Window on Cecil County's Past

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….

Thomas H. Mogle., Jr. served as the sheriff of Cecil County from 1966 to 1970.  When he was elected to the top law enforcement post in 1966, he assumed charge of an agency that was critically under resourced.  Although the small force consisted of four deputies and no county provided police cars, he put an…

Throughout the summer in the early 20th century, a showboat, a huge, scow-like wooden craft plying the Chesapeake Bay, called at Cecil County’s waterfront towns. Its arrival in Chesapeake City, Elkton, Fredericktown, North East, and Port Deposit brought great joy to the towns. Once the tug had cautiously piloted the floating theatre up the river…

In the decades before the Civil War, Cecil County had a few free black communities.  One, Snow Hill, was situated just north of the Port Deposit town limits on the hillside along Route 222, which was known in earlier times as Cedar Hill.  On this steep grade overlooking the Susquehanna River, free black merchants and…

There isn’t much remaining at Frenchtown these days to remind anyone that this place was a bustling commercial spot.  But it once was on the maps of the newly formed nation as boats, wagons, carriages, and trains brought people and freight to this little Chesapeake Bay port.  The reminders of this activity largely faded away…

If you drive down Frenchtown Road these days, you will find it hard to believe that a bustling village once existed where this ancient land meets the Elk River. Steamers came teeming up to its wharf, driving the narrow river into a cauldron of waves and whistling locomotives flew along its shoreline with its loads…

The Cecil County Fair, which opened for the first time on Oct. 13, 1880, in Elkton, was organized in a whirlwind of activity.  In just a quarter of a year, organizers accomplished daunting tasks such as acquiring fairgrounds and preparing the property to receive thousands of visitors.  Once Cecil’s agriculturalist incorporated the Cecil County Agricultural…

CECIL COUNTY AND THE MOON LANDING — For anyone old enough July 20, 1969, is one of those days that is permanently etched into memory. On that Sunday, the United States landed on the moon. A few days earlier on July 16 when the three Americans rocketed from this planet in a small capsule destined…

In the center of the county seat, the Elkton Doughboy Monument honors the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. After some discussion about creating a memorial, the project moved rapidly forward, and residents contributed $10,000 toward the proposal. Joseph H Sloan, an Elkton firm, contracted with the Rutland Marble Company…

On the Fourth of July 1919, Cecil County celebrated Independence Day in a grand style.  The largest event took place in Elkton as thousands of people saluted the soldiers and sailors who had served in World War I.  They were welcomed home with a rousing reception on that particularly glorious Fourth of July 100-years-ago. Never…