The arrival of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in 1871 placed the town's merchants and farmers in an advantageous economic situation. Edward Reindollar expanded a grain elevator by including a steam flour mill in 1892, while Edward Zepp set up a photography studio in the Central Hotel in 1903. Taneytown's industry continued to grow during the 1920s and 1930s with several new factories. The Blue Ridge Rubber Plant opened in 1936, but a fire destroyed it in 1942. The plant was rebuilt and renamed the Cambridge Rubber Company. This successful business was best known for its rubber-soled shoes. Taneytown also did a large business in grain, hay, coal, lumber, and phosphates, and besides the stores generally kept in villages of its size, it had three cigar factories, a carriage maker shop, two warehouses, and a steam flour mill.