7602 Main Street
7602 Main Street, Sykesville, Tidal Salt is the orange building with white doors. (Photo by Gate House Staff, 2025)
History
7602 is part of the section of Town known as “The McDonald Block.” Originally built in 1878, the site housed a pool hall on the first floor run by Frank Barns from the 1920s into the 1930s, with his family living on the upper floors. Mame Barnes (Frank's widow) continued to live in the upper apartment after the fire, but the downstairs became Wilbur Wimmer's Plumbing, which occupied the space for over three decades. More recently, the site has hosted a leather goods store, a country store, and currently Tidal Salt on Main, a gift store featuring locally-made items.
See the photos below to learn more!
Architectural Details
(Awaiting from SHDC)
The frame structure includes domes windows with colored-glass transoms.
1913 Postcard--Main Street
In this photo postcard, 7604 is difficult to see, but in the middle of the block, the second to last storefront before the taller brick building (Photo ID: 3453a GHM)
1972
View of Main Street, Sykesville showing 7602 (left) and 7600 (right). Photograph taken August 1972. Unattributed.
1983
Betty's Country Shop
(photo: gift of Thelma Wimmer 2024.015.006)
1937 Fire
Thought to have started as a chimney fire, on October 21, 1937 four businesses with homes above them, and the physician’s office of Dr. H.L. Barnes were completely destroyed. Windy weather and a broken fire hose access at Sykesville Station required firefighters to pump water 500 feet down the street directly from the South Branch of the Patapsco River.
Evelyn “Puzz” (Barnes) Brightwell lived in 7606 Main Street at the time of the fire, when she was a fifth grader, and in 1996 recounted the events surrounding the fire vividly:
"My mother said she remembered seeing the front of the building that housed our apartment and my father’s pool hall, crumble down and our furniture falling with it. We lost everything. I remember that a day before I had won a set of triangular dishes at the movie theater. I never even got to unpack them."
Oral History collected by Errol G. Smith, 1996
1996
Craftsman Art Company, a framing company operated in this space.
(photo taken by R. Berry, 1996, GHM 2024.018.037)
1911 Sanborn Fire Map
This excerpt from the full map shows a harness store located at location 103 (the equivalent of 7602 Main Street) at this time.
1924 Sanborn Fire Map
In this fire map excerpt, 7602 is listed as location 104, listed simply as a shop ("S").
c. 1920s
This image shows the back of the McDonald Block,
2025
Photograph of 7602 taken by Gate House staff, April 2025.
Site Use
Research is ongoing to confirm the historical use of this property. If you see any errors or have additional information, please contact the Museum through the methods at the bottom of the page
Confirmed Use as of May 10, 2025:
1911: The Sanborn fire map (see above) shows a harness store located at this storefront.
1924: The Sanborn fire map shows a shop (no description) at this storefront. (see above)
1920s and 30s: Pool Hall run by Frank Barnes; Barnes' family lived in second floor apartment ("Sykesville Past and Present A Walking Tour," Greenberg, 2012)
1936-c. 1970: Wimmer Plumbing, run by Wilbur Wimmer (d. 1979), (Sykesville Buseiness Records; oral history of Thelma Wimmer [1970])
1980-1983: Betty's Country Store--antiques, collectibles and glassware (Carroll County Times, Nov. 3, 1980, p. A4--advertisement lists as "opening Nov. 8"); "Sykesville Past and Present," Barrow, 1987)
1989-1997: Craftsman Art Company Inc., custom framing and art gallery co-owned by Mark Rychwalski and Wiley Purkey (Carroll County Times, May 20, 1989, p. A2; Carroll County Times, Aug. 31, 1997, p. A6) In 1993, a car did substantial damage to the historic storefront (Carroll County Times, March 28, 1993, p. A7)
2012: In-Step Leather, motorcycle goods ("Sykesville Past and Present A Walking Tour," Greenberg, 2012) at the time, it also occupied 7604 Main Street..
2014-present: Tidal Salt on Main, a gift store featuring locally-made and woman-made products, opened under the ownership of Jenn Banks.