Union Bridge

Address: 
Main Street, Union Bridge, MD 21791

Union Bridge

History: Union Gen. John F. Reynolds was killed at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, in the early fighting. His body was carried by ambulance to Union Bridge. Here, John Hollenberger, working for undertaker John Forney, built him a coffin. The body was packed in ice and placed aboard a train bound through Westminster to Baltimore, then routed to Philadelphia and finally Lancaster, Reynolds' home town. Reynolds was interred in Lancaster Cemetery on July 4. The route through Union Bridge to Baltimore on the Western Maryland Railroad was a heavily traveled one after Gettysburg, as thousands of wounded soldiers made their way to Baltimore. Railroad timetables identify the tracks just southeast of the station as the "Hospital Tracks" of July 1863.

More to Explore: Union Bridge offers a railroad museum complete with artifacts from the Western Maryland Railway. On West Broadway Street, stop by the old town's firehouse, which has been renovated into living quarters and a working studio by sculptor Jo Isrealson. Also be sure to check out Hard Lodging, a fully restored historic home that was built over a small cliff in 1790 by Solomon Shepherd. It is open for viewing by appointment through the Carroll County Historical Society. If you are feeling hungry, the Buttersburg Inn on Main Street is a great place to get some local, traditional American home cooking.

Photo Credits:

  1. “Western Maryland Railway Station.” Photo courtesy of Carroll County Office of Tourism.