File:32 The town between the tracks.jpg

Summary

The Gross General Store pictured here was located on S. Maryland Avenue in the old "town between the tracks".

Like many general stores in Frederick Co and beyond, Gross's sold a wide variety of merchandise on the 1st and 2nd floors, including ladies' corsets, suspenders, radios, glassware and big wheels of cheese. There was even a pharmacy on the left side of the building and a dentist's office.

The cool basement was where one could find perishable items such as butter and fish and the attic stored out-of-season items. This was a precursor to the modern department store.

As businesses moved towards Potomac Street, the Gross Brothers, John and Bill (Judge Gross) moved to a storefront next to the old Bank of Brunswick on S. Maple Avenue and sold hardware.

In later years, the old Gross store served as a warehouse for kerosene and propane. It shouldn't have been surprising that it went up in flames in the late 1990s.

(Photo credit The Brunswick History Commission)