As the region gears up to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the British attack on the Upper Chesapeake some old-timers that have been around Cecil for centuries are going to be roaming around Charlestown, one August evening. While they meander streets and gather in small clusters in the beautiful river town, these centuries old residents will…
Lots of Laughter and Learning at Chautauqua This Afternoon as Rosalie Stier Calvert Delighted the Audience
The Chautauqua 2012 that is bringing three famous figures from the past to Explore the War of 1812 continued this Saturday afternoon in Elkton. For the second show, Rosalie Stier Calvert, a member of a wealthy Maryland family talked about life on a plantation near Bladensburg as the British marched on Washington, D.C., scattering ill-prepared…
Francis Scott Key Talks to 250 People About the War of 1812; Programs Continue This Evening
As the mercury approached 100 degrees Saturday afternoon a comfortable crowd settled in at the Elkton United Methodist Church to open the 2012 Chautauqua. The sponsor for the annual event, the Maryland Humanities Council, is bringing three famous figures from the past to the area to explore the War of 1812.The local kick-off, sponsored by…
Elkton Officials to Hear Request on July 12 to Convert Old Jail into Apartments
The Town of Elkton has released the agenda for the July 12, 2012, Historical and Architectural Review Committee meeting. The primary business is a request from Frank Hodgetts, representing Home Partnership, to develop the old jail property at 214 North Street in Elkton into 50 units of age-restrict multi-family housing apartments. The agenda for July is reproduced…
Cecil County remembers Hurricane Agnes
From Cecil Whig By Jane Bellmyer | Forty years ago today, many Cecil County residents were mired in mud and debris thanks to Hurricane Agnes. It was a storm that set records for rainfall, storm surge and flooding, with the Susquehanna River cresting at almost 37 feet. The Rev. George Hipkins said bricks marking the…
Man Marries at Site of Pan American Plane Crash in Elkton
By Ryan Marshall During a dark, stormy night in December 1963, a plane crashed in Elkton, changing the history of the town forever. The plane was circling the area because of a storm in Philadelphia when it was struck by lightning, said Mike Dixon, of the Historical Society of Cecil County. Now, 49 years later, Arnold…
The Marrying Clerk Replaces the Marrying Minister in Elkton
For a significant part of the 20th century, legislators in Annapolis struggled to get laws on the books to help curb Elkton’s efficient “marriage mill.” Striking legal blows in many directions, right in the middle of the Great Depression, the lawmakers managed to keep well paid attorneys and lobbyist working overtime for special interests. Senator…
Elkton & The War of 1812: The Sign Has the Story
Early this Monday morning workers in downtown Elkton were out at the corner of Main and North Streets putting up a new sign. By lunch time, anyone passing that way was able to pause and read informative wayside interpretive panels telling the story of the War of 1812 in Elkton and Maryland. Part of the Star Spangled Banner National…
Cecil Whig Editorial: Elkton Is Fighting For its Future
As Elkton continues it decades long effort to revitalize what the Cecil Whig characterizes as a once bustling “’bygone’ Main Street,” that “seems deserted most days,” an editorial in the paper notes that what is most needed is “town leadership willing to make unpopular choices — men and women willing to take a risk towards…
A Serene Mooring in Historic Anchorage Basin in Chesapeake City
June 16, 2012 — On a beautiful late spring Saturday, the Callisto of Rochester, VT. Is serenely moored in the C & D Canal anchorage basin at Chesapeake City.