The world was a different place in 1884 when the Browningsville Cornet Band was officially chartered.  There was no "life outside the beltway" because there was no beltway; no Monday night football because the game was in its infancy, there was no TV to watch it on, and household electricity was Edison's dream.  There were also no malls or daycare centers because people dealt with local merchants, and extended families of mothers and grandmothers cared for the children while they went about their daily chores.

Yet some things were the same.  People wanted to enjoy themselves at church picnics, ice cream socials, community gatherings and the county fair, and they wanted live music to add a festive note to those occasions.  Today,  as it was so long ago, that music is still provided by the Browningsville Cornet Band. The original band members were mostly farmers and local residents who left their fields on Friday nights, socialized at the country store for a couple hours, and around nine or ten o'clock began a late evening of serious band practices.  Playing in the band was a source of pride, and more than one young man found playing in the band a welcome respite from the hardships which characterized rural life in 19th century America. 

By the time the band was officially established, music had already become an important part of life in the Browningsville community.  George Wesley Walker, father of the first director of the band, had spent a long and successful career as choir director and organist at nearby Bethesda Church.  During that time he taught may people the rudiments of music, and created a core of enthusiastic musicians.  It was only natural that his son, William A. Walker, would organize a band whose stated purpose was the "improvement of its members in the Art of music, the promotion of their social and moral advancement, and the cultivation of Musical talent in the community." 

The original membership consisted of 20 young men between the ages of 11 and 29 who came to weekly rehearsals on horseback, by carriage, and on foot.  During the first four or five months of every year they rehearsed in Jacob's Paint and Machine Shop in Browningsville.  Sometime after the turn of the century rehearsals were moved to Kemptown church where there was a pot-bellied stove to keep them warm. 

In those early years band engagements were a family affair.  There were usually about a half-dozen engagements every summer, and on those days band members and their families left home early in the morning.  They spent the entire day socializing and enjoying the music until darkness ended the celebration and they began the long trip home.  Over the years there have been many changes in the band ... uniforms were periodically updated, instruments were purchased and repaired, the music library was expanded, and the hall rent paid regularly.  A nominal fee system was established to help meet these expenses and to sustain the band as a performing group. After sixty years of serving the community, the band admitted its first woman.  In 1944 Maxine Browning, a resident of Kemptown, was allowed to practice with the band.  However, it was 1950 before three women were officially admitted to the band and allowed to perform in public. 

Throughout the history of the band, longevity of participation has been a hallmark of its members.  One of the charter members, Sherman Mullinix, survived to celebrate the band's 75th anniversary.  On that occasion, one of the older members, Raymond O. Barnes, was presented with an award for 53 years of continuous service to the band.  More recently, in 1992, just six months before his death, Merhle Pickett was recognized for his 67 consecutive years in the band. 

If band engagements were a family affair back in the 1800's, today's band traditions are not entirely different.  Not only are many band members related to each other, but at least half a dozen of the present members are also related to charter members of the Browningsville Cornet Band.  Generation follows generation.  One member recently stood on the steps of Walker Hall, pointed to the old railing, and fondly recalled that as a small child he had played "Skin-the-Cat" on that same rail while hanging around the rehearsals. 

Today's band members include people from all walks of life, from diverse family backgrounds, and from a wide geographic area.  Some travel twenty miles and more to attend rehearsals, concerts, and parades.  Their musical education has come from many directions.  Yet they continue the practice established 125 years ago, of supporting the social institutions of the community, the churches and the firehouses, and "cultivating the Musical talent of the community." In 2009 the Browningsville Cornet Band begins another year in its long and proud history as the area's oldest band in continuous existence.