Ridgely
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Reverend Greenbury Ridgely
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Ridgely epitomizes the boom-and-bust nature of agriculture.
The broad main street reflects the high commercial expectations
of the Maryland and Baltimore Land Association, which
established the town in Reverend Greenbury Ridgely's grain
field on May 13, 1867. Laid out beside the first railroad to
enter Caroline, Ridgely was projected as the agriculture hub
for the entire region. James K. Saulsbury, a veteran of
California Gold Rush of 1849, immediately erected a store and
dwelling (the present Town Hall).
Unfortunately, the transcontinental railroad network, which
Ridgely joined, also created transcontinental competitors for
Caroline peaches and grains. Bankruptcy resulted. Three
decades later, Ridgely briefly found a niche as the
"Strawberry Capital of the World."
The present streetscape
reflects that transient prosperity during the county-wide
Canning Boom (1895-1919); and Hanover Foods, for more than
100 years an enterprise of Saulsbury Brothers, Inc., is the
last of the over 250 food processors that operated in Caroline.
Copyright © 2002 J.O.K. Walsh, All rights reserved.
To learn more about Ridgely, visit the town's web site at
www.ridgelymd.org.
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