Monthly Meeting Date: Wednesday , October 10, 2012
Time: Refreshments 6:30 p.m., business meeting 7:00 and program at 7:30.
Location: Historical Society of Cecil County, 135 E. Main St. Elkton, MD
Program: Results of the 2012 Investigations at Elk Landing. Dr. James Gibb
Abstract/Preview
Fort Hollingsworth, erected by the citizens of Cecil County, Maryland, in April 1813 to protect the area from British incursions, was one of a series of small breastworks that protected the upper reaches of the Chesapeake Bay and the ‘back door’ to Philadelphia during the War of 1812. Fort Hollingsworth saw brief action in 1814, and after the war was demolished, with the land returned to farming. Geophysical survey, exploratory soil borings, detailed topographic mapping, and focused excavation, have convincingly and economically identified the footprint of this long-lost fort. The work was undertaken by the Archeological Society of Maryland in 2011 and 2012.
Presentation to be repeated in Bel Air at the Harford County Historical Society, in February 2013.
ELKTON, MD— It was a perfect afternoon at the Terrapin Station Winery for 19th Century Base Ball and the 6th Annual Maryland 19th Century Base Ball State Championship Tournament. The Elkton Eclipse reclaimed the state title for the 5th time in 6 years with an 11-8 victory over in-county rival, the Cecil Club of Chesapeake City who were the defending champions.
In the first match of the day, the Cecils played the Talbot Fair Plays who had been finalists the first 5 years of the state tournament, but never took home the championship. Chesapeake City, the number 3 seed, started the game looking like the defending champions and jumped on top with a 8-0 lead. Talbot, from Easton, Maryland chipped away at the lead until it was 8-8. It stayed that way until the 8th inning when the Cecils scored 8 times en route to a 16-8 victory and take them to the second straight title game.
In the last semi-final, the Eclipse who were the number 1 seed as well as the Mid Atlantic Vintage Base Ball League’s current leader, took on the Chesapeake & Potomac squad from the Baltimore/Washington area. The Chessies have never won a state playoff match and the streak continued in 2012 as the Elkton Nine scored early and often on its way to a 30-6 rout of the club from the southwest.
This set up an all Cecil County final. The Cecils scored the first ace, but the Eclipse came back with 2 of their own in the first. After Chesapeake City tied it up in the 2nd, the Eclipse never looked back and scored 5 in the third inning. In a close match the rest of the way, the Eclipse were up 9-7 going in to the 8th. The Cecils scored one and were threatening with much more, but the Eclipse shut them down and then tacked on 2 more in the bottom of the 8th. Cecil was determined not to give up though and rallied to have the bases loaded with one out in the 9th. A pop out and a ground out ended the Cecil’s run and the Eclipse once again had the pennant back in the County Seat.
A special thanks to the Terrapin Station Winery and all of the Eclipse’s partners who did such a great job of getting the word out to the fans of vintage base ball. Over 100 people came out to see another fine day of 19th century base ball. There is one more chance to see the Eclipse at home and that is Sunday, October 21st at the Terrapin Station Winery at 1pm. The Winery is located just north of Elkton off of Route 213 just before Ricketts Mill Road. Free admission and a great time will be guaranteed!
Photos Courtesy of the Elkton Eclipse Base Ball Club
The 19th Century Base Ball Clubs of the state of Maryland have announced the location and format of the State Championship Series Tournament that will take place on September 30, 2012. The formation of the Maryland State Championship Series is a joint venture between the Eclipse Base Ball Club of Elkton the Talbot Fair Play Base Ball Club of Easton, the Cecil Club of Chesapeake City, the Arundel Excelsiors and the Chesapeake & Potomac Base Ball Clubs of Baltimore/Washington.
By virtue of clinching the regular season championship, the Elkton Eclipse will host the tournament on September 30th at the Terrapin Station Winery which is located just north of Elkton on Route 213 right before Ricketts Mill Road. Elkton clinched the regular season title with two wins out of three against Chesapeake City and a split with Talbot. Elkton also won two matches over Chesapeake and one match over Arundel. Elkton won the Maryland State Championship the first four times from 2007 to 2010. In 2011, the Cecil Club of Chesapeake City won the title over Talbot who has been to the finals all 5 times.
