Frank Kendig Herr

Seventeen-year-old Frank Herr

began an apprenticeship in 1863 under Michael Baughman at the latter’s blacksmith

shop on East Main Street near Washington Road. After three years, Frank and

Baughman became partners in a carriage and wagon shop at the western end of town.

Soon Frank was successful enough to buy out his partner and bring his older brother,

Samuel, into the business. The firm became known as Herr Bros. or F. K. Herr & Bro.

It had a reputation throughout central Maryland for building quality carriages from

1880 until 1901. Although a disastrous fire in Westminster in 1883 burned the Herrs‟

shop to the ground, the brothers rebuilt immediately. In 1893 Johns Hopkins Hospital ordered an ambulance from the firm and Samuel began designing one which was likely the most advanced in the country during that era. It was 11 feet long with room for a cot as well as

the doctor, an attendant, and storage of medical supplies. Platform springs made the patient’s ride as

smooth as possible, and windows lit the interior. The horse-drawn vehicle must have been an impressive sight as it traveled the streets of Baltimore. When Carroll County began a rural free delivery system in 1899, the U.S. Post Office commissioned the Herr brothers to build delivery vehicles. Those wagons were 12 feet long and equipped inside with counters, drawers,

and letter boxes. After Samuel Herr left the business in 1901, Frank formed a partnership with George W. Babylon and the two men continued building carriages, but wisely began a Ford

dealership just as automobiles began to replace horse-drawn vehicles. Frank was one of many successful Westminster businessmen during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.