The growing town of North East took a giant step forward at the end of 1903 when investors created a private bank. This new enterprise gave townspeople a convenient, safe place to put savings, get loans, and store valuable items in safe deposit boxes. Residents needed these services, and in increasing numbers, account holders deposited…
Cecil County History
Cecil County History on Facebook passed a milestone with 6,000 followers on August 21, 2018. Thus, we want to say thanks for stopping by to spend a little on our social media channel. Your visits to this public history space and your participation in conversations there and on our blog make our effort worthwhile. The…
The Last B & O Railroad Stationmaster At Childs
Frederick C. Breitenbach Sr., of Cherry Hill, served as the last B & O station agent at Childs. retiring in 1954. Starting work for the railroad at the Singerly Tower in 1904, he served stints at Childs as a clerk and at Leslie as the stationmaster. The company brought him back to Childs as the…
World War II Refugees from Ukraine Arrived in Cecil County
In the aftermath of World War II in Europe, the world faced an enormous humanitarian crisis. Millions of people had been made homeless by the terrible conflict that had ripped the continent apart. While the struggle’s end neared, President Franklin D. Roosevelt worked to establish the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, an international agency…
Jackson Hall School
A number of 19th-century Cecil County schools are still standing these days, and one of those is the Jackson Hall School. Located on Jackson Hall Road, a short distance from Cowantown, this school was built in 1870. The second floor was used as a Sunday School and community meeting room. The first floor contained a…
Lighthouses of the C & D Canal
Before the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal became a sea-level canal for ocean-going vessels, there were at least six lighthouses along the 14-mile route between the waters of the Delaware River and the Chesapeake Bay. Navigation aids, these beacons of light, warned tugs, barges, schooners, sloops, and steamboats, that they were approaching a bridge, lock, or…
The Turkey Point Light Station
Tomorrow (Aug 7) is National Lighthouse Day so we are resharing a post on a Cecil County lighthouse. On this date in 1789, Congress approved an act for the establishment and support of lighthouses, becaons, buoys, and public piers. According to the American Lighthouse Foundation is a day “to celebrate lighthouses and the commitment and…
Chesapeake City Dry
CHESAPEAKE CITY DRY — On Aug. 17, 1914, someone passing through the canal in Chesapeake City penned a brief message on the back of this postcard. The traveler wrote: “passed through at noon. All sober. Dry town. . . .” Postmarked in Chesapeake City, the message was mailed to William Mauer, Norristown, PA. In the…
Rodeo Earl Smith, a Legendary Cecil County Cowboy
One of Cecil County’s most colorful personalities, Rodeo Earl Smith, “a gun-slingin’, troublemakin’ goat-keepin’ bachelor,” lived at the King Ranch on Route 40 outside Perryville for decades. Labeling himself Cecil County’s most famous resident, he also described himself as the “cussin’est, kissin’est cowboy who ever lived,” Robin Brown reported in the Morning News on May…
The Elkton Town Hall
Elkton — A late 1950s or early 1960s view of the “town hall and the shopping center of this bustling county seat of Cecil County.” The YMCA, the police department, and the town hall occupy the building that is now the headquarters of the Elkton Alliance. In the background is the J. J. Newberry Company….