In its heyday, the United States Naval Training Center at Bainbridge was a 1,200-acre, full-fledged military base where nearly 40,000 recruits at a time went through boot camp and other training to prepare for war.
After Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the United States’ involvement in World War II became imminent, and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt approved orders to create U.S. military training bases around the country. One of those bases was Bainbridge – on a bluff above Port Deposit, right here in Cecil County.
Chief Petty Officer Stephen Kowalski closes up Bainbridge Naval Training Center in 1976.
At the time, Tome School for Boys occupied the land high above town proper. But the school – created from a $3 million trust left by Jacob Tome after his death – had struggled financially due to the Great Depression; the federal government acquired the land in 1941 for around $1 million.
In the span of about five months, more than 500 buildings were erected on the base to house, among other things, a dental facility, a naval hospital, commissary, theater, bowling alley, several indoor pools, a Naval Academy prep school, four barracks, and schools where recruits and non-recruits learned firefighting, motion-picture operation, electrical maneuvers, radio-control operations, and how to run nuclear-powered submarines.
This week the Cecil Guardian reported that the Maryland Military Department has placed the “armory in Elkton” on a surplus property list. This historic structure, one of only four structures on the National Register in the county seat, was built of light gray granite in 1915 as part of state’s expansion of the National Guard. It has a large drill hall and imitates a castle’s design with its two corner towers flanking the front and its flying buttresses. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
The structure cost $39,000 when it opened as the headquarters for Company E of the 115th Infantry, 29th division. In addition to its protective role, it also served as a social center for the community with all types of public events being held in the hall. Since the Mayor and Commissioners of Elkton have been searching for property for a recreation center, this state-owned site with its large drill hall for the guard might fill the role. In addition, such an action might preserve a historic resource as so many have been lost in Elkton.
The Militiary Department officially named the Elkton facility the LTC James Victor McCool Armory a few years ago. Lt. Col. McCool died on March 16, 2011 at the age of 94. He joined the Maryland National Guard in 1935 and almost a decade later commanded troops, many of them from Cecil, who stormed ashore in the D-Day invasion of Normandy. He retired as a U.S. Army lieutenant colonel in 1967.
Cecil County Archaeologists work on the new interstate highway across the county.
When the state started talking about building an expressway, part of the interstate highway, across northeastern Maryland in the early 1960s, the proposal alarmed a group of local history enthusiasts
It wasn’t that they were against moving ahead as these progressive-minded citizens knew the region urgently needed I-95, the proposed fast route without one traffic light between Baltimore and Philadelphia. This group worried that once construction on the massive highway got underway, the big earth-moving machines cutting a 300-foot wide path across Harford and Cecil counties would destroy all evidence of prehistoric civilizations buried in the soil before the European contact period. Also, the evidence of the early historical period could be lost as the expressway crossed over sources of energy for manufacturing (the valleys and streams) in the pre-electrification age.
So the Northeastern Chapter of the Archaeological Society of Maryland, led by George Reynolds, set out to ensure the corridor was documented before progress obliterated all traces of early culture. This involved building support with transportation planners, state officials, politicians, and residents, as well as raising money to support the project. George was successful for he raised $1,000 largely from private sources.
Archaeologists and construction crews worked side by side in the summer of 1962, as both rushed to complete their tasks before the planned opening date in November 1963. Skilled volunteers, aided by one professional, Daniel G. Crozer of Temple University, looked for artifacts along the right-of-way while the heavy equipment operators scooped up the earth, building the highway across the top of the Chesapeake.
Large parts of I-95 traversed heavily wooded, uncultivated areas where little or no archaeological research had been carried out. Investigators never know what they’ll find until the fieldwork is done, but the strong possibility existed that relics from Native American Culture or a village might be buried below the topsoil along the route. These discoveries would answer questions about the cultural patterns of Maryland’s prehistoric people.
Because of the limited time for fieldwork, this undertaking was classified as salvage archaeology. This is survey and excavation work that is carried out in areas threatened by construction. Unlike traditional studies, these projects must be done quickly to rescue cultural resources before they are lost. The investigation involved site surveys, surface-hunting, test pitting, and aerial observations.
