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…
Inaugural Train to Pass Through Cecil
Barack Obama and Joseph Biden will travel to the inauguration by train on Saturday, January 17, the Baltimore Sun and News Journal reported this afternoon. After stopping for a celebration in Wilmington, the president and vice-president will step aboard the inaugural train for the trip to Washington. This is particularly exciting news for this memorable…
Dec 7, 1941 – Cecil Goes on a War Footing & Bainbridge Develops
On December 7, 1941, a serene Sunday afternoon two and a half weeks before Christmas in Cecil County, many people returned home from church and settled down to enjoy the remainder of their day. Some fidgeted with radios, slowly turning knobs and dialing up Sammy Kaye’s Sunday Serenade on the NBC Red Network. Others enjoyed…
The Baltimore & Ohio Holly Tree
One tradition for kicking off the Christmas Season in Cecil County is the annual lighting of the “Holly Tree by the tracks.” This year, the 61st lighting is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 6th. The Baltimore & Ohio held its first public ceremony in 1948 when thousands of people gathered to ring in the season as…
Remembering President Kennedy in Cecil County in Nov. 1963
Early this Saturday morning (Nov. 22), we traveled down to Wesley College for a campus tour since that is one of several institutions Kyle is considering for his undergraduate studies. While visiting the library two staffers started talking about how hard it is to believe that 45-years have passed since word flashed across news outlets on the Delmarva Peninsula that President Kennedy had been assassinated. That conversation caused me to think back to November…
Remembering Jim Cheeseman, Cecil Whig Photographer
Saturday, I gave a talk at the Cecilton Library on research with old photographs in Cecil County, which made me think about the work Jim Cheeseman did in this county for over 20 years. A photojournalist for the Cecil Whig, he donated his collection of over 10,000 photographs and an untold number of negatives to…