All of the matches on September will feature games played by the rules and customs of 1864 including replica uniforms and equipment that would have been used by clubs in the 1860s. The first match will start at Noon and matches will go on every 2 hours until the championship match about 4pm. The schedule tentatively shapes up like the following: Noon– Talbot vs. Chesapeake City 2pm– Elkton vs. Chesapeake & Potomac 4pm-Championship and consolation matches.
19th Century Base Ball (or vintage base ball) is played by over 300 clubs in North America. All of the clubs belong to the Mid Atlantic Vintage Base Ball League which stretches from New York to northern Virginia. The largest organizing group is the Vintage Base Ball Association (VBBA) which all of the Maryland clubs are members of (www.vbba.org) All of the clubs use authentic rules, uniforms, equipment and customs to play base ball just as it was in the 19th century. The Maryland clubs regularly play other like clubs up and down the east coast from Washington to Boston as well as other clubs from the mid west. Clubs schedules usually have between 8 and 40 games per year playing from the beginning of April until the end of October.
The Archaeological Society of the Northern Chesapeake (ASNC) will present the results of this summer’s field-school at Elk Landing, which focused on a search for Fort Hollingsworth, a War of 1812 redoubt. The meeting takes places at the Historical Society of Cecil County, 135 E. Main Street, Elkton, MD., and starts at 7 p.m. Light refreshments will be available at 6:30 p.m.
Dr. Jim Gibb, the lead investigator, will present the findings of the investigation following a brief business meeting of ASNC. He recently gave this talk in Charles County and is repeating the presentation in Elkton. It will also be given at the annual meeting of the Archaeological Society of Maryland in La Plata on October 20th and in Bel Air at the Historical Society of Harford County in February 2013. The meeting is open to the public and the ASNC is serving light refreshments. This is an ideal opportunity to mingle with this group that does important work on the northern Chesapeake and hear the results of this local investigation. The fieldwork took place in June on a historic tract of property managed by the Historic Elk Landing Foundation.
Click here for additional information on the upcoming meeting.
When the US Naval Training Center at Bainbridge opened its doors in 1942, thousands of troops and personnel flowed into Cecil County. Erika Quesenbery, author of “Images of America: United States Naval Training Center, Bainbridge” will explain how the government transformed the campus of a private boys school to a 1200 acre military base which trained 25,000 troops and employed 38,000 at its peak. She’ll discuss the impact this influx of people had on Cecil County as well as the effects when the site closed.
This program will be presented Wednesday, October 3 at 7pm at the Rising Sun Branch Library, 111 Colonial Way, Rising Sun. Call 410-658-4025 to register for this free library program.
Old Bohemia Tenant House: Photo Credit: Maryland DNR
Press Release – Maryland Dept. of Natural ResourcesCitizens interested in becoming curators to the Old Bohemia house in Cecil County or the Stephenson property in Harford County are invited to join the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for one of its open houses. The estates are available for restoration under the Department’s Resident-Curatorship Program, which matches up historic properties with people interested in restoring, maintaining and periodically sharing them with the public in return for the right to lifetime tenancy.
“This program is great because it helps preserve these beautiful, historic landmarks, while allowing the curators to reap the rewards of their hard work by living in and enjoying the property,” said Emily Burrows, manager of cultural resources and curatorships for DNR.
The Old Bohemia Tenant House open houses will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on September 30 and October 27 at 300 Church Rd in Warwick.
Located on the grounds of the Old Bohemia Wildlife Management Area in Cecil County, the Old Bohemia Tenant House was built c. 1840 as a dwelling for tenant farmers who worked the adjacent farmland. The house, along with St. Francis Xavier Church and Rectory, were part of the much larger Old Bohemia plantation (established around 1704) that eventually consisted of a saw mill, wharf, blacksmith shop and brick kiln, among other buildings and points of interest. Currently surrounded by agricultural fields, the house has many early period elements such as early woodwork and flooring. The original brick kitchen floor is also intact beneath more contemporary wooden floorboards. Although not finalized, the area of the curatorship lease is a little larger than an acre.
The James Stephenson House open houses will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on September 29 and November 3 at 737 Craigs Corner Rd in Havre de Grace.
