A sign has stood facing Interstate 70 for nearly 40 years, touting the Town of New Market as the "Antiques Capital of Maryland."
But Town Councilman David Price considers it false advertising, as only eight of 21 shops in New Market sell antiques.
"New Market is honestly all about history," said Price, who also owns 12 West Main, an art gallery in town.
He said he and owners of other specialty stores in town are annoyed that antique shops are frequently closed, and they are the ones who have to explain to would-be treasure hunters that New Market does not have as many antique shops as it once did.
At its peak in the 1980s, the town had 45 antique shops, according to Bud Rossig, owner of E. Rossig's, an art gallery and framing shop.
Ben Madrid, owner of Santa Fe Trading Company, a boutique that sells Native American art and jewelry, said that advertising the town as a destination for antique-buyers is luring shoppers "under false pretenses."
Madrid said he appreciates the antique dealers who remain open, but he said specialty shops are the majority of the businesses in New Market, and more would open as the economy improved.
"I think New Market is on the upswing, and I hope the antique dealers can be a part of that," he said.
But antique dealers say that the sign is still a draw, which brings business to both antique and specialty shops.
"They're killing the goose that laid the golden egg," said Nancy Sponseller Fleshman, who along with her husband, former mayor Rick Fleshman, owns Fleshman's Antiques.
Fleshman said the idea of New Market as anything more than a "weekend town" is artificial. Fleshman's shop is open noon to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Sometimes, he will open the shop on other days as well, depending on the weather. Some weekends the shop is closed so Fleshman can attend antique shows in other areas.
He has operated his antique store for more than 20 years, and said before the town changed its zoning to allow for a variety of specialty stores in 2004, shops were never open seven days a week.
Besides, he said the sign and the title of "Antiques Capital" put the town on the map.
Fleshman said that it makes no sense to do away with the sign, and instead Price should consider including more information on the sign, advertising the new shops instead of striking the reference to the antique shops.
"They're throwing out the baby with the bath water," he said.
Rossig said the sign was built by town business owners in the early 1970s, following a speech given in Congress by then-U.S. Rep. Charles Mathias (R-Dist. 6) on April 24, 1967. In the speech, Mathias called New Market the "Antique Capital of the East." At that time, there were 33 antique shops in New Market, according to Mathias' speech.
Rossig said business owners ran with the slogan, and soon created the sign.
Jim Higgs, owner of Smith Tavern Antiques, said the change would be disastrous to the local economy, especially the antique dealers. "It will kill us," he said.
Higgs said he has been an antique dealer in New Market for more than 20 years, which proves his passion for the town, and the survivability of the antique business in New Market.
Smith Tavern Antiques is open Thursday through Sunday, although it will open on other days, which Higgs advertises by placing a flag out in front of the shop. Higgs also does weekend antique shows, and was in Timonium for an antique show on Saturday and Sunday.
Higgs said he frequently gets customers who tell him that the reason they have stopped into the town is the road sign. He said a road sign advertising "specialty shops" would not nearly be as attractive to passing motorists.
"It's a destination," he said. "People come here for antiques."
Dennis Myers of Baltimore stopped into the store on Oct. 21, and bought an antique cigarette case. He said he had been to New Market before, but discovered it one day while driving down Interstate 70 bound for Harpers Ferry, W.Va. "Without the sign, I wouldn't have known to get off of [Interstate] 70," he said.
E-mail Christian Brown at chbrown@gazette.net.
