George W. Albaugh

Few of Westminster’s businessmen were more successful than “G.W.” Albaugh. He showed a penchant for business from earliest childhood when he sold ice cream and home-made ginger cakes from his parents‟ home near the village of Dennings. Once the family moved to Westminster and G.W. had a respectable amount of education under his belt, he began clerking in a general store. By the time he reached 20 he was eager for

more business opportunities.

Albaugh and his first partner started a retail dry goods and clothing firm, but that

partner lacked G.W.‟s ambition, so he opened a general merchandise store on his own

which quickly proved very successful. In F. Thomas Babylon he soon found a more

compatible partner for his future business ventures.

They formed a formidable team as managers of the Albaugh Babylon Grocery Company, wholesalers. It was the largest firm of its kind in Western Maryland. George also enjoyed acquiring real estate. He constructed a grandiose 3-story building in Westminster’s retail district, then opened a new hotel called “The Westminster.” Very soon he controlled a significant amount of valuable

downtown property in addition to his businesses. In fact, he built himself a small empire and was

hailed in an 1898 newspaper as “one of the leading financiers and merchants of Carroll County.”

Someone so successful frequently developed an interest in banking. Albaugh was no

exception. He helped establish and served as director of what later became the Carroll

County Bank and Trust. He also served as a director of the Westminster Deposit and

Trust Company which was located on the ground floor of his hotel. He bought the

Democratic Advocate Company which produced a weekly newspaper and did other

kinds of printing. He owned a real estate and brokerage company. Nothing happened

in Westminster for nearly 40 years that didn’t involve George W. Albaugh.

There was also a philanthropic side of Albaugh for which he deserves credit. He

bought the property of his great-great-grandfather, John Evans, and turned it over to

the Methodist Historical Society. Evans is widely regarded as the earliest convert to

Methodism in America. G.W. offered Montour House, one of his properties in

downtown Westminster, to the city for use as a Y.M.C.A. Unfortunately, nobody

wanted to raise the money for necessary changes to the interior to make it functional.

He provided free office space for local organizations supporting the war effort during

World War I. In the 1920s he turned over the G. W. Manro property in Eldersburg to

the Baltimore Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church for use as the

Strawbridge Home for Boys. Last, but not least, when his three Gillelan

granddaughters were orphaned, he and his wife came to their rescue and raised them.