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Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area, August 17, 2013 — Saturday evening we attending the “Howl Prowl” at the Fair Hill NRMA.  As part of the 250^th anniversary of the Mason Dixon Line, the park sponsored the over 3-mile hike, examining the history of the boundary and the natural terrain on the border of Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Accompanied by a crowd of people and dogs, the walk got underway at 6:30 p.m. Saturday evening as Ranger JoAnn Kricker and the park naturalist took us on an informative and enjoyable walk.  Through the deep woods, up and down steep hills and rocky inclines, and over small streams we went, while learning about history and nature here on the state line.  Along the way we visited original markers, while pausing here and there to consider the natural landscape and how that affected the work of surveying the line.

By the time we returned to our starting point, walking past the old Center Schoolhouse, dusk was setting on Cecil County on this comfortable evening for strolling in mid-August.  It was an enjoyable and informative walk.  Thank you Fair Hill NRMA and staff for a delightful program.

 

Historical Society Curator Lisa Dolor, and her staff, are working on an exhibit about the 1960s in Cecil County.  As a result, they have been digging through the old newspapers looking for appropriate material, photographs, and advertisements.   This one from 1960 for the Milk Bar caught our attention.

 

In the post World War II era, the Cecil Farmers Telephone Company of Rising Sun was growing  To accommodate the addition of subscribers, the company added a new switchboard (manufactured by Stromberg-Carlson Company of Rochester, NY) in March 1952.  The Rising Sun company was serving 850 subscribers at that time, but a new board added positions for 200 more.  In 1940, the company was serving 423 subscribers.  Helen Orr worked the new board on the day the photograph was snapped.

Officials with the Cecil County Board of Education were excited as the new school year got underway in 1951.  The system had eight new school buses ready to relieve overcrowding in the pupil transport system.  The vehicles were going to be used in the Perryville, Rising Sun, North East and Calvert areas, according to Edwin Barnes, supervisor of pupil personnel.

In 1966, the Singerly Fire Company proudly arranged its newest piece of firefighting equipment, a snorkel, alongside one of its 19th century firefighting relics.

In the early decades of the telecommunications age, the rapidly expanding telephone industry was busy connecting far-flung places together with long distance cables.  The mechanics of moving signals over great distance required repeater stations and the rapidly expanding network required “plants” in larger towns.  So the Chesapeake and Potomac Phone Company, a branch of the Bell System, purchased the old foundry lot on the southwest corner of Bridge and High streets from Ed Molitor.

There it replaced an old frame dwelling occupied by Isaac Soloman with a substantial two-story brick building.  When the “new telephone exchange” opened in September 1917, the Company said it was making Elkton the headquarters for the Eastern Shore, as it established a common battery system to greatly improve the connection of through cables

In the next decade the advent of radio broadcasting required more hook-ups and more line capacity so American Telephone and Telegraph expanded in Elkton.  A contractor added a third story in 1928 as the room reserved for C & P when the building was erected had to be occupied.  The Elkton station was a repeater station between New York and Washington and recently a new cable was laid underground between those cities, the Whig reported in December 1928.

The next year the company stepped in to mark the town for aviators.  On the roof of the “A. T. & T Company Plant” large letters spelling out Elkton were put on the roof.  At night flood lights illuminated them so airmen could easily follow their progress.  There was a large arrow pointing north.  In September 1929, the “chief testboard man” was Harold C. Marsh and three of the company’s engineers from New York were here to supervise the installation.

 

In the years after World War II, community pools were the in thing, a great civic improvement providing a place to take a dip to cool off on scorching summer days.  Across the region, private-clubs, community groups, and municipalities opened those refreshing spots so young and old could find a little relief from the oppressive heat and humidity.

Here in Cecil wrecking crews made room for a pool in Port Deposit by demolishing Jacob Tome’s mansion in August 1948.  Once the lot was cleared, volunteers from the Port Deposit Lions Club got busy, excavating the space and digging out the rocks.  The eagerly anticipated attraction unofficially opened on July 15, 1950, and the formal dedication of the Jacob Tome Memorial Swimming Pool took place on August 26, 1950.

