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One night late in 1917 or early 1918, the electrical age arrived in Cecilton. As darkness descended, current flowed through wires causing lights to flicker on in businesses and homes, while lamps on poles illuminated streets. The Cecilton Electric Light and Power Company had launched this important undertaking in July 1917 when the investors told businessmen that they could shortly do away with oil lamps. 

The managers working to displace old kerosene lamps were Wm. H. Brown, Dr. R. M. Black, Wm, H. Alderson, President; E. S. Short, and William Luthringer.¹

A Fire Plunges Town into Darkness

About the time people started getting used to chasing off the darkness with modern electricity, a blaze erupted at the powerhouse. On that Friday evening in November 1920, the fire grew beyond what the employees and townspeople could control so someone telephoned the Middletown Fire Company.

The Delaware firefighters answered the alarm, rushing an engine over. Although it wasn’t possible to save the power company property, the firefighters stopped it from spreading to nearby buildings. That autumn night, the town plunged into darkness except for hastily located kerosene lamps. Consequently, the utility purchased a new electric light station and dynamo, bringing current back to town in a few months.^2,3

To help with the expense, the Cecilton Electric Light Company planned a carnival to raise $2,500 for new machinery in 1920. But Rev. T. R. Van Dyke, pastor of the Cecilton M.E. Church “declared that carnivals were a great injury to the morals of any community and a most undesirable method of raising money.” The managers called it off as the minister went out among the people to collect the full amount. After finishing his rounds, Rev. Van Dyke presented the contributions to the town commissioners enabling them to make the final payment on the machinery.⁴

Nevertheless, the company held carnivals some years during the roaring ’20s, the big draw being an automobile they chanced off. In 1925, the managers made a profit of $1,153.72.⁵

Large Utilities Move In

As the industry matured and the Great Depression neared consolidation brought changes for rural utilities across the nation. The interconnected grids enabled small towns to receive service village generating plants couldn’t provide. In line with this, one buyer offered the Cecilton Electric Light and Power Company $11,000 in 1928.

Meanwhile, the Maryland Public Service Commission started investigating rumors about Eastern Shore offers. Luke Ellis, the agency’s fieldman, learned of multiple attempts by “undetermined interests” from Frank “Home Run” Baker, a former Talbot County Baseball Star. Overtures had been made to purchase the Trappe Electric Company,” Baker reported. These same buyers had offered the Millington Plant $70,000.⁶

Lower Rates Promised

Representatives of the undetermined syndicate promised “lower rates” through the transmission of current from the Conowingo Dam. But W. H. Taylor, president of the Philadelphia Electric Company said no contract or deal had been proposed to furnish power to any Eastern Shore utilities. The state advised that it wouldn’t allow prices in excess of the valuations to be paid as the public would “suffer through higher rates in the future.”⁶

Following the investigation, the Commission issued an order permitting a subsidiary of the Empire Public Service Corporation of Chicago, a utility operating in 14 states, to merge the small Maryland companies into its network in 1930. Ratepayers, the Commission said, would benefit from ownership by an adequately financed and managed corporation that would extend service and provide cost efficiencies to benefit the public. Operating as the Maryland Light & Power Company, this consolidated concern had acquired thirteen firms in this area, including Betterton, Millington, Trappe, Love Point, Somerset County, and Cecilton.^7,8

Rural Electrification

A few more decades slipped by before farmers and residents in the outlying areas of the First District could chase off the darkness with a flip of the switch.  While they waited for the current to flow, people met in Cecilton one afternoon in April 1939 to express interest in extending the lines.

