(4/10) It took just less then an hour for the wrecking crane to finally put the once proud Shamrock Restaurant out of its misery, and with it, close a long chapter in Thurmont’s history.
The Shamrock Restaurant was on its way to hitting its 60th anniversary, but fell short in 2018 when Donna Demmon and Dawn Knox, both of whom worked at their parents’ restaurant since its inception, opted to retire.
The Restaurant formally closed December 30, 2018, and in March 2019 was sold for 3.95 million dollars to Two Farms, Inc., of Baltimore, which runs a chain of Royal Farms gas and convenience stores.
Royal Farms was attracted to the site by the direct access off Route 15 the property afforded drivers in both directions, as well its access to Franklinville Rd.
Expectations that the building would quickly be raised to make way for a new Royal Farm convenience store, proved false, and the once bustling restaurant has stood silent and vacant awaiting its fate.
Its destruction came in fits and pieces. Last year the building roof was torn off, exposing the plywood roofing foundation to the winter elements. A few months later, the kitchen area was torn down. The derelict building soon attracted the attention of local graffiti artists, who sullied its once pristine face with foul messages.
For many, the short work of the wrecking crane on a cloudy and rainy day was a welcome end. In addition to the restaurant, the six-room motel that sat just to the south of the restaurant was also town down. The only thing remaining of the restaurant complex is the Pin Oak that Mike Fitzgerald, the founder of the Shamrock planted in 1967, which greeted visitors.
In the spring of 1963 Mike took over what at the time, was an abandoned and neglected restaurant situated beside the then two-lane Route 15. He initially called his new restaurant the Casablanca, and in 1964, it became the first restaurant in Frederick County permitted to serve cocktails. Eventually the name was changed to the Shamrock and over time the restaurant became a regular destination for people near and far.
While the loss of the Shamrock saddens some, the thought that the area will, with the completion of the Rutter’s gas & convenience store in Emmitsburg, have two major gas outlets, three if one counts Sheetz, has many hoping for good old fashion ‘gas price’ wars between the stations.
Historically, in areas where Rutters and Royal Farms compete head to head, the price of gas can be anywhere from 10 to 20 cents a gallon less then at stations without competition. While construction of the Rutters gas is well underway in Emmitsburg, no date has been set for the start of construction of the Royal Farm station.
