Elkton’s depression era station replaced a depot that had somehow managed to outlive its usefulness in just 80 years. It was in 1855, that the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad Company decided to replace the first station, which had been built when the railroad first arrived in town in the late 1830s. The company purchased…
Elkton Gets a New Railroad Station
In the middle of the Great Depression, the Pennsylvania Railroad electrified its mainline between New York and Washington and this resulted in a number of improvements in Elkton. In the center of town, a sharp curve in the tracks created a hazard so company engineers straightened the right-away, eliminating the dangerous bend. While they were…
Mt. Zoar Colored School Conowingo
John Berry, Jr., an African-American living at Mt. Zoar was authorized by the Cecil County Board of Education to raise money to help build a school at the small community a mile or so outside of Conowingo late in 1871. He successfully raised local funds and the school board matched it with the school tax…
The Obama Express Rolls Through Elkton
Elkton Town Administrator, Lewis George, was at the Elkton station Saturday when the Obama Express came rolling past the old railroad depot. He said: “I took this photograph of then President-elect Barack Obama’s train blitz through Elkton on Saturday, January 17, 2009, at around 2:30 p.m………..as I stood in the midst of a very cold and…
Many Presidents Rode the Rails
On this historic day when people all along the northeast corridor between Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. greeted the nation’s 44th president, Barack Obama, we look at a few other times when the nation’s leaders came through the county on the rails. It was a frequent occurrence in the era before air travel became common. —————– Riding Cecil’s First…
Hundreds Turn Out to Greet President-Elect Barack Obama as Whistle Stop Express Rolls Through.
By the time the Whistle Stop Express rolled across the Mason-Dixon Line into Maryland at 2:17 this afternoon, the mercury was still a couple of points short of the day’s high, 19-degrees. But the artic air blanketing the Mid-Atlantic didn’t stop over 200-well wishers from waiting patiently in the bitter cold at the old Pennsylvania Railroad Depot in Elkton. On…
Remembering Charles Caldwell, the Principal of George Washington Carver School
One of our fellow Cecil County Bloggers, “the Road to Compromise” has an interesting piece up about the respected, long time principal of George Washington Carver High School, Mr. Charles Caldwell. He served the county Board of Education until the Booth Street school closed at the time of integration in Cecil County. We thought our readers…
Remembering U.S. Colored Troops From Cecil County
On the day before Christmas Eve, I paused for a few minutes in a quiet country cemetery sitting atop a knoll near Pleasant Hill. A chilling December breeze gently swept over this old burial ground in the shadows of the Griffith A.U.M.P. Church as I gazed at monuments of soldiers, ministers, teachers, mothers, fathers, and…
Route to Inauguration Will be Abe Lincoln’s
The Associated Press produced a story on Dec. 22 concerning the president-elect’s route to the inauguration over the northeast corridor Amtrak Line between Philadelphia and Washington. The piece was carried widely by many of the nation’s daily newspapers, and we’ve clipped part of it here in case you didn’t see it. For the entire article click on…
African-American School Houses in Cecil County
There are a number of old schools from the segregation era in Cecil still standing around the county and their history is interesting. I just noticed that The Long Road to Compromise, a blog about school integratrion on the upper Eastern Shore has a new piece about the African-American school in Cedar Hill, a small…