(April 29, 2011) –Oh, say can you see…. Maryland’s bi-centennial commemoration of the War of 1812 making its way to the Upper Bay Region? A website www.upperbay1812.com has been developed to share the history, notable people and places of the War of 1812 Upper Bay or Chesapeake Campaign.
A steering committee of stakeholders from both Harford and Cecil Counties is working to capitalize on the events that occurred in the region during the Chesapeake Campaign of the War of 1812. Maryland’s 200 year anniversary of the War presents opportunities to promote and improve the visitor experience in the Upper Bay region. Sites such as The Concord Point Lighthouse, Principio, Elk Landing, and Rodgers Tavern will help connect visitors to this National story and how it relates to the Upper Bay.
The two-county Steering Committee is being led by the Tourism Directors of Cecil and Harford Counties, Sandy Maruchi-Turner and Wini Roche respectively. Partners include the towns of Perryville, Port Deposit, North East, Charlestown, Earleville, Havre de Grace, the Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway, Aberdeen Proving Ground and numerous historical sites around the region. While the most significant events actually took place here during 1813 such as the burning of Havre de Grace, the State’s bi-centennial is a multi-year cultural tourism and educational initiative to commemorate Maryland’s unique contributions to the defense and heritage of the nation, including the pivotal clash that ensured American victory, an iconic flag and our national anthem, the Star-Spangled Banner. For more information visit: www.starspangled200.org.
Current events are also being promoted on the Upper Bay 1812 website including the Re-enactment in Havre de Grace of the Attack of the British coming up on May 7 & 8. Future plans for the website include a site map and pod cast trail of sites of interest in the Upper Bay region.
Please visit the Perryville Branch Library at 7:00 on May 5th for A History of Port Deposit presented by Port’s Town Administrator, Erika Quesenbery. From John Smith’s visit, to the Bainbridge Naval Base, Port Deposit has a long and storied past. As the town’s bicentennial quickly approaches in 2013, it is time to learn about and celebrate the almost 200 years of history of Port Deposit, Maryland. Registration for this program is required, by stopping by the library or callling 410-996-6070, ext 3.”
Elkton, MD – The Board of Trustees of the Maryland Historical Trust (MHT) has named the rehabilitation of the Gilpin’s Falls Covered Bridge the winner of a 2011 Maryland Preservation Award for Project Excellence. The award will be presented at the 36th Annual Maryland Preservation Awards ceremony at the Miller Senate Office Building in Annapolis, Maryland at 4:00PM on Friday, May 20, 2011. The awards ceremony is free and open to the public.
According to MHT, Maryland Preservation Awards are presented each year to honor outstanding people, projects, and publications that protect and revitalize Maryland’s historic places. They are the highest level of recognition for historic preservation projects and service in the state.
In his letter to Jim Mullin, President of the Board of Cecil County Commissioners, announcing the award, Harrison B. Wetherill, Jr., Chairman of the MHT Board of Trustees, stated that the MHT Board selected the Gilpin’s Falls Covered Bridge project “Because of the exceptional quality of the workmanship and commitment to historic preservation shown by the County and the project team during the rescue and revitalization of this highly visible and significant structure. The Trust recognizes that projects of this size and magnitude are no small feats and we applaud your achievement.”
The Gilpin’s Falls Covered Bridge project repaired and rehabilitated a historic covered bridge constructed in 1860, which carried highway traffic until 1936. Because of the historical nature of the structure specialty craftsmen experienced in historical restoration had to be employed and replacement materials had to be specially constructed to replicate original materials to the maximum extent possible. The project was completed in April 2010 at a cost of $1,469,000, which coincided with the 150th anniversary of the construction of the bridge.
The project was managed by the Engineering & Construction Division of the Cecil County Department of Public Works (DPW). It was designed by the consulting engineering firm of Wallace, Montgomery and Associates, Kinsley Construction, Inc. was the general contractor with historic restoration work performed by the firm Barns and Bridges of New England. These organizations, as well as the Board of Cecil County Commissioners and the Gilpin’s Falls Covered Bridge Committee, a private group which advocated for the project and which contributed funds toward the project cost, will receive award certificates in recognition of their efforts on the project.
The MHT 2011 Maryland Preservation Award for Project Excellence is the fourth major award bestowed upon the Gilpin’s Falls Covered Bridge Project. The County Engineers Association of Maryland named it the “2010 County Project of the Year” in the mid-size projects category. The Virginia/District of Columbia/Maryland Chapter of the American Public Works Association named it the chapter’s “2010 Project of the Year (Historical Restoration Category),” and the Maryland Quality Initiative presented DPW with a 2011 Award of Excellence for the project.
The Maryland Historical Trust, an agency of the Maryland Department of Planning, is dedicated to preserving and interpreting the legacy of Maryland’s past through research, conservation, and education programs.
This past Wednesday marked the thirty-third anniversary of the worst commercial nuclear accident in U.S history. As the crisis that resulted in a partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island Power Plant began on March 28, 1979, Cecil County Civil Defense was deeply involved in testing the area’s preparedness for a nuclear disaster.
Cecil can aid thousands fleeing from radiation at Three Mile Island, the headline in the Cecil Democrat read.
