All’s quiet on the western front, the sheriff reports during the border war with the Pennsylvania Liquor Board. source: Cecil Whig, Dec. 31, 1969 Bitter border disputes have sometimes erupted between Maryland and Pennsylvania. The first kicked off in the late 1600s when the boundary between the two colonies was unclear. That led to a…
An Orphanage on a Chesapeake City Hilltop Once Took Care of Dependent Children
On an overcast Friday afternoon in mid-October, as rain was spreading into Cecil County, I paused on the top of “Sister’s Hill” in North Chesapeake City, contemplating the history of an orphanage that for much of the 20th century took care of dependent children. Here is what I have been able to dig up thus…
General Jones and the Suffragists Occupy Cecil County
After a more than 60 year struggle to give women the right to vote, things were coming to a head during the second decade of the 20th century. The suffragists had won battles in a number of states, and were slowly converting indecisive politicians. But to keep pressure on the holdouts, the more radical activists descended on…
In Historic Election in Rising Sun, Women Vote for the First Time in Cecil County
In an era when women across the nation crusaded to gain voting rights, Rising Sun led the way locally in 1916, allowing ladies to cast ballots in a county election for the first time in Cecil’s history, the Midland Journal reported. The question that faced taxpayers heading to the polls was whether the town board could refinance a $16,000…
Remembering a Rising Sun Sailor Lost on the USS Maine
The USS Maine steamed from Key West, Florida to Havana on January 24, 1898, arriving in the Cuban harbor the next day. Orders took her there as the United States wanted to show the flag and protect interest since a struggle for independence from Spain was rippling across the country, resulting in the spread of…
The 1960s, a Decade of Protest — the Local Perspective
Because of Cecil’s advantageous location on the northeast corridor, the county sometimes came in contact with protest movements. Mostly they were sign-waving college age students passing through, on their way to demonstrate in Washington D.C., New York, or some other place of assembly where their anti-establishment passions would be heard. During the tumultuous 1960s and…
Taking a Stand for Equal Treatment on the Mason Dixon Line in 1904
Nearly sixty years before Freedom Riders started a campaign to open restaurants, motels, bars, and other public places to all travelers on Route 40, Cecil County found itself in the middle of another Civil Rights divide. The Maryland Legislature decided the State needed a Jim Crow law in 1904 that required steamship lines and railroads…
Conowingo — A Susquehanna River Village That Vanished
If you are the type who likes to find lost villages, we have a little journey you might enjoy. To start, ask someone for directions to old Conowingo. But be watchful for that accommodating person might send you to a stretch of highway near U.S. 1 and Route 222. That commercial area is lined with a…
Perryville Railroad Site Accepted Into the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom
From the Amtrak History Blog Black History Month provides additional opportunities to highlight contributions by African-Americans to our national history and culture. Throughout the month, Amtrak is celebrating with various events and exhibitions at locations across the country. Amtrak is proud that in October 2014, a site on railroad property near Perryville, Md., was accepted…
Sharing the Story — Remembering World War II, a Program at the Cecilton Library
Seventy years have passed by since World War II ended. Over those rapidly passing decades, many of the stories of the warriors on the frontline and the families and communities on the home front have been told while some remained untold. But far too many are now being lost to the passage of time as…