HISTORY By Land and By Sea Cecil County is steeped in American history, and has many historic sites and districts, churches and museums. American Indians were the earliest inhabitants. “White men” arrived by ship in the early 1600s as part of an expedition led by one of Cecil’s most famous visitors - Captain John Smith. He and his men explored the rivers and met the native American residents living along their shorelines. Because of Cecil’s strategic location at the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay, it became a bustling transportation route during the colonial era. Wares and travelers, including famous founding fathers, arrived at and departed from its ports, and traveled by horse-drawn wagons along the county’s dusty roads.
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Cecil County Chamber of Commerce
In the early 19th century, less than one year after President James Madison persuaded Congress to embark on a second war with England, the British blockaded the Chesapeake Bay and sailed up the Elk River. It was April of 1813. They traveled the Elk, North East, and Sassafras Rivers and burned waterfront houses and buildings of commerce at Frenchtown, Fredericktown, and Principio Furnace. Due to the action and bravery of local citizens, the British were unable to reach the county seat of Elkton, thus could not burn the town. They considered setting their sights on Port Deposit along the Susquehanna River, but reconsidered. During the Civil War, Cecil became a border county in a border state, with some citizens supporting the Union, and others the Confederacy. No battles took place in this part of Maryland, but there were notable people and happenings. What is now the Town of Perryville became a staging area for Union troops and supplies as well as the site of a “Mule School” which readied the animals for troop transport and war. Snow’s Battery was one of the county’s notable Civil War units from Port Deposit, which battled alongside Union forces at Antietam. Many Cecil County men left their homes and families to fight on both sides, with and against family and neighbors. A drive through Cecil County today will take visitors past exquisite manor homes, 18th century churches, and covered bridges. Roadside historic markers tout the area’s history including inns, taverns, and plantations where folks like Lafayette and Washington hung their hats. Travelers can visit the C&D Canal Museum, or Mount Harmon - a tobacco plantation south of Cecilton. They can tour Upper Bay Museum, or Sinking Springs Herb Farm where a sycamore tree that sprouted in the 1500s spreads its shade over an 18th Century log farmhouse.