But at Three Mile Island, things weren’t going well, and over the next few days, the incident triggered national alarm. By Friday night, the third day of the incident, the possibility of a meltdown had become real and a growing hydrogen bubble caused worry about an explosion. Struggling to get ahead of this rapidly changing crisis and wanting to make sure they were doing everything possible for public health and safety, Pennsylvania officials developed plans to evacuate up to 636,000 people on short notice. The mass evacuation zone included Harrisburg and parts of six counties within a 25-mile radius of the plant.
The primary task for the agency with Cold War roots was the protection of civilian populations during wartime, so the exercise scenario involved a nuclear attack on major Atlantic seaboard cities. During the course of that day, as operators at the generating station 40 miles from the county’s northwestern border struggled to bring the reactor under control, local officials simulated situations “involving a full range of anticipated trouble, from overcrowded fallout shelters to rioting and looting,” the Cecil Democrat reported. At the end of the day, “things had gone very well,” John J. Ward, the director of Civil Defense advised.
Preparing for a Nuclear Power Plant Accident
The primary task for the agency with Cold War roots was the protection of civilian populations during wartime, so the exercise scenario involved a nuclear attack on major Atlantic seaboard cities. During the course of that day, as operators at the generating station 40 miles from the county’s northwestern border struggled to bring the reactor under control, local officials simulated situations “involving a full range of anticipated trouble, from overcrowded fallout shelters to rioting and looting,” the Cecil Democrat reported. At the end of the day, “things had gone very well,” John J. Ward, the director of Civil Defense advised.
To support such a massive relocation, Governor Dick Thornburgh called for representatives from other states to attend an urgent weekend conference in Lancaster. There, John J. Ward, the Director, Henry Metz, assistant, Rachel Gray, and Mike Dixon, PIO, learned that Cecil should prepare to receive 2,000 to 6,000 residents from Lancaster County.
A postcard reproduced the front page of the Harrisburg Patriot as the newspaper covered Three Mile Island
Cecil’s Civil Defense agency immediately started preparations over that long weekend thirty-three years ago, as worried Harrisburg area residents warily listened to news broadcasts. Working late into the night over that unsettled week, Mr. Ward’s staff (Henry Metz, Assistant Director, Mike Dixon, PIO, and Rachel Grey, Secretary) developed a plan for the influx if an evacuation was ordered,
Traffic routes were selected beginning at the Mason-Dixon Line. The Fair Hill Race Track and the former Bainbridge Naval Training Center were designated channeling points for incoming traffic. On those spacious grounds, evacuees would be provided with whatever urgent aid they required, including monitoring for possible radiation contamination, before being assigned to a temporary shelter.
The county’s radiological officers assigned to fallout shelters, fire stations, hospitals, and other public buildings pulled out their radiological instruments, which they had used a few days earlier for a nuclear attack training exercise. Reexamining those Geiger Counters and Dosimeters, they ensured the Cold War instruments were ready should the situation escalate. In addition, the State Department of Health started taking readings. sampling the water at the Conowingo Dam and milk at Whiteford and Rising Sun farms while a State Police helicopter checked for upper air releases 1.
Places where up to 6,000 people could be fed and housed around the county were pinpointed. Churches, fire halls, schools, community centers and other sites where emergency housing and food services could be provided were selected. There were also plans for Port Deposit and Perryville, including the Veterans Administration Hospital, if the Susquehanna River became polluted by radioactivity as both towns drew drinking water from the river, according to the Cecil Democrat.
Before that anxious weekend was over, Cecil’s emergency responders stood ready to assist the Commonwealth if the dreaded call came. Sitting in the Civil Defense Headquarters, two stories under the courthouse, fire, health, social services, and Red Cross leaders briefed each other on final preparations as they double-checked their rushed work and stayed in constant contact with Pennsylvania via special, public safety radio networks. Phone lines in and around Harrisburg and Three Mile Island were overloaded, making calls difficult to get through.
An Anxious Weekend in Cecil County
While the order for a mass evacuation never came as the threat at the plant eventually subsided, Cecil County emergency officials spent a tense week watching events unfold at the island in the Susquehanna River.
Civil Defense Unit prepares for worst at Three Mile Island, a headline in the Baltimore Sun.,
Source: Baltimore Sun, April 3, 1979.
John J. Ward was appointed the first Civil Defense Director in the county in 1950 by Gov. William Preston Lane. At the age of 80, the director retired in the summer of 1979.
For additional Cecil County Three Mile Island Photos see this album on Facebook.
Notes & Sources
Baltimore Sun, April 3, 1979, Civil defense unit prepares for worst in Maryland
Evening Sun, March 31, 1979, Maryland: Evacuation Plans Drawn Up; radiation levels still normal
The Friends of the Cecil County Public Library will host a night of local authors on Thursday, April 14 at 7 p.m. at the Elkton Central Library. Dr. Corinne Litzenburg and Mrs. Bobbie Hinman, are the featured authors of children’s books. Brigadier General Ken Wiggins is featured as an author of Delaware military history. Each author will speak about their interests in writing and the process of the craft of writing. Following the program, participants are invited to engage in an informal question and answer session with the authors. Additionally, refreshments will be served and copies of the authors’ works will be available for purchase.
