HISTORICALLY and
PICTORIALLY By D. F. Williams
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Gormania's "Tannery
Row" provides present day readers with an accurate look into
residences which were built around the turn of the century when Gormania
was an important tanning center.
Many readers will more readily recall details of that era than many others of us have learned in a life-time, but one thing that is constant is that we still use the term "tannery" in our conversations somehow every day! |
| The Tannery Row, as we know it in the 1940's started at Aronhalt's Store and extended up past Flanagan's and included Blackburn's, Foltz's, Ed Baer's, Miller's and Armentrout's homes. The smallest house standing today is really a large log cabin in disguise. It's the first house after Aronhalt's Store and underneath the weather boarding lies an authentic log cabin. |  |
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At the other end of town is one
of the most restful and loveliest spots of all. At the end of
Gormania's Avenue is where an original Tannery Office Building
stands. It's the home now of Mrs. Austin Schwartz, Jr., and has
interestingly high ceilings with both up-stairs and a down-stairs porch
which overlook the Potomac River and provide an up-town view of the
avenue. Originally constructed as Superintedent Hoffman's office, it
was remodeled in the 1930's as a private residence.
Perhaps the most obvious sentinel of all which still remains from by-gone Tannery Days is the brick smoke-stack base which is located where the Tannery once stood. It is a reminder of the other long white buildings where bark was stored and where the tanning process took place. |
| This sketch is only a glance into the Mountain Top's history, but nearly every long-term resident in the area could tell a separate story about "The Tannery." |