Window on Cecil County's Past

As automobile travel became common in the first half of the twentieth century, Sandy A. Tamargo, the owner of Sandy’s Shows, a traveling circus, opened a permanent roadside tourist attraction on Route 7 between Elkton and North East. Known as the Philadelphia Road, it was designated Route 40 before the dual highway opened before World…

John F. (Jack) Johnson was one of North East’s longest-serving mayors, leading the small municipality through most of the 1970s. He managed a frugal, cost-efficient operation — An old 1871 lock up served as his town hall, police station and library. When the Cecil Whig once remarked that the town didn’t have a budget (Oct….

After sadly hearing that Daniel H. “Skip” Mahan, Jr.  76, passed away on August 17, 2022, we reflected on some of the public safety leader’s accomplishments.  Throughout his adult life, as a deputy sheriff, state trooper, police chief, firefighter, and emergency manager, Skip served the community on the frontline. Along the way, he marked several…

We were recently asked when the phone company in Elkton stopped using telephone operators. Here’s our response. Once, most Cecil County towns had switchboard operators. But as the modern age of telephony arrived, consolidation occurred, and gradually, switchboards in smaller towns went dark as the larger central office in Elkton handled connections. As the 1950s…

Built by Jacob Tome around 1859, the grand solid granite mansion was the largest home in the town, according to the Maryland Historical Trust. In the 1870s, the Port Deposit banker, investor, and philanthropist, remodeled it in the grand Second Empire Style. The renovated structure included elaborate wrought iron balconies, a mansard roof, and a…

On Aug. 1, 1948, a U.S. Army jet plane crash took place at Woodlawn near Port Deposit. The Air Corp jet struck Joseph Abrahams Store in Woodlawn at 4:10 p.m. The newest type of reconnaissance plane, the P-80, being piloted by 1st Lt. Glenn W. Jackson became separated from a flight of four aircraft traveling…

Firefighters share several stories about how the Water Witch Fire Company of Port Deposit got its name, so a company officer asked Cecil County History to investigate the matter. Supposedly the town purchased an engine that had the name Water Witch already on it so the organization decided to change the name of the company…

A number of 19th-century schools are still standing these days, and one of those is the Jackson Hall School. Located on Jackson Hall Road, a short distance from Cowentown, this school was built in 1870. The second floor was used as a Sunday School and a community meeting room. The first floor contained a large…

On Booth Street between the George Washington Carver Leadership Center and Wright’s A.M.E. Church, there stands a small, nondescript masonry block building. On this parcel by 1892, there was a frame schoolhouse for African-American children in Elkton, according to Board of Education Minute Books and Sanborn Maps. Keys and Miller Lumber Company, of Elkton, and…