One of the most interesting and architecturally distinctive buildings in Elkton’s old business district was the Cecil Whig Building. It was located at 125 North Street, next to PNC Bank.
The newspaper, established on Aug. 7, 1841, by Palmer Ricketts, was originally published out of a log cabin. As the weekly grew, it needed more space so in 1876 Edwin Evans Ewing built this attractive, narrow brick building to house the growing publication. The job and newspaper printing presses were located in the back of the building; the editorial and business offices fronted on North Street.
The front facade was particularly interesting, and in 1882 Henry R. Torbert added the attractive tower. It had a colonial revival door on the ground floor and a multi-panel window above. A recessed panel extended up the entire tower. At the top, the panel was inscribed with the dates 1841 and 1882.
In 1960, the Cecil Whig moved to a modern printing plant and building on Bridge Street. The grand-old building was demolished around 1985 to make way for an expansion of what was until recently PNC Bank.
