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…
Bernard Purdie, Hometown Drummer
In surfing across the blogs, we tripped across a message posted by musician Bill Colrus. He has a posting saying that ever since he first started playing drums along to Steely Dan records back in middle school, Bernard Purdie was his favorite drummer. According to Bill “his work on The Royal Scam and Aja is some of the most…
Thomas Mogle, Cecil County Sheriff Dies
I noticed thatThomas Mogle, Jr. of Princess Anne passed away on Oct. 23, 2008, while reading the Salisbury Daily Times the other day. Tom Mogle served as the sheriff of Cecil County from 1966 to 1970. A graduate of Chestertown High School Class of 1943, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II. After the…
Forged by Fire: Elkton’s Main Street
In August, a Window on Cecil County’s Past did a piece on the 1948 Main Street fire. Today we’re posting a piece that examines the other Main Street fires in the 20th century. ——- The history of Elkton’s Main Street has been one of disastrous fires. In fact, one such conflagration in September 1891, hastened…