Baseball Cards in Hagerstown, Maryland: A Rich History
Hagerstown, Maryland has a long and rich history with baseball cards dating back over a century. Located in Washington County just over an hour from Baltimore, Hagerstown was once a hotbed for the production and collecting of baseball cards in the early 20th century. While the baseball card industry has declined significantly in the area in recent decades, Hagerstown still maintains a strong baseball card culture and community of collectors today.
Some of the earliest baseball cards produced in the United States came from Hagerstown in the late 1880s and early 1890s. Several printers located along Potomac Street jumped at the opportunity to produce and distribute baseball cards as the relatively new sport of professional baseball began to explode in popularity nationwide. Early Hagerstown-produced cards featured mostly local minor league players but also included stars from other leagues as demand grew.
The most prolific early baseball card printer in Hagerstown was the R.C. Allen Company, operating out of a factory on Frederick Street from 1889 to 1903. R.C. Allen produced dozens of different baseball card series during this time period, featuring both tobacco products and non-tobacco inserts. Their cards became some of the most widely collected in America at the turn of the 20th century. Allen also experimented with early color lithography techniques, producing some of the earliest color baseball cards in the mid-1890s.
In the early 1900s, Hagerstown saw the rise of several other major baseball card printers, the most notable being the Ogden Brothers Printing Company and the H.C. Evans Printing Company. Both companies operated large factories along the Hagerstown Rail Line and produced millions of baseball cards annually in the first two decades of the 20th century. Ogden Brothers and H.C. Evans cards dominated the baseball card market during this time, featuring stars from all major and minor leagues.
The golden age of baseball card production in Hagerstown lasted from roughly 1900 to 1920. At the peak, over a dozen different printers churned out new baseball card series every year. Hagerstown quickly became one of the top baseball card manufacturing hubs in the United States. The industry began declining in the late 1910s due to rising costs, competition from larger companies in Baltimore and Philadelphia, and the onset of World War I which disrupted printing supply chains.
By the mid-1920s, only a handful of Hagerstown companies like Ogden Brothers and Evans still produced baseball cards on a large scale. The Great Depression of the 1930s ultimately put an end to major baseball card manufacturing in the city. While some very small print runs of local minor league players continued into the 1940s, Hagerstown’s role as a national leader in the industry was over. The remaining factories either shut down or transitioned fully to other printing ventures by the end of World War II.
Despite losing its status as a production center, Hagerstown maintained a vibrant baseball card collecting culture throughout the 20th century. Local card shops like Frank’s Sportscards (established in 1959) and Mike’s Baseball Cards (founded in 1976) became hubs where collectors could trade, sell and learn about the history of the hobby. Both shops remain in operation today, hosting frequent card shows, autograph signings with former players, and educational seminars about the early days of Hagerstown-printed cards.
In the 1980s and 1990s, a resurgence of interest in vintage baseball cards fueled by the rise of card show circuit led to renewed focus on Hagerstown’s rich production history. Cards from companies like R.C. Allen, Ogden Brothers and Evans skyrocketed in value, with some of the rarest examples selling for tens of thousands of dollars. Today, Hagerstown is known within the hobby as one of the most important early cradles of the American baseball card industry.
While the manufacturing base is long gone, the legacy of Hagerstown’s pioneering role lives on through its active collector community and well-preserved archives of local card history. Both Frank’s and Mike’s continue to showcase some of the rarest Hagerstown cards ever printed. Local card shows still draw collectors from across the region to trade and buy. And the Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum holds permanent exhibits honoring the city’s contributions to the early growth of baseball as both a sport and a cultural phenomenon.
For over a century, Hagerstown has maintained a deep connection to the rich history of American baseball cards. While the industry has dispersed nationwide, the importance of Hagerstown’s early innovations and mass production efforts remain an integral part of the hobby’s foundations. The legacy lives on through today’s dedicated collectors, preserving memories of the golden age when Hagerstown reigned as one of the true capitals for baseball card manufacturing.
