Amid the Great Depression, photographers working on several federal projects traveled the country capturing images of historic buildings, public works projects, and landscape vistas. While canvassing Cecil County, one of those cameramen snapped this tranquil scene at the four corners in Cecilton in the late 1930s.
This was the hub of the farming community of 458 residents in 1930, and several businesses in the vicinity of the intersection made up the commercial section. Spreading out from there were streets lined with beautiful homes, according to the Hearn Oil Company guide of 1926.
Other travel directories noted that one could turn here for the cooling waters of the upper Chesapeake or nearby Warwick and Middletown. The other route took the traveler to the Sassafras or Bohemia rivers. The second photo from the Hearn Oil Co guide shows the monument to Capt. John Smith on the Sassafras River at Fredericktown.
I was just looking at that monument on the Sassafras River on Tuesday morning. I was amazed at how old it looked.
Where that house sits in Cecilton is the Royal Farms now.
I’ve never seen these photos before. Thanks Mike.
Bill, the four corners have certainly changed in recent years. The photo is from the LIbrary of Congress. I’m going down to see Miss Rebecca Smith tomorrow on New Years Eve for a few minutes. She mentioned on the phone that she’s 97, so I thought I’d take the photo down and get to provide some more info.