Middletown Daily Photo: At The Mall

Friday, September 19, 2008

At The Mall

This is the biggest concentration of "typical" retailers in the Valley. I believe the CVS and the Safeway (obscured by the tree) and the Starbucks inside the Safeway are the only national chains in this plaza. The dentist, restaurant (Italian) and the cleaners are local. The ice cream place is new and I don't actually know if it is franchise or local but the people sitting in front of it seem to think it is good. There are also two banks on this property, one local and one regional.

That restaurant delivers pizza (a weekly ritual at our house). I wonder if my wife has discovered the ice cream shop yet (ice cream is a shared addiction).

2 comments:

Janet Kincaid said...: Ice cream. Yum.; September 19, 2008 at 8:39 AM
Tiffany said...: Bernie, The ice cream shop is run by a Middletown resident and is not a chain. It has quickly become a favorite of our family. Love your photos of our town.; September 25, 2008 at 1:11 PM

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About Middletown

Middletown, Maryland was founded in 1767 and is said to be named either for its position midway between South Mountain and the Catoctin Mountains or its central location between the larger Maryland cities of Frederick and Hagerstown. A few years earlier, a visiting surveyor and future “Father of our Country” George Washington referred to Middletown Valley as one of the most beautiful places he had ever seen.

The town was incorporated in 1833. After the Civil War battles of South Mountain and Antietam, Middletown churches served as hospitals for both Union and Confederate soldiers.

Today Middletown boasts a delicate balance of old and new. Instead of a Mayor, the town leader is a Burgess. Some of the buildings were built in the 1700s and 1800s. There are large Victorian homes as well as the typical cookie-cutter subdivisions that dot the edge of the Washington DC commuter exurbs.

The only franchise restaurant in town is a Subway; the only Starbucks is inside the Safeway.

If you really want to understand what small-town America feels like, visit Middletown during the Independence Day festivities and fireworks at Middletown Park, the Volunteer Fire Department’s annual mid-July Carnival or the Middletown Heritage Festival held in the fall.