During these years, summer developments popped up along the waterways, increasing demand. One of those seasonal resorts, White Crystal wrote in the community newsletter, the “Manor Messenger” in 1939 that the Beach stood at the threshold of another major improvement. “Prospects of getting electricity next year would mean running water, radios, electric stoves, good lighting, and a thousand of the conveniences that have been sacrificed by everyone for the fresh air, the sunshine and water,” the editor remarked. “We won’t have to say to our visitors, “We just camp out down here!” No with the advent of electricity . . . we will be able to say ‘This is our summer home . . . “⁹

But World War II got in the way. Finally, the first lines were energized in 1948 for those necks and remote farms in southern Cecil County.   

Other Uitilies in Cecilton

By the way, Cecilton had two other utilities. One, the gas company piped gas to houses and streets of town by August 1904. Mr. Short, the owner, produced gas from a small brick gas house on the east end of town. Rudolph G. Anklam of Denton had built the acetylene plant and installed the mains in July 1904.¹⁰.

There was also the Cecilton and Earlville Telephone Company.

Endnotes

1.  Public Service Commission of Maryland, Report. Report for the Year 1918, Case No. 1457, Korn & Pollock, Baltimore, 1919[↩]
2. “Ceciliton Light Plant Burns,” Smyrna Times, Jan. 14, 1920[↩]
3. Industrial Development and Manufacturers Record, 1920, pp 187, 202[↩]
4. “Pastor Heads Off Carnival,” Smyrna Times,” Sept. 15, 1920[↩]
5. “Cecilton,” Midland Journal, Nov. 20, 1925[↩]
6. “Probing Efforts to Buy Utilities,” Baltimore Sun, March 25, 1928 p. 3[↩][↩]
7. “Maryland Utilities Merger Sanctioned,” Evening Star, Washington, D.C., April 3, 1930 p. 13[↩]
8. “Thirteen Electric Firms Named in Maryland Merger,” Evening Star, Washington, DC., Dec. 28, 1929 p 18[↩]
9. “Let There Be Light,” The Manor Messenger, Vol. 1, No. 1. June 30, 1939[↩]
10. “Local Items,” Denton Journal, July 29, 1904[↩]

Now that a blast of cold Canadian air is moving in, we started thinking about another time that an arctic blast held a tight grip on the area for an extended period.

It was the winter of 1852, the coldest in many years, and the temperatures dipped far below zero each night.  This caused the mighty Susquehanna River to freeze over, disrupting transportation on the northeast corridor.  In those days, a bridge hadn’t been built between Perryville and Havre de Grace, so a steam ferry, the Susquehanna, ferried passengers and freight across the waterway.

But with the river solidly frozen over from bank to bank, the movement of the railroad ferry was disrupted.  This presented a major problem as traffic backed up.

The Chief Engineer of the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad, Isaac R. Trimble, devised a solution.  His expedient involved railroad tracks on the ice.  This unique route opened on January 15, 1852, and It was in use every day through February 24, 1852, when the rails were removed because a thaw was coming on.  Over 1,378 cars were moved over the ice, and regular traffic began again on March 3, 1852.¹

Based on a drawing by F. F. Schell, a lithograph was produced by Thomas S. Sinclair of Philadelphia.  It featured a view of the railroad tracks on ice across the Susquehanna at Havre de Grace.  This was a popular item at the time and it was reproduced in several forms.  The Adams Express Company arranged to get an imprint of it, too, and the company distributed the popular image to customers.²

Endnotes

1. Digitial Maryland, View of Railroad Tracks Across the Susquehanna, mcdcp179[↩]
2. Adams Express Co., Lithograph by Thomas Sinclair, 1852, Digital Library of Maryland[↩]

On the long journey between Philadelphia and Baltimore in the 19th-century, travelers looked forward to arriving in Rising Sun. There, the Maryland House provided some of the finest accommodations to be found in northeastern Maryland.

Recently an inquiry about a hotelier, S. C. Konigmacher, who briefly operated the Maryland House in the 1870s, had us looking into the history of these establishments. In January 1869, John Thompson opened a new hotel, the Maryland House. Replacing an earlier one destroyed by fire, the new house had 24 rooms and a concert hall or ballroom. It was one of the finest and largest establishments in Cecil County, the Oxford Press reported.

