In the middle of a heated four-way presidential contest, a special train screeched to a stop at the Elkton station one Saturday in May 1912. On-board for a quick whistle-stop tour of Maryland was President William H. Taft. When he arrived at 11:45 a.m., he was met at the station by a committee with automobiles…
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Adding Cecil Kirk, a County Lawman, to the Sheriff’s Wall
When Benny Kirk visited the Sheriff’s Office in Elkton a few years ago, he paused to look over a series of photographs hanging on the wall. These weren’t mug shots from recent arrests or some of the most wanted criminals that caught his attention. They were aging images of men who served the county as…
Rising Sun Historic Preservation Commission Hosts Civil War Weekend, Oct 3 – 5, 2014
From the Rising Sun Historic Preservation Commission Announcing the Annual Rising Sun Civil War Re-enactment brought to you by the Rising Sun Historic Preservation Commission. The re-enactment this year runs Friday, October 3rd to the Sunday, October 5th. The Friday session is reserved for local school students, with over 500 registered to attend this year….
An Old House Research Question: When did the Pennsylvania Railroad Move the Dwellings
Over time, physical changes occur to a community’s built environment. Most are subtle like when a backhoe goes to work digging up a new foundation, or a bulldozer extends a street so a small parcel of land can be subdivided into building lots. But as decades pass, more radical transformations occasionally materialize, many of which…
Elkton Police Arrest of Ambassador From Iran Causes International Incident in 1935
If there was anything remarkable about that Wednesday in November 1935 in Elkton, it was the new policeman directing traffic on the main thoroughfare from Washington to New York. Seventy-year-old Chief George Potts, having maintained tranquility in the town for twenty-eight years, had recently retired. The rookie, Jake Biddle, was going to make a fine…
Cecil County Atlas of 1877 & Other Maps Available from Sheridan Library
The Sheridan Library of Johns Hopkins University has a large collection of Cecil County digital maps. Family and local history researchers will find these online collections to be helpful. In the collection there is the entire atlas of 1877, as well as digital aerial maps (1938 and 1952), topographic maps, and many other cartographic products. Visit the search…
Station Agent at Childs Recalls 50 Years on the B & O Railroad
For many Cecil County villages and towns the railroad station was the center of the community years ago, and the company official overseeing the comings and goings of townspeople, passengers, telegraph messages, freight and mail was an important member of the community. Each place with a station had one, a station agent, in charge of…
Confederate General From Cecil County Featured in Jeff Shaara’s Latest Novel
“The Smoke at Dawn,” Jeff Shaara’s latest historical novel about the Civil War, has been released and it has a Cecil County angle. This third volume, part of a four part series, focuses on the critical Battle of Chattanooga. Kyle Dixon has been listening to the audio version of the book., He informs me that William Whann…
Become a Photo Historian: Learn to Identify and Preserve Your Family Treasures
There is a great interest in learning how to identify and protect old pictures, and the Cecil County Public Library is presenting a how-to talk to help you get started with that task. So if you are the family archivist or the records custodian for your church or civic group, working to sift through old…
H. W. Cheyney, Cecilton’s Chevy Dealer
H. W. Cheyney, the Cecilton Chevrolet dealer, marked the 26th anniversary of taking care of the automobile needs of residents in the southern part of the county in 1954. And he featured some great bargains on the used car lot. Mr. Chyeney established the business in 1928, “starting out with only himself and a mechanic,”…