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Port Deposit, July 30, 2010 – Over the past few years we’ve carefully watched as Port Deposit has become a Cecil County destination spot for fine dining.  As a result we often head that way to enjoy exceptional meals coupled with the atmosphere of an attractive historic river town that ideal for strolling.  Today was one of those times, especially in light of this pleasant July day as the region finally escaped the oppressive humidity.  When we arrived on Main Street with friends, there were plenty of fine eating spots to consider.  Each of the five establishment has a unique market niche for the discriminating patron, focusing on everything from tavern food to Cecil County’s finest dining spot in our opinion (Back Fin Blues) and several choices in-between.

While we’ve mentioned this before, we haven’t talked about the newest spot, Capello Confections and Gifts. It’s an excellent bakery found right in the center of Port’s downtown restaurant district.

After finishing our enjoyable meals, the attractive little red shop and the sweet smells wafting down Main Street pulled us right in.   Inside we looked at a superb assortment of scones, cookies, cakes and lots of fancier pastries.  After all of us purchased something we settled down on inviting chairs on Capello’s front porch.   While enjoying the ambiance of a historic downtown, we munched on some delightful bakery products.

Be sure to check out the personal touch Capello’s Bakery provides while offering homemade products and old-fashioned small town service, especially if you have a sweet tooth.  You won’t find any of those ingredients in some large commercial bakery in the corner of a big-box store.  These tempting products will meet your expectations This is another Port spot that’s now on our list of places to visit regularly since we’ve discovered such temping products  By-the-way, they also provide items for private parties and other off-premises purposes.

Oh while we were there we talked to an enthusiastic young person who is in the process of opening up a higher end coffee and sandwich shop.  We’re told they’re going to have some of the finest, creative sandwiches around including Cubans, and they hope to open next weekend.  We’ll be there to check it out and give readers a first-hand report.

Be sure to visit Capello’s Bakery and some of the other places.  It’s been great to see the revitalization that is going on in this old Susquehanna River town as new businesses that pull in tourists from a wide region locate here.  It’s certainly caused us to become Port Deposit regulars.

The restoration of Hebron’s Gift, an 18^th century Calvert dwelling, is being documented on a blog that shows the progress of the undertaking and shares interesting findings.  Hebron’s Gift was first owned by John Daye in 1739 and the present kitchen dates from that time, according to the Maryland Historical Trust. John Daye also established a tanyard east of his dwelling that same year. It remained in operation for over 100 years.   The main house was built about 1800.  Readers of a Window on Cecil County’s Past may find this weblog of interest.

Click here to go to the Hebron’s Gift.

Photos Courtesy of Cecil County Dept. of Public Works

On June 24, 2010, Gilpin’s Falls Covered Bridge was dedicated. The County Dept. of Public works took photos of the ceremony and they’ve shared them with us.  So we’ve built a short slide show of the dedication, which we though readers might enjoy.  For the rest of the story, see the links below.

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Gilpin’s Falls Bridge Preservation Effort Honored

You never know what kind of buried treasures might turn up when someone starts digging around older parts of Elkton.  Many of the town’s parking areas, streets, and buildings lots have yielded relics that were tossed aside and buried long ago.      

It’s been that way for centuries as people have been astonished after unearthing Revolutionary War and War of 1812 artifacts.  Beyond projectiles of war, the soil yields up relics of everyday living including old building foundations, bottles, coins, ceramics buttons, and arrow-heads.  One bona-fide archaeological dig produced  Spanish coins, stoneware from prehistoric peoples, and human bones from an aboriginal burial ground.      

Showing up over and over again, those cannonballs grab much of the attention   A decade before the Civil War shattered the nation, “one of those dreaded implements of war, a genuine bombshell, was dug up in the yard of the Elkton Academy [North Street],” the Cecil Democrat reported.  A few years later in 1863, men laying gas lines on Main Street excavated four cannonballs.  Another time in 1877 masons moving earth for a cellar alongside Main Street found an 18-pounder three-feet below the surface.      

These discoveries continued into the 20th century.  When Elkton put in a new storm sewer on Bow Street in 1970,  a backhoe caught on an old mill stone.  Later hundreds of hand-blown bottles were unearthed.  About a half-block south of High Street, they found four cannon balls.  About ten-years ago a contractor uncovered a projectile at the corner of Main and Bow streets while working on the streetscape project.  That sighting generated a buzz as some argued it was just an old bowling ball three-feet under the oyster shell and stone filled colonial-era turnpike.  It was going to stop the Main Street revitalization project others fretted.  Of course that was an unfounded worry and the bowling ball theory was promptly discarded.  At Elk Landing, an untold number of cannon balls have been found over the years.      

Clusters of artifacts such as buckles, bullets, and typical objects discarded by the military were found, along with an occasional cannonball, out on Grey’s Hill in 1885, the Elkton Appeal wrote.  Tradition has it that a British Army unit camped there during the invasion of 1777.  They also found stone from the old turnpike across the Peninsula.      