In 1872, another destructive fire, originating in the adjoining foundry, quickly spread to the hotel and its stables, destroying the buildings. The alarm was sounded around 11 p.m. but it was soon realized that the bucket brigade couldn’t check the spreading flames. Thus an urgent appeal for aid went out on the telegraph wires to Oxford requesting that the Union Fire Company load a steam engine on a special train and rush to Rising Sun. But at that hour the Oxford telegraph office was closed so the fire department didn’t get the message until the next morning, according to the Oxford Press.

After the 1872 blaze William Grason bought the Odd Fellows Building. His extensive remodeling included the addition of a third floor and attractive porches. Located on the site of the current town hall, it became the second Maryland House. S. C. Konigmacher was the operator of the Maryland House for a few years, in the early 1870s. In the 1870 census, he is listed as a hotelkeeper living in Rising Sun. He was an experienced hotelier for in 1869 he managed the opening of the Seaview House in Atlantic City NJ. Before that, he had managed the Ephrata Mountain Springs in Ephrata, PA.

Over the decades the hotel changed hands and new proprietors provided for weary travelers as the times changed. Early in the 20th-century roving tourists and their automobiles stopped for overnight stays as they made their way along the new highway, Route 1, which passed through the center of the town. . In 1916, G. R. Grason sold the hotel to W. B. Cooney for $5,500. Martin Keplinger and Carolina Keplinger of White Hall, MD took possession of the hotel on September 14, 1930. They planned to make extensive improvements, which included a new front to the building, an enlarged dining room, and other alterations, according to the Midland Journal.

Somewhere in this age, the Keplinger’s stopped using it as a hotel and focused on the restaurant. They also called it the Rising Sun Hotel. In 2000 the old hotel was torn down as the Town of Rising Sun erected a town hall.

For more photos of the Rising Sun Hotel see the https://www.facebook.com/cecilcountyhistory/posts/1979788825619368Maryland House album on Facebook.

Catching a show at the North East Theatre on Main Street was a popular thing to do for generations of people in central Cecil County during the middle third of the 20th century.

The first movie in town was owned by Albert J. Roney, Sr. and initially shows were projected at the GAR Hall, according to the “History of North East” published by the local history club of the North East High School in 1964-65. These were silent movies accompanied by a player piano. One of the early names of the movie house was “Cecil Theatre.”

At some point, Mr. Roney built the new facility on Main Street. According to the town history, the movies there were accompanied by an organ played by Ida Desosio. On May 18, 1929, the Cecil Whig announced that screenings in the movie house were the first in Cecil County to have sound and talking pictures.

When Mr. Roney received an appointment in 1937 as postmaster, he sold the business to John Smith. Mr. Roney died in February 1953, and his old theatre closed sometime around 1965. The last ads for shows we have located were published in the Cecil Democrat late in 1964, and in 1965, the theatre no longer had a telephone listing in the directory.

In March 1969, the Cecil Democrat reported that the North East Theatre was no longer there to greet visitors when they entered the town from Route 40 as it was being torn down. The paper added that the movie house had been closed for about five years and the building had been used for storage after the screen went dark.

For Additional Photos of Going to the movies in North East, see this album on Facebook

In the Elkton Cemetery on Howard Street, a small stretch of grass alongside Howard Street has served as the firemen’s plot since 1892. Here is the story behind this little plot of land in the old burial ground.

The Singerly Fire Company was incorporated on Jan. 22, 1892, and in early November of that year, the department’s first president, Richard Thomas, died. The Elkton firefighters promptly called a special meeting to arrange the funeral.

The men voted to purchase land in the cemetery for $14 to serve as the final resting place for President Thomas. The deed to Singerly notes that Mrs. Thomas had the privilege of being buried beside her husband in the fireman’s lot.

