On a side street in Warwick stands a red brick building. This structure, the “Warwick Academy,” was built just before the Civil War swept over the nation, the exact year of erection being recorded in a date stone in the south gable, which reads: “Warwick Academy Institute built A.D. 1859.” it served as the community’s…
Chiefs Past and Present: 13th Commander Assumes Leadership Role in Elkton
ELKTON, June 6, 2014 — The Town of Elkton announced that the 13th officer to command the Elkton Police Department was appointed Chief of Police on June 6. The former second in command, Matthew J. Donnelly, assumed leadership of the force with 42-sworn personnel on that date, but he had been acting as the executive…
A Cecil History Short: Recalling Youthful Days Growing up in Elkton and the Family Business, the Howard Hotel.
The latest Cecil History Short has been released by The Historical Society of Cecil County, Evelyn VVaggi Scott, 80, talks about youthful days growing up in Elkton and Vaggi family business, the Howard Hotel. This is Part I. A conversation with Mrs. Scott will be released shortly in part II.
Marshall Purner Went From Big City Policing to Keeping the Peace in Cecil County
July 11, 2008 — North East, MD: Marshall Purner, 81, North East, went from being a city cop to being the thin blue line on a one-man force in Cecil County. “I got interested in law enforcement while I was in the army, so I joined the Louisville Kentucky Police Department when I was discharged…
Lee Wing, Elkton’s First Asian Resident, Opens Chinese Laundry
The other day, a post on the Delmar Dustpan about “the Chinese on Lower Delmarva in 1900” caught my attention. As I read the informative article, I remembered an old Elkton businessman from the 1960s talking about meeting the first Chinese resident of Elkton as a youngster, when a laundry opened here. The recollection of…
In the Middle of Spring, it’s Cecil County Tourism & History Month
Cecil has many destination spots and lots of history to share with visitors to our corner of Maryland, and each year the county tourism office showcases our natural and heritage resources by observing May as “tourism and history month.” To spread the word about all that we have to offer and show appreciation for our past, as the season for travel gets…
Old 1919 Map and AAA Travel Directory Show the Route Through Elkton
An American Automobile Association travel map held by special collections at the University of Delaware shows Elkton as it appeared in 1919. In that year immediately after World War I, many of the 20th century changes people are familiar with today were yet to take place. The building of Route 40 wouldn’t happen for a…
Spring Arrives at Lower Susquehanna Ferry and Rodgers Tavern
May 3, 2014 – We had a long winter on the Upper Chesapeake and spring has been slow to arrive. But on this first Saturday in May there was every indication that winter had stopped lingering around Harford and Cecil counties. At the Lower Susquehanna Ferry the temperature climbed to a seasonal appropriate 70 degrees,…
Perryville Railroad Museum Volunteer Was Talking Railroading Today
While in Western Cecil County this afternoon with Milt Diggins to check out a few historical traces from the antebellum period, we noticed the open flag flapping in the breeze at the Perryville Railroad Station Museum. So we stopped in and had a pleasant tour of the exhibits jammed with railroad artifacts, photographs and memorabilia. The guide…
Final Patrol Boat on the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal
November 19, 1968, was a sunny, cold day on the Chesapeake and Delaware and the Pilot, a canal patrol boat, was on its last official run. Months earlier, the Corps of Engineers had decided her work was done, so she was making this final journey from the Town Point Station to the Chesapeake City Dock….