One of the most important archaeological excavations ever done on the Eastern Shore took place in 1981 on the site of the county detention center, according to George Reynolds.  Those grounds, which were occupied over a 10,000 year period, contained a Native-American village and burial ground.      

As for the question about how all those cannonballs got here, here are a couple of theories.  The major part of a massive, invading British Army occupied Elkton prior to the Battle of Brandywine in 1777, while other military units used this route throughout the war.  In the War of 1812, English barges sailed up the river toward Elkton.  As they approached some accounts say they fired a few bombshells.  Perhaps some of the shot found at Elk Landing came from those blasts or the defender’s stockpiles since the the small, earthen fortificaton had a cannon.  The others some distance away from the waterway were probably simply left as armies passed through the area.      

These archaeological discoveries put the spotlight on a dimly illuminated part of Cecil County’s history.  Our written record here is strong so we know lots about that long period.  But in earlier times, as the manuscripts grow weaker, we have to depend on archeology to help puzzle out the past.  So whenever someone starts digging deep into the earth in some of the oldest parts of the county seat, one has to wonder what’s being unearthed.  Some of those discarded materials might help us solve historical mysteries since our soil is crammed with lots of artifacts that have been buried for centuries.      

Here’s what brought this matter up.  This week, during the full blast of heat and humidity from a Chesapeake Summer, workers dug deep into the ground around the Clayton Building on North Street.  As they moved earth from around that 1860s granite basement wall, one had to wonder what secrets to the past the soil contained.  This attractive brick structure was the Odd fellow’s Hall and before that the lot was about where the 18th century county jail yard stood.  Immediately next door was the  1790s courthouse .  This is a parcel that is connected with some of the municipality’s earliest development. This area has so much history so you never know what types of surprising artifacts are waiting to be found and how they’ll yield insight to the past.  Whatever we come up with when we search for the secrets in the ground, the key is that there is a lot of stuff we don’t know about that’s buried under Elkton soil.

From Baltimore Sun —-

The state has awarded a $125,000 grant to the Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway to complete the final restoration of the Rodgers Tavern in Perryville, a 315-year-old landmark that played a role in the nation’s early history.

The tavern will serve as a modern-day anchor for downtown Perryville revitalization and provide public access to the water and the town in Cecil County. The grant will pay for interior and exterior repairs.

continues on Baltimore Sun

June 24, 2010 – Gilpin’s Falls Covered Bridge, Cecil County’s very own bridge to the past, is prepared for a solid run through the 21st century since master bridgewrights completed restoration work a few months ago. To celebrate that milestone about 75 supporters, politicians, and county officials gathered at the span on June 24th, a hot summer day, to dedicate the structure.  During remarks at the ribbon-cutting it was noted that the American Public Works Association, Virginia/DC/Maryland Chapter, awarded the Historical Restoration the “Project of The Year” for 2010. 

 As links to our past disappear all too fast in the 21st century in Cecil, the old structure that survived the test of the time (the Civil War, the automobile age, floods, and lack of care) is a local preservation success story thanks to the work of a dedicated friend of the span, Earl Simmers. This surviving pre-Civil War relic was at great risk of being lost a few years ago.  But Earl never gave up on the link to our past. He worked tirelessly to ensure that this old structure was not lost to age, neglect or indifference. Spearheading a fund drive that raised private money to help with the cost, he also sought out grants and political support for the old structure.

Thanks Mr. Simmers for making this a Cecil County preservation success story since this aging covered bridge stands as silent proof about our area’s past.  The county puts a lot of effort into marketing Cecil to tourist, relocating BRAC workers, and higher-end corporations. Our natural beauty, historical character, and cultural resources are things these target groups find most appealing here.

As links to our past quickly disappear in the 21st century in the county, historic preservation is a worthy goal.

For more information and many more photos on the span check out the Maryland Covered Bridges website.    Photo courtesy of Maryland Covered Briges web master. 

A few old relics from the county’s past are biting the dust this week in Cecilton as a wrecking crew goes about the task of demolishing three 19th-century houses. 

Late this afternoon, one of old place fell to the swing of the arm of an excavator while a small backhoe and workers rushed here and there tidying up the piles of splintered wood.  Standing silently next to the creaking, groaning walls as they fell is another structure from the late 19^th century.  When this especially attractive Victorian comes crashing to the ground in a pile of rubble, and it’s all done, Cecilton will have lost three special properties.   Architecturally, they created a graceful, unique streetscape that is hard to find in the 21^st century.  All evidence of this charm in the heart of the rural community will have been erased.

They say the loss of a part of the community’s cultural legacy is in the name of progress.  The old first district commercial center that served as an agricultural market town for so long will have another modern convenience store.  What it is losing are three irreplaceable pieces of architecture. 

The town had 103 of these major contributing assets from the past lying along Main Street, Bohemia Avenue, and Church, Wilson, and Richards Streets, according to the Maryland Historical Trust.  These survivors from another century indeed added greatly to the charm of the town, which is located on a scenic Maryland Byway.