This property sits on two lots, one of which was bought by Michael Henry (1840-1894) in 1878 and the second bought by him in 1890. It seems possible that Michael Henry built a home here in 1878 on the one lot and built an addition onto the original home when he bought the second lot. As can be seen from the photograph the building does appear to be longer than one typical frame house. Otherwise it is assumed that Michael Henry built the double house in 1890 for his family. His wife was Johanna Brown Henry (1832-1918) and they had a son, Edward Roy Henry.

After both of the Henrys had died, a dispute concerning ownership of the property was brought before the Circuit Court and a Trustee was ordered to sell the property at public sale. It was purchased by Thomas Healey who resold it right away to John T. and Nellie M. Armstrong in 1925. The Armstrongs were the grandparents of local resident and former city council member, Jim Miller, although they had both died before Jim was born. Jim says that the house being next to the High School (which didn’t have a cafeteria at the time), the Armstrongs opened The Armstrong School Supply Store and lunch counter and ran it from then until 1940, when Nellie became too ill to work. During that time, John Armstrong built a miniature golf course in the back yard which, no doubt, was popular also with the students.

Charles and Ozella Hamilton bought the property in 1940 and apparently continued to operate the “Armstrong’s” lunch counter. Ozella had been a teacher for some years and became a volunteer at Citizens Care Center for 25 years. In 1988, she was nominated as a Harford County Living Treasure by Dr. Frederick Hatem. After about four years of owning this, the Hamiltons sold the property to Howard Shafer and his wife, Pearl Margaret Shafer, who also continued to run the busy lunch counter. They were the parents of Don Shafer, who was well known for his business on North Washington Street, Shafer’s Appliances.

Many former high school students still fondly remember “Shafer’s Corner” (or Smokers’ Corner) and say Pearl made the best barbeque sandwiches ever (a photo shows Pearl relaxing on the porch after a lunchtime rush). Jeanne Hawtin helped Pearl at lunch time when she would rush across the street and get behind the counter before the crowd rushed in and the juke box started. Rose Hamilton remembers going over there from the High School to get a barbeque sandwich, coke and cigarette. Although Pearl Shafer did a tremendous business at lunch time, once the high school opened their cafeteria, the students weren’t allowed to leave the school for lunch so that ended the business. Karen Shafer, granddaughter of Pearl, says she still has the recipe of her grandmom's famous BBQ! Connie Farro Richardson’s memories of the Shafers are of their beautiful voices. Being a friend of Don Shafer’s daughter, Carol, Connie was often invited to family events where she loved to hear them all sing.

Howard Shafer died in 1959 and Pearl devised the property to their children in 1972. They sold it to James S. Carson (1911-2016) and his wife, June Shafer Carson. James was a chemical engineer at the Edgewood Arsenal and shares a Patent for an agent for gelling gasoline. The Carsons were members of the Methodist Church and the Maritime Museum. After the death of June Carson, James S. Carson, sold the property in 1999 to S.J.C. LLC of Abingdon, Maryland.

It is not known exactly when this building was divided into rental apartments but it now contains several apartments, with some in a building to the rear of the main building. In 2021 this property was sold to BD Apartments LLC of Aberdeen, Maryland, and the building to the east of the main building was demolished in 2022.

County Records
Built 1935, 3794 sq ft, 5 baths, 2.5 stories with basement, 6000 sq ft lot.