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…
Cecil’s Bridge to the Past: Federal Dollars Come Home to Help With Gilpin Falls Covered Bridge
As many of you are aware the county recently obtained a $1-million dollar grant from the federal Covered Bridge Preservation Program. Soon after the award was announced a Whig editorial calling it “Cecil’s own little bridge to nowhere” suggested that the county make a “symbolic gesture” by refusing to accept the grant. Also Commissioner Tome voted against receiving…
Hill’s Jitney Service – Chesapeake City
I enjoy finding pieces of ephemera from the past. These little things, items such as tickets, timetables, programs, were valued for a brief period and were usually tossed out shortly after the usefulness of the paper relic expired. The other day, I ran across this interesting little piece of ephemera, a timetable for Hill’s Jitney Service in Chesapeake City. Effective on April…