Travers Tours offers “Experience New Castle Now” Walking Tours

New Castle, Delaware, is where William Penn first landed in America. The town, founded in 1651, is an unofficial national treasure. It has never been rebuilt or restored; it is a living, vital community, and its residents are not actors, but real 21st Century people. Yet New Castle retains a wealth of Federal, Colonial and Victorian buildings and a keen sense of its history.

Now walking tours of New Castle, a short drive from Cecil County on I-95 or U.S. 40, let visitors explore the town’s architecture and its many stories. Tour guides, all longtime residents, know both the “official” history and all the town’s legends, inspiring, humorous or scandalous. Tours can be tailored to individual interests: architecture, history, graveyards, or . . . ?

The tours are designed by James Travers, a lifelong resident of the town and author of “New Castle,” published in 2005. Visitors can take tours as extensions of a visit to the Courthouse Museum and other historic sites, or as customized tours. Tour guides, said Travers, “have a wealth of oral history to share about some of the colorful characters who have lived in the town and how some of the town’s buildings have changed purpose over the years.”

Tours, which usually last more than an hour, are available between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays; or Sunday by appointment. Part of the proceeds will be donated to charities designated by the tour guide.

To schedule a tour, call 302-898-4072. Cost is $18, with discounts available for couples and groups.

Current guides of Travers Walking Tours:

James Travers, retired; 6th Street resident; author of “New Castle,” Arcadia Publishing, 2005.

Ken Sturgis, retired; 4th Street resident, chemical operator, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.

Major N. Travers, III, retired; CWO III, Army Aviation, helicopter pilot; resident of The Woods; grew up in New Castle.

Daniel Bungy, 4th Street resident; State of Delaware Office of Alcoholic Beverage Control Commissioner.

Dean Mitchell, retired; 6th Street resident; history teacher for Colonial School District.

Scale Model Takes Havre de Grace Back to the Day Before the British Savagely Attacked Town During War of 1812

A group of volunteers has been working for nearly a year on a scale model of Havre de Grace as it existed the day before the British raided the village in May 1813.  This afternoon, R. Madison Mitchell (Mitch), one of the modelers, took time out from shaping the exhibit to discuss the handiwork of his team with a group of visitors.  They’ve worked from old maps, land records, tax assessments, newspapers and more to accurately recreate the place as it peacefully existed the day before the enemy attacked.

Painstakingly, the group has built, in miniature, the port at the top of the Chesapeake.  It was a a small place with about 250 residents and 50 homes when the British savagely stormed into the fishing village on the morning of May 3, 1813, the enemy almost completely destroying it.  After taking possession of the place and “plundering the stores of all worth taking they set fire to the two taverns,” 19 dwelling houses, and 21 stables and outhouses, besides all the craft and stages near the town, one newspaper reported.  “The British have laid in ashes the beautiful village of Havre-de Grace!  The war has now come to our own doors,” another declared.

Despite the rampage and the devastation from the flames, it recovered.  Fortunately, few American communities have had to rebuild from such devastation at the hands of an invading foreign force, according to the National Register Nomination.

Week after week, the miniature layout, occupying a space in the Visitors Center, has grown as the landscape, roads, waterfront, buildings and other elements were designed, shaped and placed.  It’s all going to be there, from the ferries to the markets, fisheries, and docks.  Too there are the nearby woodlands and pastures, as well as the homes and structures nearer the waterfront.

This is one of the initiatives undertaken by the six heritage museums of Havre de Grace and the City to tell the story of what happened when the British raided the town during the War of 1812.  While modeling still needs to be done, the photos below shows you the handiwork by Mitch and this fine group of skilled hobbyist and craftsmen, as it comes along.

The excellent work by the team carefully creating and placing the miniatures is going to make a valued exhibit as people visit Havre de Grace to learn more about the War of 1812 in the months and years ahead.  It’s located at the Visitor Center in Havre de grace, which is open M-F 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  The public is welcome to stop by to see the exhibit as it progresses.

War of 1812 Bicentennial Observance Exhibit Opens Feb. 1st With Period Music & Stories Performed by Costumed Interpreters

War of 1812: Bicentennial Observance Exhibit will open on Wednesday, Feb. 1st. The opening is from 3:00- 6:30 p.m. and will feature at lecture by adjunct Professor Mike Dixon at 4:30. Mr. Dixon will speak on the lesser known stories of life in the Upper Bay.
Be sure to stop by before and after the lecture to hear period music and stories performed by costumed interpreters Will and Andrea Priest!

