Clugston’s Market and Cafe, McConnellsburg Part Two

RSS

Clugston’s Market and Cafe, McConnellsburg Part Two

29 Apr

Let’s jump right into this.

I had just left Daily Drip and was eager to explore the rest of the town. You can’t park anywhere downtown without ending up in front of a “Historical Site” or a plaque or statue of some kind. Such is the Pennsylvania/Maryland border. Nothing important, just the future of natural rights and civil society at stake in a war for the future trajectory of the Republic. McConnellsburg is very much a town where the voices of past and future blend into a fugue.

Throughout McConnellsburg, old buildings are repurposed for new uses, but I couldn’t find a case where tradition did not reassert itself, even in the most modern reuse. Case in point: Clugston’s Market and Cafe. I’m not sure about the market itself, but the coffee spot here opened in 2016. Clugston’s is a massive boon to the town. There’s a plethora of food there, and plenty of space to enjoy it. It’s an “everything-mart.” Clugston’s is attached to a larger building that apparently has some historic cachet (see below) and is adjacent to several other buildings with even more of it (see further below). The Antietam Iron Works itself is a functioning iron crafting business that uses domestic steel.

The cafe portion of Clugston’s Market and Cafe was another example of urban/rural collision. On the one hand, the market epitomizes small-town Pennsylvania. It’s local and agrarian to the core. On the other hand, it’s polished, elegant, and the decor has an artistic whimsy that really stuck in my mind long after McConnellsburg was in the rear view mirror. Here’s a little secret: People who care about the past also tend to care about the future. Studying the past in depth gives you perspective. Perspective lets you see past preconception and bias. When that happens, you take the lessons of the past and apply them to the future while accepting the best of modernity, because now you can tell the best from the worst. Perspective.

That brings us to my own perspective on the coffee: It comes courtesy of Omega Coffee Collective. It’s a startup located in nearby Chambersburg, just like the last coffee spot. It’s a boutique roaster that began operations on December 2nd, 2023. Actually, that’s when the store opened; they’ve been doing fairs and festivals since 2022. That’s how a lot of small coffee roasters get their start these days. The festival scene is booming.

I got the 12.02 blend. The name is a tribute to their opening date. It was a blend of South American “Washed Process” coffee and a “Natural Process” Ethiopian. In retrospect, that makes a lot of sense, given the flavor palette I was experiencing. There was an unmistakable chocolate flavor. There was also vanilla, though it didn’t present as vanilla on its own; rather, it mellowed the chocolate, which was otherwise quite pronounced. It was light but not too light; I’d say it was more robust than the previous offering, but it remained suitably jaunty for travelers on the go.

Go, I did. For a walk through history, I mean. There was a massive courthouse to the left as I walked back to my car, and I had to take a closer look. A war memorial overlooked a massive bandshell that was unfortunately unoccupied. Another thought quickly entered my mind: I want to see McConnellsburg at its most active. That wasn’t today. There are so many sites of interest here, but few seemed occupied at the moment, which left me wondering exactly when those moments might be. When does this town come alive? What do festivals look like here?

One lively location was a vintage store just starting to get settled. It’s called Guess Where Thrift, and there’s a manic assortment of clothes, books, old VHS tapes, DVDs, old bottles, and other interesting objects of the past kept safe for people like me who need a bit of that in our present. The Fulton County Chamber of Commerce advertised the grand opening on its Facebook page. I’ve never seen a town get behind a new business so actively. Sure, a CoC will often give a new place a shout-out, but there was actually an event: a Grand Opening on April 15th. The Facebook post for the event was full of comments from local people hoping to shop there soon. McConnellsburg isn’t just a small town; it’s small and close.

I’m writing this almost a month after my visit. April was busier than I’d thought it would be, and this adventure was far more involved than I’d assumed it would be when I started planning it. Clearly, the coffeehouse surge of 2020-2025 had a massive impact on Fulton County’s coffee culture. I hope there’s a festival around here soon. After all, May starts festival season, and events will be happening everywhere. Some have to be happening in or around Fulton County. In Bedford County, just to the west, a town called Everett looks promising. I’m not promising the next review will be there, but I should be traveling to festivals starting…well, starting now. That means more small towns, cultures, and coffees to explore over the next two months.

Until then, stay caffeinated!