For four weeks in the summer of 1962, before the big highway changed the landscape, the knowledgeable volunteers and one professional made use of every available hour. The salvage effort uncovered a jasper quarry that prehistoric people had heavily worked. Until that point, it was thought that the jasper projectile points used by Maryland Indians were made in Pennsylvania. “Frantsi Rock Shelter” is located on the east bank of the Big Elk Creek and yielded hundreds of artifacts, some dating as far back as 3000. B.C.
The enthusiasts also found Indian pottery, worked stone, knife blades, projectile points, bone material, scrapers, and mussel shells. George created an exhibit of these stone-age relics, which was housed in the basement of the public library for decades. The full report for this study is archived at the state’s archaeological library at the Maryland Historical Trust.
George’s interest in archaeology and local history never diminished. Over the decades, he’s been involved in all of the major digs in the county, including the one at Elk Landing when the county detention center was being built. A Native-American burial site was discovered there. He has helped reveal much of what had been lost to centuries of time by being an advocate for archaeology and history in Cecil County. He has also been on the frontline, out there digging and studying the secrets of the soil.
Archaeologists dig for artifacts on the new interstate HighwayEvening Sun, July 18, 1962
The cooling water of the Chesapeake Bay made Cecil's resorts very popular in the 1930s
Cecil County is rich in transportation history and full of stories of people who came to this land seeking freedom, fortune, and a place to grow roots and raise families. Years ago, slaves traveled the Underground Railroad to the Susquehanna River, only to find the crossing a major obstacle in their effort to seek freedom. Ukrainian immigrants found success working to expand the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and thriving in their adopted home near Chesapeake City. During World War II, thousands migrated from the Appalachian Mountains to find work in the munitions factories in Elkton. Thousands of sailors and personnel were stationed to train at Bainbridge, a large naval base on the Susquehanna River.
The Cecil County Arts Council, the Cecil County Historical Society, and the Cecil County Public Library are collaborating to present exhibits which celebrate American mobility, transportation, and immigration and provide programming and events that explores those residents who found their hopes and dreams in Cecil County.
For up-to-date events listings, visit the MHC Events Calendar.
Some include:
The Opening Gala, “Melting Pot,” showcasing local restaurants and a sampling the different foods of Cecil county’s diverse heritage.
An artist showcase of local work featuring personal journey stories.
Workshops for visitors to learn how to trace their ancestry.
“Dream Big: Untold Journey Stories of Cecil County,” a panel of inspirational immigrant success stories
“The Musical Journey of Ola Belle Reed,” the journey story about the famous Appalachian folksinger and songwriter who migrated to Cecil County, as told by her son.
In the late 1980s, the Judge McCauley diaries were donated to the Society. The 46 volumes, covering day by day activites in Cecil from 1851 to 1897, span an important period in the county’s history. On those pages you will find Judge McCauley penned notes about the passage of life, his work as a surveyor and some major events in the nation.
As part of a pilot project to explore making Society resources and collections available to wider audiences, our volunteers are working on creating finding aids and digitizing some collections. In this new online resource patrons will find an index to the diaries and abstracts. If you find something of interest in the Judge’s notes from centuries ago, visit our research library and we’ll be please to retrieve these manuscripts to help you with your family or local history investigation.
Bainbridge elementary fourth and fifth graders watched from the gym floor Monday as the White House burned, Andrew Jackson marched into battle and Francis Scott Key composed The Star-Spangled Banner – all in the span of a single class period.
The historical scenes – each pertaining to a major event in the War of 1812 – were written, directed and performed by students in Cecil County Public Schools’ Honors Drama II group. Led by Rising Sun High drama teacher Tess Pohlhaus, the student group is comprised of 17 juniors and seniors from county high schools.
For longer than anyone alive remembers, Valentine’s Day in Elkton has been particularly hectic down on Main Street as couples arrive here for quick marriages. Still, while cupid’s holiday is an unusually busy one, there was once a hum and bustle to the matrimonial business in the old town, day in and day out, when the wedding industry thrived in Cecil County.
Main Street Elkton has several marrying ministers.
