File:Victor Kaplon, Distinguished Citizen 1976 (9).jpg

Distinguished Citizen 1976

Kaplon's Closing End of Era from the Blade-times, March 23, 1967

Victor Kaplon 1862 – 1957

Brunswick: 100 Years of History (1990) Kaplon, Victor (1862-1957) Honored 1976 Victor Kaplon emigrated from Russia in 1885, crossing the border under a load of hay. He came to New York with 15 cents in his pocket. He peddled pencils on the street and saved to send for his wife and daughter. Vic came to Brunswick in 1889. He sold wares through Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland, at first on foot, then by horse and wagon. In 1889, with his brother from Harpers Ferry. he opened a store in Brunswick’s Opera House building on the south side of the present westbound tracks. This led to Kaplon’s Department Store on the corner of West Potomac Street and Maryland Avenue in 1908. The Kaplon stores sold quality merchandise in Brunswick for 78 years. Ten years after “Vic’s” death, Kaplon’s Department Store closed in 1967.