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Sanders' Corner,
That DAM Place at Loch Raven
As closely as can be determined, Sanders' Corner
was built in 1886 as a blacksmith shop, and it also housed the Loch Raven post
office until 1953. A plaque on the wall in the front room lists the names and
dates of the past postmasters and postmistresses.
In 1939 the post office and the adjoining house
were destroyed by fire. During the two year rebuilding process, the post office
occupied a corner near the fireplace. When the structure was rebuilt, there was
a federal law which prohibited a post office from standing alone. Since there
was no longer a need for a blacksmith shop, that part of the building was turned
into a general store and various owners began to sell sandwiches, ice cream and
sundry items.
During World War II, the Maryland State Guard
lived in the basement throughout 1941 and 1942 to guard and ensure the safety of
the dam and the water supply. The Guard spent the remainder of the war in the
white house at the foot of the dam which is now used as a maintenance depot for
the Loch Raven watershed staff.
The railroad station for the Loch Raven stop of
the Ma & Pa Railroad was across Cromwell Bridge Road and up the hill. The train
ran from downtown Baltimore to York, Pennsylvania every day until 1956, when the
railroad cancelled service. The train stopped at the station and the mail was
carried down the steps to the post office. The concrete foundation for the
station as well as the steps leading down to Cromwell Bridge Road are still
visible today.
Across Loch Raven Drive, where there is now an
additional parking lot, there was another general store during the period when
the main building was a blacksmith shop. A 1939 photo of that adjacent store is
on display in the front room. According to people who remember it, there was
also a dance hall in its basement. It apparently was abandoned and fell into
ruin, leaving only the ground on which it stood.
The Sanders family took over both corners in 1956
and Mr. Sanders began making his own ice cream, which had a large following and
which many customers still request. As sometimes happens, the recipes lived in
his head and went with him when he died in 1986, so the family gave up making
ice cream. The business has been known by various names throughout the years
including The Gateway, Lake Drive IN, Sanders Drive In and now Sanders' Corner.
The only addition was built in the fall of 1991 at which time the general/ice
cream store and sandwich shop became a restaurant, which is still owned and
operated by the Sanders family.
(Used with permission of Ron Sanders, 2002)
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