One tradition for kicking off the Christmas Season in Cecil County was the annual lighting of the “Holly Tree by the tracks.” The Baltimore & Ohio held its first public ceremony in 1948 when thousands of people gathered to ring in the season as lights from thousands of bulbs on the evergreen softly illuminated the…
Singerly Remembers the Family Members of Flight 214
Sunday, as a surprise late autumn snowstorm caused major traffic difficulties in the area, the Singerly Fire Company of Elkton remembered those who lost their lives on the evening of December 8, 1963. Despite the dangerous conditions on area roadways, about 100 family members were able to make their way to the fire station on Newark Avenue….
Flight 214 Remembrance Program Goes on at Fire Station Despite Surprise Wintry Blast of Snow and Ice
An early, wintry blast of ice and snow hit Cecil County just before noon this Sunday, a couple of hours before the Flight 214 Remembrance Program started. The intensity of the storm caught weather forecasters off guard and by afternoon heavy snow was falling and at 7:45 p.m. Mt. Holly Weather reported that nearly 8-inches of snow…
Historical Society & Singerly Fire Company Greet the Families of Flight 214
Activities continue this Sunday for the “Community Remembrance” as Cecil County pauses to reflect on a tragic event a half-century ago when Pan AM World Airways Flight 214 crashed at the edge of Elkton. It was Dec. 8, 1963, that the big jet broke apart in fight and crashed at the edge of town. The community remembrance, hosted by the Singerly Fire…
Morning Call: “Remembering the Souls of Flight 214”
By Dan Sheehan, the Morning Call On a stormy Sunday night 50 years ago, an explosion over Elkton, Md., created a fireball so bright it caused street lamps in the rural town to shut off. Residents who had been readying for bed ran into the streets, scared and confused. Times were tense: The president had…
NBC 10 News: Plane Crash Half A Century Ago
As the Historical Society of Cecil County and the Singerly Fire Company prepare to pause and mark 50 years since the crash of Pan American World Airways Flight 214 at the edge of Elkton, NBC 10 News was in town today to discuss preparations for the “Remembrance Program.” The program takes places at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday…
Oral Historians to Record Generation of Memories About Crash of Flight 214 in Elkton.
On December 8, 2013, people will pause and reflect on a 1963 tragedy that sadly affected so many individuals when Flight 214 crashed at the edge of Elkton. On that horrific night 81 people on the big Pan American World Airways jet perished, first responders rushed to try to help, and the larger community mobilized,…
Details Announced for Flight 214 Remembrance Program on Dec 8, 2013
On a terrible December night fifty years ago Pan-American World Airways Flight 214 exploded in the dark Cecil County sky. On that unsettling cold, rainy Sunday, as lightning periodically illuminated Elkton, eighty-one people perished when the big plane broke apart in flight and debris rained down on a cornfield at the edge of the county…
Society Talks History and Economic Development at Chamber of Commerce Meeting
On November 14, 1963, Cecil County hummed with excitement as the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, came to Cecil County to dedicate the Northeastern Expressway. This important public works project shaped the future of this corner of Maryland, and as planning for the massive highway got underway local economic development experts talked…
Cartographer Applies Modern Methods to Examine the Philadelphia Campaign in Dec. 7th Talk
The Historical Society of Cecil County’s Winter Speakers Series continues on Dec 7, 2013, with a talk by Sean Moir. The speaker applies modern research methods to an old topic, the Philadelphia Campaign in the Revolutionary War and he approaches his subject from the perspective of a cartographer. Using historical temporal GIS mapping, Sean animates…