Curator Asks for Help in Getting Back to the 1960s in Cecil County
The Society’s curatorial staff is working on an exhibit that will be rolled out in the fall about the 1960s in Cecil County. It was a decade that brought many transformations to this corner of Maryland and our talented group of volunteers are working on capturing those years in intriguing displays. Right now they are…
The Heat Was on in Elkton Today
After making it through another day in this July heat wave, the old Main Street in Elkton was looking good this evening. The thermometer soared to the mid-90s in the late afternoon, but one towering, puffy cumulus cloud hanging near the Elkton United Methodist Church as businesses closed in the county seat made things look cooler. …
An All too Real Nightmare — A Halloween to Remember in 1962
The end of October is normally a scary time in Cecil County as Halloween rolls around. But an actual nightmare on the eve of the trick-or-treat season in 1962 caused people to shy away from ghosts and goblins. Facing a dreadful reality, the world standing on the edge of a nuclear war, people decided they had…
Cecil County Civil Defense Prepared for Doomsday
Fifty-one years ago, people across the nation stayed glued to television sets and radios, listening to a stream of alarming broadcasts about heightening tensions as the Soviet Union and the United States faced off over the placement of missiles in Cuba. President John F. Kennedy alerted the American people to the danger on Oct. 22, 1962,…
Cecil’s History & Genealogy Library Helps Media Outlets Covering the County
With the investigation into the crash of Asiana Flight 214 in San Francisco continuing, Fox 45 News reporter Melinda Roeder stopped by the Historical Society yesterday for help with a Maryland connection to the story. It was Dec., 8, 1963, nearly fifty-years ago, when the worst crash in Maryland history occurred. On that stormy December night…
Storm Clouds Over Elkton
July 7, 2013 — We have exceeded our quota of strong evening thunderstorms, dangerous lightning, and heavy downpours lately as it seems we have been in Mother Nature’s Bull-Eye. One of our volunteers, Kyle Dixon, snapped this photo as dark storm clouds gathered over Rev. Duke’s Log House at the Historical Society just before dusk. When Rev. Duke built his home over…
Four Dispatchers Juggle Emergency Calls at Fire Headquarters in 1967
The Cecil Democrat, a weekly newspaper, published a series of interviews with public officials about local agencies in 1967. That August, the paper put the “spotlight” on Civil Defense and the nearly six-year-old central fire dispatch system, as a reporter spoke with Marie Cooling. “Fire headquarters” had gone on air in October 1961, working out…
Volunteers Hard at Work in the Cecil County History and Genealogy Library This Weekend Waiting on Patrons & Preparing Talk About Elkton in 1960s
All across the area people have been out and about enjoying the extended Independence Day Holiday. But right on schedule, Historical Society volunteers reported for duty, opening the Cecil County History and Genealogy Library for those digging back through layers of time. Hard at work, fielding whatever came their way on this hot, sweltering first…
Society Seeks Information on Civil War Chaplain Detained at Libby Prison
By Eric Mease — Cecil Whig, June 22, 2013 You know those black and white prisoner of war flags you see flying in the area from time to time? They have a white outline of a man on a black background with his head bowed superimposed on a watch tower also in white. It’s an ominous…