When it comes to fighting fires, every second counts so the Perryville Volunteer Fire Company decided to take additional steps to get apparatus on the road to blazes quickly in 1953. With that objective in mind, the company launched a “new 24 hour fire alarm system” on November 12, 1953, a decade before a professionally…
Spring is Just Around the Corner in Elkton
In March 1953, a full page, color advertisement for the Elkton Supply Company informed readers that spring was just around the corner. and the store had a full inventory of supplies for the season. Source: Cecil Whig
Singerly Replaces Horse-Drawn Units With Motorized Fire Trucks
Elkton was well protected from fire in the years before World War I as the Singerly Fire Company had all the latest equipment for controlling a blaze. Two hand-pulled hose carts supported the horse-drawn Steam Engine and Hook and Ladder, and whenever the old alarm bell rang out with an urgent appeal, those units were…
The January Freeze in Elkton
Elkton shivers as the county is in the grips of the arctic weather.
Deep Freeze on the Susquehanna River
Perryville, January 28, 2014 — As Maryland continues to shiver in this frigid weather, the mouth of the Susquehanna River is beginning to freeze over.
Jo Ann Examines the Bitterly Cold Winter of 1852 in this Video Presentation
Jo Ann Gardner, one of our volunteers, has been producing brief videos of Cecil County history to share with our audience. Since we are presently in the middle of a polar vortex that is creating some frigid January nights, she thought this one would be appropriate as the weather brought to mind the winter of 1852. That year…
Chief Edgar Slaughter Commanded Major Incidents
After thirty-seven years of “sudden suppertime departures and early moving arrivals,” Singerly Fire Company Chief Edgar “Spec” Slaughter, Jr. told the Cecil Whig it was time to “hang up his hat” in 1970. The 53-year-old had been a firefighter at Cecil County’s busiest department for 22 years, eleven of those as the chief. Before that,…
On a Long Ago Snow Patrol, Collaring the Snowman
Whenever there is a major snowstorm, Cecil County police officers, paramedics, firefighters and other public safety professionals face a significantly increased workload as they patrol and respond to 911 dispatches in snowy, wind-blown conditions. \ But whatever Mother Nature hands them, these men and women are always geared up and ready to go. This evening…