Thelma L. Hoffman

Some long-time residents of

Westminster still fondly recall the sumptuous meals served at Hoffman’s Inn at 216

East Main Street. Thelma’s cooking - fried chicken, corn fritters, fresh vegetables from

local farmers, coleslaw, sticky buns, and hot rolls - was legendary, even as far away as

Baltimore. Some people drove 30 miles to enjoy a Sunday meal at one of her tables

groaning with food.

Frank and Mary Elizabeth Hoffman, Thelma’s parents, bought the 17-room house

now known as “Cockey’s Tavern” in 1922 from the Fink family when Frank tired of

running a farm near Winfield in Carroll County. “Mom” Hoffman was a good cook

and together the couple operated a thriving boarding house which their oldest

daughter, Thelma, eventually inherited.

The boarders at Hoffman’s Inn were often single teachers in Carroll’s public schools,

or they might be managers or salesmen working in local businesses. They could eat

three meals a day at the Inn if they chose. Additional people usually would show up at

dinnertime including Lowell Ensor, a president of Western Maryland College, and his

wife who were regulars. Some evenings Thelma would serve meals for special groups

of guests who booked in advance.

People remember Thelma as a generous person who sent extra food from her kitchen

to the nearby Methodist Protestant Home of the Aged. They also remember what an

interesting character she was. If you wanted to know the local gossip, it was readily

dished out along with the food at Hoffman’s Inn.

In 1969, Thelma closed her boarding house after 47 years of operation and retired to a

home on West Green Street where she lived until her death ten years later.