Local historians are hoping that by declaring it endangered, they can save Germantown’s famous Cider Barrel.

Once a hub of activity in the area for customers eager to buy the late William Cross’s famous apple cider, the 12-foot-tall wooden barrel on North Frederick Road in Germantown is no more than a defunct roadside novelty, shuttered since 2003.

Members of the Germantown Historical Society worked this year to have it named to the Maryland Historical Trust’s Most Endangered Historic Places list, which they hope will spur someone to reopen it before it is moved or destroyed.

“This is part of the history of Germantown and we do not want to see that hurt in any way,” said Susan Soderberg, president of the society.

The nomination of “most endangered” is honorary, but aims to bring attention to historic sites thought to be in danger of losing their historical value — by demolition or by a changing landscape around them, said Jessica Feldt of the Maryland Historical Trust.

A 1925 picture of the Cider Barrell on Route 355 in Germantown, which was built in 1922. (Courtesy of the Germantown Historical Society)

Montgomery County’s Planning Board suggested in 2009 that if the building cannot be repurposed, it should be moved onto public property for use as a visitors center, a move the historical society opposed at the time. Soderberg said the move could destroy the barrel because it is handmade and would have to be moved piece by piece.

County historic planners say although such a move is possible, they have no immediate plans to fund it.

The barrel was built in 1922 to sell what it advertised as nonalcoholic cider during Prohibition, and it flourished after Cross took over the business in 1946, said Gene Bollinger, who managed the Cider Barrel for Cross before it was sold to McLean, Va.-based developer Elm Street Development. For more than 90 years, cider was produced in a building near the barrel, using a still-secret formula on a press that often could make more than 2,000 gallons per week.

Cross also ran a 17-acre mobile home park called the Cider Barrel Mobile Home Court on the land behind the barrel.

Customers flocked to the barrel both for its crystal-clear, sweet-tasting cider and to chat with Cross, a former civilian engineer for the U.S. Department of the Navy. The barrel became an American roadside attraction, earning a place on the state’s list of historic places in 1988, according to county records.

Cross, who died in 2010 at 93, sold his 17-acre property for more than $7 million. He sold his last jug of cider there in September 2003. Bollinger said by that time it had become impossible to keep the business afloat on cider and fruit alone.

Elm Street Development replaced the surrounding Cider Barrel Mobile Home Court and the building where the cider was made with 316 garden-style apartments.

Detail of damage from age to wood on the Cider Barrel on Route 355 in Germantown. (Dan Gross/The Gazette)

The company cannot tear down the barrel without county permission and is required to maintain it, said Scott Whipple, a spokesman for the county’s Historic Preservation Commission.

Soderberg is asking residents to contact county officials to lobby for the barrel’s preservation.