The meats, groceries and provisions store of Frank S. Maslin, Sr. (1868-1914) opened here in 1889. The building is alleged to have been the oldest in Havre de Grace and the one in which Admiral Cockburn, the British Naval Officer who attacked Havre de Grace in May 1813, is said to have frightened the residents of the house so that they fled leaving their dinner, which the Admiral and his officers ate.

In 1898 that original building was razed and a new one erected on the site. The cornerstone was a slab of white marble bearing the date 1898, and included a brick from the original building bearing the date of 1796. August Bechtold, who built this, sold the property in 1898 to Frank S. Maslin Sr. The store is shown on the 1899 and 1904 Sanborn Insurance Maps. Maslin was a butcher and pork packer and sold nothing but home-killed meats; they also sold groceries and provisions and he also canned fruit with his own label. He manufactured his own bologna and pudding and they hand cut all their meats off a hanging beef. Frank Maslin also was a brother of Helen Maslin, who married R. Madison Mitchell, the operator of a funeral home further south on the street and who also became the famed decoy carver.

Frank S. Maslin’s son, John Carville Maslin, joined his father in the business in 1913. Upon the early death of Frank Maslin in 1914, John Carville Maslin (as only a teenager) took over managing the store. After marrying his wife, Ella, they managed the store until 1970, when the family sold the property. He was assisted in the store by his sister, B. Gladys Maslin. The store enjoyed a good reputation for high quality meats and provisions and was a “Certified Esskay Meat Dealer.” Hilda Parsons used to walk by the store going to elementary school and see turkeys, chickens, and “cow parts” hanging outside. And local businessman, Cecil Hill, remembers working for John Carville Maslin, who drove a black 1949 Dodge, in the store in the 1950s.

In the early 1970s, the new owners of the building (Donna and Gennis Branscome) opened “La Donna Beauty Boutique,” and by 1979 Mark Wachsman (son of Dr. Irvin Wachsman) was operating his photographic studio and dark room here. In 2007 the White Rabbet Gallery and custom framing shop was opened to the Annual Candlelight Tour by artisan/owners Tina F. Schueler-Parks and Tom E. Parks. The black and white tile squares were in keeping with the original flooring, and the double front doors and large front windows were original to the building. The open and deceivingly spacious interior contained many works of art.

Pursuant to the Will of Gennis Branscome, this property was deeded to his son, James R. Branscome in 1989. The ground floor is now used as offices and the building continues to be owned by James Branscome, for whom this is probably an investment property.

County Records
Built 1920. 4368 sq ft commercial office building, 6,800 sq ft lot.