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.

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 fi ght 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.

Rodgers Tavern stands on the east bank of the Susquehanna River in Perryville. The tavern is a monument to our country’s early history and a reminder of a past way of life in Cecil County. Built in the early eighteenth century, the tavern was known fi rst as the Ferry House or Stevenson’s Tavern and was located next to a ferry established in 1695.

The Rodgers family was actively involved in supporting the American cause during the Revolutionary War. In 1775, John Rodgers raised and commanded a company of militia for the defense of Maryland. Because of the Tavern’s strategic location on the main thoroughfare, and the owner’s patriotic tendencies, it was a favorite stopping place for such Revolutionary fi gures as George Washington, Lafayette, and Rochambeau.

Other distinguished visitors included Thomas Jeff erson and James Madison. Just one year after John Rodgers bought the tavern, in 1781, Washington brought offi cers and troops through the Lower Ferry Crossing on his way to his victorious campaign against Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia.

The Tome School for Boys, originally located on Main Street in Port Deposit, Maryland was founded by Jacob Tome as a nonsectarian college preparatory school for boys. It opened for boarders and received its fi rst students in 1894. It was part of a system of schools that began with kindergarten and extended through high school that was collectively known as the Jacob Tome Institute. The Tome School is signifi cant in military history as the location of the Naval Academy Preparatory School (NAPS) from 1943 to 1974, excepting the years 1949 to 1951. The NAPS, the third oldest school in the U.S. Navy after the Naval Academy and the Naval War College, prepares enlisted candidates in the Navy and Marine Corps for admission to the Naval Academy. The NAPS was located in the Tome School buildings for a total of 29 years covering a period of three major wars, during which the school played a continuing role in providing naval leadership for those confl icts.

For more information about Cecil County history, visit http://www.cecilhistory.org or call 410-398-1790.