The exhibit will showcase the local history as it relates to the War of 1812, as well as daily life in the early Republic period. New displays and updated information will be added throughout the exhibit run, which will close in December 2012.
This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War – A Reading & Discussion Series

Harford Community College Library and the Hays-Heighe House will host a free, five-part reading and discussion series called, “Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War, beginning March 1, 2012.  The book discussions will be held on Thursdays throughout the spring semester: March 1, March 15, March 29, April 19 and May 3.  Each discussion will take place twice—first at 12:30 p.m. and again at 6:30 p.m.  The discussions will be held at the Hays-Heighe House.

The discussion series is based on three books: March by Geraldine Books, Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam, by James McPherson, and America’s War: Talking About the Civil War and Emancipation on Their 150^th Anniversaries, edited by Edward L. Ayers.  James Karmel, Ph.D., associate professor of history at Harford Community College, will lead the discussion at each session.  The discussion series is made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association.

Participation in the book discussion series is free, but advance registration is required to receive copies of the books and other materials.  To register, contact Ann Persson at apersson@harford.edu or at 443-412-2495.  Book discussion flyer is attached.

Three related programs are also planned; all are free and open to the general public.  See the summary below and the attached flyers:

• March 6 from 1:00-2:00 p.m. at HCC Student Center, room 243.  Presentation by Colleen Webster, “In a Stranger Place: Louisa May Alcott and other Concordians Respond to the Civil War.”
• March 8 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Harford County Public Library Bel Air Branch: Presentation by Dr. Thomas Clemens, “Marching Through Maryland: Lee’s Campaign of 1862” (sponsored by the Maryland Humanities Council).
• April 26 from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m.  (in the HCC Student Center, room 243) and from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. (in HCC’s Edgewood Hall, room 132).  Presentation on “Harford County and the Fugitive Slave” by Jim Chrismer, with commentary by Christine Tolbert and Dr. T. Stephen Whitman.

 

The Betterton Fire Company

The citizens of Betterton organized a fire company to protect the Chesapeake Bay town in 1938.  In this undated photo four firefighters from those early years staff the company’s fire engine.  Click here for a history of the department.

Ellsworth Shank Havre de Grace History Lecture Series Announced For 2012

Presented by the Susquehanna Museum at the Lock House

• January 19, 2012 – 7PM. Topic: “Towboats Out of Havre de Grace” by Richard Sherrill. Havre de Grace City Hall, 711 Pennington Ave.
•  February 16, 2012 – 7PM. Topic: “Researching Free People of Color in Harford County” by Reggie Bishop. Havre de Grace City Hall, 711 Pennington Ave.
• March 15, 2012 –7PM. Topic: “Havre de Grace in the ‘30s from the Eye of Herbert McCommons” by David Craig. Havre de Grace City Hall, 711 Pennington Ave.
• April 19, 2012 – 7PM. Topic: “Harford County and the Civil War: An Overview” by Jim Chrismer. Havre de Grace City Hall, 711 Pennington Ave.
• May 17, 2012 – 7PM. Topic: “Havre de Grace and the War of 1812” by Chris George and Jeff Korman. Havre de Grace City Hall, 711 Pennington Ave.
•  June 21, 2012 – 7PM. Topic: “Damned if You Do, Damned if You Don’t” by Jody Argo Schroath. Havre de Grace City Hall, 711 Pennington Ave.

**Please note all lectures are free and are presented by the Lock House Museum! If you have any questions please contact us at 410-939-5780 or lockhousemuseum@gmail.com

January Lecture: Heroes and Villains of 1812: A Look at the Personalities in the War of the Chesapeake

From War of 1812:  Havre de Grace Under Fire

David Healey, local author of 1812: Rediscovering Chesapeake Bay’s Forgotten War, will present an engaging talk at the Havre de Grace Library on Tuesday, January 17 at 6:30 p.m. He will look at the personalities of the War of 1812 – both the “heroes” and the “villains” of the conflict.

Date: Tuesday, January 17, 2012, 6:30 p.m. Location: Havre de Grace Library, 120 N. Union Ave., Havre de Grace Topic: Heroes and Villains of 1812: A Look at the Personalities in the War of the Chesapeake Speaker: David Healey, author