One of the Historical Society’s most experienced family history researchers and a past president of the Genealogical Society of Cecil County, Gary Burns, has worked several years transcribing tombstones at practically every known cemetery in Cecil County. From Bald Friar to Warwick, and every other place in between, he and helpers, have visited quite old country graveyards, as well as those in towns and villages, to record data found on the memorials. Once they collected the information, they entered it into an Excel Spreadsheet.
Gary has given the Historical Society this insightful work so it could be made available on the Web and it will be extremely helpful for researchers. As it stands now, it has just been expanded to contain over 30,000 entries for Cecil County Tombstones. It is still a work in progress and we will add additional data as Gary makes it available. By-the-way, when he first posted it online, it had 16,000 entries.
Thanks Gary for making this valuable update available online. Click here to go the records
Clay deposits played a major role in the economy of bygone Cecil County. Some were mined and shipped out-of-state while others provided the key raw material to potters and firebrick makers. Wheel-thrown redware and stoneware were fired in kilns at Rising Sun, Brick Meeting House, NorthEast and Rock Springs. Meanwhile, some Delaware and Pennsylvania potters relied on the county’s clays to turn their pots. The names of some potters like William Carter and Eli Haines were virtually unknown until this book traced the role this craft played in their lives. An exquisite harvest jug fashioned by Carter in 1847 survives today. Other names – Remmey, Grier, Hare, Magee, Brown and Schofield – are much more recognizable to today’s collectors and historians, yet in many cases, connections to Cecil County were unknown or incomplete.
Commercial firebrick operations were attracted by the abundance of kaolin-based clays. Some were short-lived while others carried on for decades. Most companies like Cecil, North East, Wakefield, Green Hill and United molded and fired these refractory bricks around the town of North East.
Potters and Firebrick Makers of Cecil County, Maryland, and Nearby is illustrated with over 100 images, nearly half in color. Spanning 140 pages and 8.5” X 11” in size, this book was built from numerous newspaper accounts, land records, family histories and pottery collections. It provides a valuable window to the past and deserves the widespread interest from fans of local history and pottery enthusiasts and collectors alike.
Available From History in Print, P.O. Box 185, Mendenhall, PA 19357, (610) 388-6836; fairhill3@aol.com$30.00
Click this link to view an album of photos from Dr. Koterski’s talk to the Archaeological Society of the Upper Chesapeake
Potters and Firebrick Makers of Cecil County, Maryland
Although a lot of time has passed since two members of the county’s fire service fell in the line of duty, it’s important to remember them. Perhaps someday a memorial can be created to honor those fire, rescue and EMS providers who lost their lives in the line of duty.
Richard L. Loller, 37 – On May 18, 1956, the Chesapeake City Fire Company responded to an urgent call to assist Galena with a fire at the Kent Oil Company. While battling the dangerous blaze with companies from throughout the area, several explosions rocked the tank farm, the final one coming about 8:30 that Friday morning. That last death-dealing explosion of a 6,000 gallon tank filled with gasoline sent part of the huge vessel soaring through the air. Flying debris killed two firefighters and the extreme heat from the flash burned a dozen or more people close to the scene. Richard L. Loller, 37, of Chesapeake City and Robert Harry Brice, 24, of Betterton were killed after being hit by limbs falling from a tree.
Steward W. Godwin, 56 — On a Sunday in December 1963, as lightning periodically illuminated the cold rainy night, five airliners flew in a holding pattern above Cecil County, awaiting clearance to land in Philadelphia. Just before 9 p.m. Pam American Airways Flight 214, carrying 81 passengers and crew was struck by lightning and exploded. A general alarm was sounded for all available ambulances. From the North East Fire Company, a unit rushed toward the cornfield just east of Elkton. On that dark stormy Sunday night, as fire company search lights illuminated the field, emergency responders searched the scene, looking for survivors. About 1:30 a.m. Steward W. Godwin, 56, of North East suddenly collapsed into the arms of Andrew Scarborough, another North East member, the News Journal reported. He passed away at Union Hospital, the death being attributed to a heart attack. He had been a member of the fire company for 18 months, according to the newspaper.
It’s important to make sure their sacrifice isn’t forgotten. If there are other fallen fighters who made the ultimate sacrifice, let us know so we can add their names to the list. Perhaps someday there can be a Cecil County memorial, a place to carve their names in granite as a permanent memorial to their service as they protected the people of Cecil County.
A firefighter stands near a crater where much of the impact occurred at the plane crash.
The annual volunteer firemen’s carnivals were popular summer events in Cecil County years ago. Each summer, as the event moved from town to town, large crowds would turn out for an evening of fun and entertainment. These two photos show the Singerly Fire Company carnival sometime in the 1950s.
(April 29, 2011) – Oh, say can you see…. Maryland’s bi-centennial commemoration of the War of 1812 making its way to the Upper Bay Region? A website www.upperbay1812.com has been developed to share the history, notable people and places of the War of 1812 Upper Bay or Chesapeake Campaign. 
