Cecil County Public Schools history

The site of the British invasion in 1813, this area is being developed as a living history museum. web site

The year was 1824, and a project proposed by Augustine Herman in the 1600s finally began.

The 14 mile long, 10 foot deep, and 66 foot wide canal opened for business in 1829.

In 1831 the New Castle and Frenchtown Railroad, linking Cecil County to Delaware was one of the first in the Country.

At first, the engines were pulled by horses, but by 1833 steam locomotives began to chug their way along tracks, and soon Elkton got rail service.

On April 19th in the year 1861, Union soldiers arrived in Baltimore, and were met by angry Confederate sympathizers.

At the height of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln designated Aug 6, 1863, as a national day for “Thanksgiving, Praise, and Prayer” for the Union Army’s recent successes.

A show of suspending business was made and the stores semi-closed, according to the Whig.((“Thanksgiving Day in Elkton,” Cecil Whig, Nov 26, 1864))

John Jones, who was traveling by carriage, waylaid by a group of men in the woods, and hung in or near Elkton on or about July 29, 1872, a PARDON as to the allegations of arson for which he was arraigned and remanded to jail;

After his death in 1898, an endowment of Tome's created a prestigious school for boys at Bainbridge, on a bluff overlooking the Susquehanna River.

Horses and riders enjoyed a warm spring breeze. It was April in Elkton in the year 1900 and spring was in the air.

By 1901 the first vehicle was used by the Rising Sun Post Office to deliver mail to rural areas.

1908 - FIrst hospital in the County opened it's doors under the name Union Hospital.

1910 - The worst of the ice gorges in Port Deposit's history ripped through the town.

Rose Suter died on Dec 7, 1918.

1920 - For the first time women in Cecil County and across the United States had the right to vote.

1928 - Conowingo Dam began commercial operation.

In 1929 Elkton purchased its first patrol car, setting the stage for a new era in law enforcement in the County.

1941 - A modern highway was built between Baltimore and Delaware, running right through Cecil County.

But some of these ancient restrictions were still hanging on in the Laws of Maryland when the new Elkton Drive-in Theatre at the edge of town ran afoul of the Maryland restriction in 1950.

Starting on the force as a probationary member on May 5, 1958, the teenager steadily rose through the fire service ranks.

In 1959, he was in the first Maryland Fire Service Extension Basic Fire Training Course in Cecil County, a significant advancement as what would become the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute at the University of Maryland brought systematic, organized training to the state.

The Pennsylvania Railroad abandoned the Octoraro Branch of south Colora in 1961 but had hopes of keeping the line open to that Cecil County village.

According to Cecil College, when she took office in 1970 for her first term, she became the first woman to serve as a county commissioner in Maryland.

1976 - The Town of Elkton had a ribbon cutting and ground breaking ceremony at the sight of the 1st major shopping center in the County.

RISING SUN, January 26, 1983 — People who thought trains had disappeared from the Octoraro Branch Railroad years ago were surprised when 30 freight cars rattled on down the line from Chester County one Wednesday in January 1983.

1989 - Cecil County's newspaper - The Cecil Whig - became a daily.

For more information on lynchings in Cecil County see this article from 2018

In 2019, the governor enacted into law a measure to establish the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconcilation Commission, the first of its kind in the United States. “A national commission would further this important work by examining racial healing through a larger lens,” the governor wrote.

23, 2020– On this sad day, Singerly Fire Company mourned the loss of one of their own, Ambulance Chief Claude “Zeke” Cornett.