The Society will host a reception on June 2 to honor Dr. Davy McCall, the generous donor of the Gerry Collection, an important new group of research materials pertaining to Cecil County. The large collection, created between 1801 and 1931, contains original manuscripts related to the Civil War, Port Deposit, the Susquehanna, and the family…
North East Police Pioneer Law Enforcement’s Involvement in Ambulance Service
The recent discussions about how to improve the delivery of ambulance service in Cecil County brought to mind an earlier time when a similar examination was going on. Back in the early 1980s the fire companies struggled to find enough volunteers to answer the heavy volume of calls that came in each day in the…
Let You Fingers Do The Walking Through The Phone Book When Doing Research
Since most people looking up a number these days go directly to the mass media of the 21st century, Google, or some other search engine, the once essential phone book is in danger of becoming a fading memory. Verizon is eliminating routine delivery of white pages, although printing of yellow pages will continue. We will…
Singerly Adds “Heavy-Duty Pumper” to Department in 1952
As Elkton shook off the effects of the Great Depression and World War II a tremendous amount of growth occurred in the community. To keep up with the demands of the expanding place, new housing developments sprouting up in farm fields at the edge of town, the Singerly Fire Company launched a series of advances. …
Sixty Year Old Fire Truck Returns to Singerly
From the Cecil Whig YouTube Channel A 60 year old firetruck has returned home at last to Singerly Fire Company. Officials at the Elkton fire company welcomed the 1951 Oren fire truck during a ceremony last weekend. Charles Richard Fox, a former Oren firetruck salesman who purchased the truck from Singerly for $500 20 years ago, fully restored it….
Exploring the Past That’s All Around Us in Cecil County – Looking for Relics Along the Octoraro Line
The Octoraro Branch Railroad once connected Rising Sun, Colora, Rowlandsville, Liberty Grove, and other northwestern Cecil County communities with the outside world. But in the automobile-age, passenger service declined rapidly and after World War II freight service slowly disappeared. Although it’s been a long time since the lonesome locomotive whistle echoed through these valleys and hills, plenty of relics from the…
Defenders Day Returns to Elk Landing on April 28 as Judge Sample Reminisces About British Attack on Elkton
Press Release – Historic Elk Landing Foundation “They were a wretched, cowardly set of marauders, going only to those points which were unprotected.” That’s how Judge Thomas Jefferson Sample described the British sailors and Marines who attempted to invade and burn Elkton 199 years ago this coming weekend. On Saturday, April 28th you’ll have a…
Police Kept Busy Fielding Calls About Unidentified Flying Objects
Some forty years ago, sightings of unidentified flying objects zooming through the night air or hovering over rural roads kept Cecil County’s police agencies busy fielding many calls about strange, glowing aircraft. The series of reports started in the late 1960s and continued into the early 1970s as people reported large silent objects with bright…
Port Deposit Steam Engine Rushed to Havre de Grace To Help Save City From Conflagration
When a terrible fire struck the DuBois Planning and Sash Mill, the largest industry in Havre de Grace, one June day in 1883, men rushed the town’s small Holloway Chemical Engine to the factory. Once on the scene, they worked frantically trying to check the destructive advance. But the “ruthless flames” turned the factory and…
Elkton Eclipse Base Ball Team Opens 2012 Season at Terrapin Station Winery on April 22
Press Release – Eclipse Base Ball Club The Eclipse Base Ball Club of Elkton invites you to its home game on April 22nd at the Terrapin Station Winery. The club has great things planned this year and there is at least one home game a month. If you can’t make it Sunday when the Eclipse take on…