ELKTON—On a cold, grey February day a few years ago, Lance McPherson, a special agent for the federal government, called to ask for help solving a family history mystery associated with an old, inoperable pocket watch in his custody. On this trip, he sought to uncover information about the curious timepiece, its hands frozen in…
Steamer Carmania Served Elkton in 1916
In the early years of the 20th century, steam boating days on the Chesapeake Bay started slipping slowly away. But in the summer of 1916, Elkton obtained renewed service, as the Philadelphia and Baltimore Steamboat Company (Ericsson Line) launched a new line with connections to Baltimore. Leading up to the return of a regular schedule…
Insurance Survey Maps From Philadelphia Free LIbrary Show Details on Many of Cecil County’s 19th Century Mills
While digging up some historical records on a property in Cecil County, I discovered a large body of helpful online maps published by the Philadelphia Free Library. This urban institution has substantial online collections, including a large holding of maps. The resources that helped with my investigation was the Hexamer General Survey collection. Between 1866 and 1895,…
Spotlight on the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal
We always look for the weekly posts on this Old Book, The Delaware Historical Society blog by Ed Richi, the curator of prints. This week he is focusing on the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.
President Taft Speaks to Crowd From Porch of Howard Hotel in Elkton
In the middle of a heated four-way presidential contest, a special train screeched to a stop at the Elkton station one Saturday in May 1912. On-board for a quick whistle-stop tour of Maryland was President William H. Taft. When he arrived at 11:45 a.m., he was met at the station by a committee with automobiles…
Adding Cecil Kirk, a County Lawman, to the Sheriff’s Wall
When Benny Kirk visited the Sheriff’s Office in Elkton a few years ago, he paused to look over a series of photographs hanging on the wall. These weren’t mug shots from recent arrests or some of the most wanted criminals that caught his attention. They were aging images of men who served the county as…
Rising Sun Historic Preservation Commission Hosts Civil War Weekend, Oct 3 – 5, 2014
From the Rising Sun Historic Preservation Commission Announcing the Annual Rising Sun Civil War Re-enactment brought to you by the Rising Sun Historic Preservation Commission. The re-enactment this year runs Friday, October 3rd to the Sunday, October 5th. The Friday session is reserved for local school students, with over 500 registered to attend this year….
An Old House Research Question: When did the Pennsylvania Railroad Move the Dwellings
Over time, physical changes occur to a community’s built environment. Most are subtle like when a backhoe goes to work digging up a new foundation, or a bulldozer extends a street so a small parcel of land can be subdivided into building lots. But as decades pass, more radical transformations occasionally materialize, many of which…
Elkton Police Arrest of Ambassador From Iran Causes International Incident in 1935
If there was anything remarkable about that Wednesday in November 1935 in Elkton, it was the new policeman directing traffic on the main thoroughfare from Washington to New York. Seventy-year-old Chief George Potts, having maintained tranquility in the town for twenty-eight years, had recently retired. The rookie, Jake Biddle, was going to make a fine…
Cecil County Atlas of 1877 & Other Maps Available from Sheridan Library
The Sheridan Library of Johns Hopkins University has a large collection of Cecil County digital maps. Family and local history researchers will find these online collections to be helpful. In the collection there is the entire atlas of 1877, as well as digital aerial maps (1938 and 1952), topographic maps, and many other cartographic products. Visit the search…