactly compete with the metropolitan meccas of Baltimore and D.C. when it comes to town services. But once newcomers settle in and begin to enjoy the ease of its laid-back lifestyle and low crime rate, they seem to be happy with the tradeoff.

“There’s not a lot of excitement here,” said Mayor Pierce. “We don’t have a lot of heinous crimes and so forth, but it’s quiet.”

Certainly part of New Windsor’s charm lies in its old-fashioned simplicity. The local deputy patrols on a bicycle, and there’s a lovely little park at the heart of town where folks gather around the gazebo to enjoy summer concerts and town festivities such as the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony. It’s a special time for Mayor Pierce, who grows a full beard every year in order to play the cherished role of Santa Claus.

One of New Windsor’s most prominent citizens particularly prized its peace and quiet. Famed abstract impressionist Clyfford Still (1904-1980) and his wife moved to Carroll County in the early 1960s to enjoy life on a farm, but soon found their way to one of New Windsor’s more majestic homes in order to better protect the artist’s massive body of work.

The Baker/Still house, with its fortress-like brick exterior, soaring columns and bell-topped turret, has sat empty since Mrs. Still’s death last year, and is about to be placed on the market. It needs a bit of restoration work but offers a fascinating legacy.

Dan Hartzler, fourth generation owner of Hartzler’s Funeral Home and avid history buff (he has penned 19 books on subjects like Civil War medicine and Maryland clocks) was lucky enough to have enjoyed the friendship of Clyfford Still and his wife, Patricia, who were intensely private people.

Hartzler categorizes the Stills as good friends and neighbors who supported their community and were surprisingly down-to-earth, despite Still’s reputation in the art world, which began with his emergence in the 1940s.

“Within the parameters of abstract art, he was a first among all of his colleagues,” said Hartzler. “He used powerful colors and coarsely ground pigments, and he was known for his horizontal expansion and leaving areas of the canvas in the raw.”

Hartzler recalled that the Stills lived in only half of the large dwelling. The other half was devoted to Still’s 2,000 paintings, which were stored, claims Hartzler, on hangers “like you’d hang bed sheets.”

Sadly, that massive collection has left the State of Maryland.

Still had left specific instructions on his desire for a dedicated museum to house the collection and, despite the efforts of state officials, Patricia Still could not be dissuaded from that dream. “She actually spent the remainder of her life working on this endeavor,” Hartzler said. The Stills’ museum is now under construction in Colorado.

Although art lovers can see Still’s work in places like the San Francisco Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Dan Hartzler is one of the few people who can boast a sneak-peak at the private collection. Although the Stills were friendly people, they were not prone to extending invitations into their grand home. “Everything was about protecting the paintings,” said Hartzler.

Many people know of New Windsor as the “home of American Methodism,” because of another prominent citizen, Robert Strawbridge. Acknowledged as the first preacher of Wesleyan Methodism, Strawbridge erected his log meeting house nearby in 1764. The Strawbridge Shrine was established in 1973 to preserve the remaining structures and the Strawbridge legacy.

One of New Windsor’s more recent claims to fame concerns another church: historic St. Paul’s Methodist. The chapel there was the setting of a comical scene from the Julia Roberts film “The Runaway Bride,” in which she drags a poor ring bearer, attached to the train of her gown, out of the church.

Many people throughout the world, however, know the name of New Windsor because of the good work conducted at The Brethren Service Center, operated by the Church of the Brethren, which bought an old college campus near the center of town in 1944. They used it to stockpile and distribute goods to war-torn Europe.

Today, the complex serves a number of functions, including a modern conference center, a fair-trade gift shop operated by SERRV International, Inc., and offices housing a number of interchurch relief agencies. There is also a warehouse facility where volunteers work tirelessly to sort donations and compile medicine, health and school kits, as well as bales of clothing and other essentials to send throughout the world to scenes of war and natural disasters.

Each box from the center is marked “New Windsor, MD,” spreading the name of the community across the globe. “Unfortunately,” observed Mayor Pierce, “most of the people who live in New Windsor don’t have the foggiest idea of what goes on in this building.”

Despite the extraordinary work of The Brethren Center, sojourns by citizens like Robert Strawbridge and Clyfford Still and even the occasional Hollywood film crew, New Windsor remains stubbornly small and peaceful.

Almost none of the old businesses of its turn-of-the-century heyday remain. The New Windsor State Bank prospers there, as do a handful of small businesses scattered about, but there is not much to lure a hard-core tourist beyond its historic landmarks.

New Windsor is more of an anti-tourist destination – the ultimate getaway. This suits the many guests of The Yellow Turtle Inn just fine, said its owner, Joan Bradford. Many of them come from as far away as Japan and Germany for just a little relaxation.

The Yellow Turtle, a lovely Victorian gem dripping with romance and comfortable elegance, is located on the site of one of the old turn-of-the-century spas that operated in the area. There, Bradford hosts many couples that come seeking an ever-increasing number of weddings, as well as the relaxation of a well-appointed Bed and Breakfast.

Bradford has been fine-tuning the inn for more than nine years now. Currently, it offers eight sleeping rooms, an on-site massage therapist and lots of little extras. In addition to catering for her B&B guests, Bradford also offers romantic dinners for those who simply want a place to dine or perhaps pop that special question. If the answer is yes, she can help with the wedding, rehearsal dinners and all of that good stuff.

The B&B accommodates weddings up to 75 people or intimate parties for two. “This is a nice alternative to eloping,” said Bradford, “because [couples] can have a really pretty place and can get their own minister.”

Although some townsfolk were hesitant to throw their support behind The Yellow Turtle during its inception, most now embrace the lovely old inn as a vital part of the town. Certainly its peacefulness and calm fit into the greater scheme of the community, which is fiercely protective of its quiet charm and historic legacy.