Located within Susquehanna State Park, the Stephenson House is significant because of its ties to the 18th century Darlington community and because it retains many of its original and unique features. In addition to having unaltered early woodwork and flooring, it is unusual for a house of this age not to be brick or stone, and its telescoping layout is also unique. While the main focus of the restoration will be the house, the outbuildings are historically important, and must be preserved as part of the curatorship. Preference will be given to proposals from non-profit organizations with missions keeping with that of DNR.
Resident curatorships help ensure the long-term preservation of historic buildings at no cost to the State of Maryland. Curators, who can be individuals or organizations, pledge to restore and maintain the historic property and outbuildings in exchange for a lifetime lease on these State protected lands. The program has helped preserve more than 50 historic buildings on State park land for over the past 30 years.
The properties will only be available to the public during open house events. For more information on these properties, citizens may visit dnr.state.md.us/land/rcs/index.asp or contact Emily Burrows at eburrows@dnr.state.md.us or 410-260-8457.
Rising Sun, September 16, 2012 — In celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War [April 1861-April 1865], come experience a re-created Civil War battle just yards away from your eyes at the Town Park on Wilson Avenue in Rising Sun, MD. Whether you witness the thunder and might of the battle, hear the blast from artillery firing over the hillside, or engage your family in a living history experience, our hope is that this event leaves each person with a sense of the sacrifice given, the heroic efforts on both sides, at home and at war, and how the Civil War changed this country forever. So come one, come all and enjoy the sites and sounds of the American Civil War. This is an admission-free, family friendly event.
Meet Federal and Confederate soldiers and civilians. Hear the sounds of battle and smell the gunpowder on Saturday and Sunday. This is a unique opportunity to stroll among the soldier’s tents and see how they lived for four long years. You can do some shopping at the Sutlers (camp vendors) for some historic items. You can buy a hoop skirt and some lemonade and then sit back and watch the cannons fire back and forth and the soldiers battle. Fun and learning for the whole family!
Vintage Base Ball
Imagine . . .
. Being fined 25 cents by an umpire dressed in a top hat and tails
. Assuming the hurler position and being responsible for the striker at the plate
. Acting as behind, where you must prevent the opponent from scoring an ace
. Playing the role of clanker and cheering your team to victory
Vintage Base Ball (yes, it was two words originally) is the game we now know as Baseball played by the rules and customs of an earlier period. “Ballists” wear period uniforms and recreate the game as it was played in the late 1800’s. Come watch the Rising Sun Base Ball Club wearing knickers and stockings, play at our own Rising Sun Town Ball Park. Civil War Reenactors will appear at the game. This year we will again have a period ball game to enjoy on Sunday!
For more information contact: Rising Sun Town Hall at 410-658-5353
Photo courtesy of the National Archives shows engineers of the 8th New York militia.
Guy Alchon, Associate Professor from the University of Delaware, will show us how World War II transformed Cecil County from the thriving marriage capital of the eastern seaboard to a bustling center of munitions factories. Attracted by plentiful jobs, thousands of women from surrounding states migrated to Cecil County. Learn how Cecil County evolved into an integral cog in the war machine as a result of this massive migration.
Here is an announcement from the newsletter of Archeological Society of the Northern Chesapeake (ASNC) about two programs exploring the recent Elk Landing field-school.
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The ASNC has Dr. Jim Gibb on its schedule for two presentations about the recent fieldwork at Elk Landing. The first of these will be conducted at the Historical Society of Cecil County, in Elkton, on October 10th at 7:00 p.m. and a repeat performance will be held at the Historical Society of Harford County, in February 2013. The reason for the duplicate program scheduling, is to offer this very timely historical update to the widest audience possible. The Elkton venue will accommodate the Cecil Historical Society membership, the Elk Landing Foundation, the Archeological Society of Delaware and ASNC members of that area. The Bel Air presentation will provide a nearby opportunity for the Harford Historical Society and ASNC members from in that area.
Everything you’d ever want to know about the discovery of Fort Hollingsworth this past spring will be unearthed and sifted at these sessions, according to an announcement from the Elk Landing Foundation.
The Historical Society of Cecil County is located at 135 E. Main Street in Elkton. Light refreshments and socializing begins at 6:3o p.m.
From The Storyteller — the Newsletter of the Archeological Society of the Northern Chesapeake
nnouncement From the Archaeological Society of the Northern Chesapeake