It started just before World War I when northern states passed more restrictive marriage laws requiring waits of two or three days after a license was issued. Once Delaware joined the growing trend in 1913, it made Elkton, the northeasternmost county in Maryland, the spot for a quick ceremony. And since it was the closest to the urban centers of the northeast, the “honeymoon express” (passenger trains) arrived in town many times each day, bringing young, eager couples in a hurry to get married without delay.
The local cabbies anxiously scanned the coaches, eyeing the arriving crowd for potential brides and grooms. Wanting to grab the trade before the competition did, the jitney drivers offered to expedite the couple through the licensing process at the Clerk of the Court’s Office and help with all the arrangements. But these veteran navigators of Elkton streets, roads, alleys, and the halls of local government wanted to make sure the wedding went off without a hitch as the taxi company’s marrying parson performed the hasty ceremony.
In its heyday in the 1920s and 1930s, it was the elopement capital of the East Coast as cupid’s couples swamped the marriage parlors. The parsons were doing “one marriage every 15 minutes,” which wasn’t “bad for a town of something like 3,000 people” the News American reported in 1920, as the once quiet town a few miles from Pennsylvania and Delaware became America’s Gretna Green. In 1936, the county cranked out 11,791 marriage licenses in an area where about 250 ceremonies would have otherwise been anticipated.
To accommodate the heavy trade the taxi operators set up marrying parsons along the main streets since competition for brides and grooms was intense during the mills heyday.
Not much was required to get hitched in Elkton in those days. Twelve minutes and a few dollars were all you needed, the Baltimore newspaper reported. Although even the 12 minutes weren’t altogether necessary, the dollars were the reporter observed.
With construction of new engine bays at Singerly Fire Company’s main station on Newark Avenue nearing completion the new addition illuminates the night as winter precipitation starts falling on Elkton. Click here to see our August 2011 post when construction on the public safety building was getting underway.
Scott Sheads, a National Park Service Ranger at Fort McHenry and an authority on the Chesapeake in the War of 1812, has created a blog to share stories of Maryland during the War. His posts are informative and we think our readers will find them of interest. We’ve clipped part of one on Frenctown here and you may click on the link below to continue to the full piece.
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I have the honor to acquaint you that having yesterday gained information of the Depot of Flour…being with some Military and other Stores situated at a Place called French Town, a considerable distance up the River Elk. Rear Admiral George Cockburn to Admiral John Warren, April 29, 1813.
The first British landing incursion in Maryland occurred at Frenchtown and Elk Landing (Elkton), Cecil County on April 29, 1813. Thirty-six years before in August 1777, three hundred British warships, carrying 15,000 British and German Hessian troops had anchored off Elk Landing, fifteen miles above Frenchtown, then marched north to Philadelphia. That winter while General Washington’s continental army encamped at Valley Forge, the British occupied and entertained themselves in hospitable and warm Philadelphia.
In late April 1813, British warships again sailed up the Chesapeake towards Frenchtown a prosperous commercial port on the Elk River, a mile below Elkton on the upper bay. (Located on Frenchtown Road off Route 213.)
Elkton Police Officer Ernie Beck inspects a shattered car window (Cecil Whig, Nov. 13, 1968, Frear)
This past Friday, the Cecil Whig ran one of its “recognize this” photos showing an Elkton patrolman examining the shattered window of an automobile. In those weekly installment of old images from decades ago, they ask people to share whatever they know about the image.
This one was part of photojournalist Richard Frear’s coverage of the Elkton Police night watch titled “Watching the Night and Waiting for the Dawn.” Readers surfing over to the Whig have pointed out that it was Patrolman Ernie Beck. Ernie and his partner Baron were the first K-9 patrol in the county seat, and they kept a careful watch on those lonely night shifts in that troubled year of 1968.
As several people have asked questions about the photographer’s work, here are a few other photos from the series.
01:47 — Beck stops a juvenile suspected of being intoxicated in the Court House parking lot and searches him for a possible concealed weapon. His K-9 is trained to attack if the suspect makes any attempt to flee or attack Beck. (Source: Cecil Whig., Nov. 13, 1968, Frear)
