Rising Sun officially kicked off its Sequicentennial Celebration today with a ribbon cutting at the town hall and an open house in the museum. As brilliant April sunshine warmed the audience, the sense of an appreciation for the past was obvious as remarks by Mayor Cox and others indicated. The enthusiastic crowd that had gathered provided additional evidence that Rising Sun…
Elkton Eclipse Vintage Baseball Schedule for 2010
The vintage baseball team, the Elkton Eclipse, has announced its 2010 season playing schedule. April 25th – Elkton hosts “The Chopper” Tournament at elk landing to kick off the 2010 season. 12 teams from 5 states will be represented! May 2nd – vs. Havre de Grace at Elk Landing May 16th – at Talbot May…
Cecil’s Field of Dreams Coming to Historical Society
Cecil County has a long and rich love affair with baseball going back more than a century, with its share of “local boys” making good in the Big Leagues. On Friday, April 30, from 5 to 8 p.m., sports fans of all ages are invited to experience the best years of county baseball all over…
Lost Cecil County Village: Bethel or Pivot Bridge
Before the first shovel of earth was moved to dig the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal about 1824, there was a tiny village about three miles east of Chesapeake City. Called Bethel or later Pivot Bridge. It was clustered around an old Methodist Church built in 1790 and an ancient burial ground. When the waterway opened…
Trial of H. Rap Brown Creates Tension Across Maryland in 1970
The Harford Dagger, a citizen journalism website providing “news with an edge,” recently published an interesting piece about a fatal explosion in Bel Air as that town prepared for the trial of H. Rap Brown in March 1970. That article caused us to remember the tension caused by those times in Cecil County, so we…
Cecil’s Field of Dreams, an Exhibit Showcasing History of Baseball in County Opens April 30th.
A new exhibit showcasing the history of baseball in Cecil County opens at the Historical Society on Friday, April 30th at 5:00 p.m. The exhibit includes memorabilia, photos, a baseball players reunion and a book signing by James Crothers author of “History of Rising Sun Little League.”
President of Sears Helps Build Modern School for African-American Students in Elkton in 1920s
On Booth Street in Elkton there’s a small nondescript masonry block building adjacent to the George Washington Carver Leadership Center. A few days ago that structure, which presently houses the school system’s maintenance office, was the subject of an investigation by historian Susan Pearl who is working for the Maryland Historical Trust. Susan is out…
A History of Shopping Through the Sears Catalog – A Library Program, March 17
John Damond of the Enoch Pratt Free Library will present a program called “A History of Shopping through the Sears Catalog at the Cecil County Public Library, Elkton branch on March 17, 2010, at 7 p.m. Take a trip down memory lane and see the fashions and prices through the years using pictures from old department store…
Hiding the Bank’s Money During the British Raid on Elk River During War of 1812
Copied from the Upper Shoreman, June, 1972 (this informative regional magazine, focusing on local history, art, & culture was published in the 1950s, ’60s, and early ’70s) ————————- Just before the burning of Frenchtown during the War of 1812, the citizens of Elkton and the surrounding country were frightened by a false alarm. Somehow the story…
Pan American Airways Crash Worst Disaster in Maryland History
As lightning periodically illuminated the cold, rainy night of December 8, 1963, five airliners flew in a holding pattern above Cecil County, awaiting clearance to land at Philadelphia International Airport. One craft, lightning crackling nearby as it circled, was Pan American Airways Flight 214. Suddenly the tower heard a transmission from that flight: “Mayday, mayday,…