For decades after that, the sounds of laughter, splashing water, portable radios, and general merriment filled the street on the south end of town as people found summertime relief.   But by February 1981, the days for this place of summer were numbered.  The Cecil Whig reported it was “sink or swim for Port Deposit Pool” as the Lions Club approached the town about assuming responsibility for operations.  The town wasn’t interested in taking on the obligation, but needed time to consider things.  The Port Pool closed sometime after that.

On the eastern side of the county, the Frenchtown Manor Swim Club’s pool was well underway by the time summer rolled around in 1953.  While this was a private club, the facilities were turned over to the YMCA from 10 a.m. to noon free of charge to be used for swimming classes.  By August of 1953, John Irwin, the general manager, was able to announce that the club was open and interested people could secure a daily guest pass for a nominal cost.

So whenever the temperature soared in an era when air conditioning wasn’t as readily available, many people in Cecil County found life was a little bit better at the Port or Frenchtown pools.

On July 29, 1956, Governor Theodore R. McKeldin named Route 213, from Elkton to the Chester River, the Augustine Herman Highway to honor the famous early map maker of Maryland.  This ceremony, which included the unveiling of a highway sign, was part of a larger observance of the 286th anniversary of Herman’s entry into Maryland.

Dr. Juray Slavik, former Czechoslovakian ambassador to the United States and Miss Norma Svedjs, president of the Augustine Herman, Czech Historical Society of Baltimore also spoke at the event, which drew about 100 members of the Society.

The ceremony honored Augustine Herman, first naturalized citizen of Maryland and its first map maker, the Cecil Whig reported. “The Governor called Herman a surveyor, geologist, geographer, and linguist.”   For pay, he only asked for a “piece of your land, where I want to settle, to live, and to die,”  the Governor remarked.  “The Tract,” he continued, “and the river flowing by, he named Bohemia in honor of his native land.”

In June 1956, the town of Chesapeake City had just wrapped up the municipal election. Zachary T. Cooling was re-elected to serve a one-year term as mayor. Charles Schrader and Lewis Collins, Jr. were selected to serve as commissioners for two-year terms. Joining Charles Stapp and William Cooling, this team made up the Chesapeake City Town Council.

Over the past several years there has been an enormous increase in the number of historical maps that are available online.  These digital collections are a great aid for those seeking to understand the past, whether it is for a scholarly investigation, local history study, or genealogy project. While the maps, many centuries old, have been available in special collections repositories around the nation, the access was limited as trips to widely scattered archives and access rules created obstacles for some researchers.

Here are a couple of general starting points.  One of the best is  Old Maps Online, an easy-to-use web portal to historical maps in libraries around the globe.  It allows the user to search across a number of collections, via a geographical search interface.  Another strong one is the Library of Congress.  The products can be downloaded and the scans, which are of high quality, can be magnified, in most instances.  Some of repositories require you to register to get full access.

These and other research e-resources are truly revolutionizing the way we conduct historical research and are invaluable for those working in the past.  Here are some specific online Cecil County resources, which you should find helpful.

• The Library of Congress has Martenet’s Map of Cecil County (1858), It can be downloaded in a large format in order to magnify the product.  There is also the Atlas of Cecil County (1877)    It also has Fowler & Kelly’s 1907 birds-eye-view of Rising Sun and Elkton.

• The Enoch Pratt Library has a subscription to the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. From the 1880s until about World War II, the cartographers for this company visited towns across Cecil County regularly to update drawings and produce sketches at a detailed scale of 1-inch to fifty feet.  With these a researcher is able to observe the changes that took place with a dwelling or a community over generations.  You need a Baltimore City Library card to access the database online.  Here is a link to a union catalog (index) of Sanborn Maps published in Maryland.
• Topo Maps — Historical — This is a collection of historic USGS topographic maps, including those published for Maryland and Cecil County.  It includes products from 1898 and 1942.

Check them out the next time you are working on a project, regardless of where your inquiry takes you.  You will find many other maps of interest as you start searching these and other databases.