O.R. Chaytor was appointed to serve as the marshal at the fire service funeral. The company also draped the fire apparatus in mourning for 30 days.

Mr. Thomas, 73, a native of England, had settled in Cecil County in 1842. For many years, he was engaged in the lumber and canal boat business at Port Deposit, and in 1871 he was elected sheriff of the county, filling the office for two years. He died suddenly of heart disease on November 1. 1892, while sitting in a chair at his home on Main Street (Evening Journal, November 2, 1892).

Mrs. Thomas was buried there in 1928.

Several years ago, Ed McKeown of the Elkton Monument Company donated a monument to formally mark the firemen’s plot at the cemetery in Elkton.

For additional photographs of the Firemen’s Lot at the Elkton Cemetery, see this album on Facebook

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. The formal dedication of the Jacob Tome Memorial Swimming Pool took place on Saturday, August 26, 1950. Capt. J. J. O’Donnell, USN, the former commanding officer of the Naval Academy and College Preparatory School at Bainbridge was the principal speaker. Other remarks were offered by Donaldson Brown of Mount Ararat Farms, Frank D. Brown, Jr. president of the Lions Club, and Robert F. Ryan president of the town council.

Practically the entire town turned out for the event, and after the dedication, the crowd was entertained with a water pageant, with exhibition swimming and diving and formation underwater maneuvers. The ten acts featured a special swimming team from the University of Maryland (News Journal, Aug. 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. It was “sink or swim for Port Deposit Pool” as the Lions Club approached the town about assuming responsibility for operations, the Cecil Whig reported. The town wasn’t interested in taking on the obligation for the 40-by-100-foot Olympic-style pool but needed time to consider things. The pool didn’t open for the 1983 season.

For additional photos see this Port Deposit Pool Album on Facebook

Also see the Frenchtown Pool, another favorite summertime in Cecil County

One of the highlights of August for many people living in Cecil County in the decades around the turn of the twentieth century was the annual Woodlawn Camp Meeting. For two weeks in the heat and humidity of summer, many families vacationed there, escaping the chores of farm life, socializing, and listening to worship services.

Established by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1871, the encampment continued for more than 42 years, annually drawing people to the cool shade of the grove. It was located on what is now called Camp Meeting Ground Road near Woodlawn on a 15-acre grove of tall timbers, which was purchased from F. Marion Rawlings and Theodore J. Vanneman.

There were two long avenues of tents extending on either side of the wooden tabernacle, where a pavilion for preachers and benches were located. While most campers resided in tents there were a few frame structures, such as the boarding tent and ice cream and confectionery stand.

The local Methodist ministers took charge of the camp, and it was their duty to provide preaching talent throughout the week. From morning to evening, there was preaching, praising, and fellowship. Of course, there was an active choir, supplemented by a fiddle and a coronet. “The old hymns of the church were sung lustily and with great fervor,” the Cecil Democrat reported.

The camp meeting also played an important social role. The young people met to promenade up and down the avenues on those hot, sticky August nights. Hopefully, they caught a gentle breeze as they stopped at the picture gallery for photographs or at the ice cream stand for refreshments. Many of the campers resided in tents, but there were two frame cottages.

The boarding tent, and ice cream and confectionery stand were also frame. The boarding tent was under the management of “Uncle Al Boyd,” a former baggage master on the railroad and a former sheriff. The camp bell called camp goers for meals and meetings and the “never failing pump” was a popular spot. With the arrival of the automobile and the accessibility of attractions at greater distances, camp days waned.

The annual camp meeting went out of style in Cecil County in 1913. The ground was sold by receivers in 1915.

* * * * * *Sources & Notes

* The Historical Marker Database — Woodlawn Camp Meeting https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=24111 ** At the Head of the Bay: A Cultural & Architectural History of Cecil County* Period articles in the Cecil Democrat and the Cecil Whig

For additional photos of Woodlawn Camp Meeting as this album on Facebook

As the summer months heated up in the late 19th century, residents of nearby cities often took extended vacations. Seeking out the cooler, fresh air of the countryside or the fresh breezes from the ocean or bay, they escaped the city’s heat during the sweltering months. Many towns on the Chesapeake Bay capitalized on this growing trend and Rising Sun was one of the places ready to host vacationers from Philadelphia, Chester, Wilmington or other nearby points in 1870.

After S. C. Konigmacher, an experienced hotelier, took over the management of Rising Sun’s hotel, the Maryland House, in 1870, he promoted it as a summer resort. An experienced innkeeper, he formerly managed the Ephrata Mountain Springs in Ephrata, PA, and the Seaview House in Atlantic City, NJ.

Koningmacher’s advertisement noted that the Maryland House was the most modern, attractive summer place between Philadelphia and Baltimore. In the “midst of a highly cultivated neighborhood — settled by followers of William Penn — the air was unsurpassed, there was pure water and good health, and the area was entirely free of mosquitoes,” the advertisement added.

Plenty of amusements awaited the seasonal visitor. Game and fish abounded, giving those wishing to engage in hunting or fishing opportunities. “Gilpin’s Falls, Octoraro Creek, and the Susquehanna River, “all celebrated for their romantic scenery” were in the immediate neighborhood. At the hotel, a fine shaded lawn was fitted up for outdoor exercise, and good band music frequently enlivened the place.

In 1872, a destructive fire quickly spread to the hotel and its stables, destroying the buildings. An urgent appeal for aid went out on the telegraph wires to Oxford requesting that the Union Fire Company load a steam engine on a special train and rush to Rising Sun. But the Oxford telegraph office was closed at that hour, so the fire department did not get the message until the next morning, according to the Oxford Press.

The summer resort, the second Maryland House, was destroyed by the blaze. A fire had also destroyed the first one, but another lodging facility would soon be built.

A handbill for the Maryland House in Rising Sun on the Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad. First-class accommodations included warm and cold baths.

For additional photos on Rising Sun as a summer resort, see this album on Facebook.

ELKTON – July 23, 2021 – On this sad Friday in late July, hundreds of first responders, public officials, friends, and family gathered at the Elkton United Methodist Church to say a final goodbye to Firefighter Roger Morton McCardell, Jr.  Born on October 10, 1957, the 63-year-old public servant passed away on July 17, 2021.

As soon as he was old enough, the sixteen-year-old followed his childhood dream, entering the service as a probationary member in the Singerly Fire Company on October 14, 1973.  The vibrant, energetic, well-liked rookie started riding the back step of the engine and staffing the ambulance immediately as he quickly learned the ropes while handling a hose at a blaze or assisting a stricken patient en route to the hospital.  Twelve months later, he was promoted, having earned the rank of full firefighter. 

That point 47-years ago marked the start of a long service career, professional and volunteer, spanning six decades.  After graduating from high school Roger took a paid summer position with the Ocean City Fire Department, serving the resort as a firefighter and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), while also becoming certified to provide prehospital advanced life support, a newly emerging discipline for first responders in the State. 

Later on, as his career progressed, he became a national sales representative helping small volunteer companies and large urban departments with their fire suppression needs.  Roger was an expert in this field, traveling throughout the nation to consult with public safety agencies seeking to select hose and appliances for fire suppression. Over those 33-years on the road, he made many friends, attended national fire department trade shows, and worked with major fire departments across the country. Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Boston were some of the clients that came to Roger when they needed hose for attack and supply lines .     

Roger continued in the fire service through his adult life, committing much of his life’s work to protect the community and serving the nation’s fire departments.  He recently retired from Key Hose as their North East Regional Sales Manager. 

“. . . But with all that spectacular background, Roger liked talking about his experience with Singerly and Ocean City FD the most. . . .” — Sam Goldwater

Eulogizing Roger this afternoon, fellow Elkton firefighter and Key Hose Sales Representative Sam Goldwater remarked: “. . . Roger worked on projects with the International Fire Chief’s Association and many fire departments across the nation.  He worked at [New York City] shops during 9/11 and fought forest fires on the west coast.  He was in the command center for the largest rice fire in history.  But, with all that spectacular background, Roger liked talking about his experience with Singerly and Ocean Fire Departments the most. . . .”.   

Firefighter/EMT and good friend Roger McCardell will be missed.

For more on Roger See the following

Here’s a link to a 2016 interview Roger did with the Singerly Listening Station

For additional remembrance photos see this album on Facebook.

For its centennial celebration in 1992, the Singerly Fire Company commissioned an oil painting that showed the company racing out of the North Street station on a cold winter evening in 1892 to answer its first alarm. A team of galloping horses pulled the Amoskeag Steamer past the old courthouse at the corner of Main and North streets as an early evening February twilight descended on Cecil County. Immediately behind the engine, a group of men tugged strenuously on the Gleason and Bailey Hook and Ladder as a fresh coating of snow made their work slippery. The old hose cart wasn’t going to be too far behind for it is just rolling out the firehouse door.

The toiling fire bell had called out Elkton volunteers for their first general alarm on this winter day. These pieces of newly acquired equipment, and one additional hose cart, which hadn’t answered the alarm yet protected the county seat from the ravages of flames for decades until they were retired as motorized units came into general use three decades later.

In preparation for the celebration of 100-years-of-service, the Elkton firefighters commissioned Doylestown PA artist Gil Cohen to produce the Singerly Fire Company painting and the company sold a limited-edition print. When the company decided it wanted a unique scene showing the 19th-century volunteers answering the alarm, the board launched a search for an artist who could accurately depict the technical nature of the setting and capture the mood.

The nationally recognized artist, a member of the American Society of Aviation Artists and an illustrator for major publishing companies, had done work for the United States Coast Guard Bicentennial and for other major celebrations. He is acknowledged as one of the world’s leading aviation artists, known for his profound interest in history and his sensitive portrayal of the human element. Thus a company representative drove to Bucks County to meet with the artist, and after examining his work he was commissioned to produce the canvas.

A stickler for historical accuracy, Cohen did lots of research to recreate this scene from another century. His first visited Elkton to get a feel for the town and begin research for the project. He walked down Main Street with Mike Dixon, a member of the fire company, studying old pictures and looking at modern vantage points. “I conjure up images in my mind. It’s almost like entering a time machine, where I’m here but trying to visualize the street as it was before the turn of the century,” he told an Elkton newspaper, the Times.

He next utilized company members dressed in turnout gear to pose for him as he dramatically portrayed their 19th-century counterparts. So on a cold Monday afternoon in February 1992, one-hundred years after the department was formed, Cohen had firefighters running down North Street and hanging off apparatus as bystanders leaned over the railings on the Howard House porch. As the sun went down on this winter evening long shadows became more apparent on the buildings. It was just the look and mood Cohen was after. His research also took him to fire museums in Philadelphia and in New York as he interviewed experts on 19th-century apparatus and viewed old photos.

One of the awards he received commented on his portrayal of the “human element – the nuances of facial expression and body posture – set against the background of wartime field activity, which brings each canvas to life”. Singerly saw that first hand as he put the members through the paces to create the artistic image of the first alarm.

Once he completed his research and had visualized the twilight in that winter of long ago, he submitted several rough sketches for the board’s approval. After the drawing was approved, the artist started painting the scene. Later that year, the company unveiled Singerly’s Call to Alarm, a fitting tribute to past firefighters who established a tradition of service and to the present members who faithfully serve the community, at a special centennial event. Artist Cohen was on hand to personally sign those first editions for Elkton’s first responders.

An article in the Singerly Connection, the official newsletter of the Singerly Fire Company, Autumn 2016