Eastern Shore of VA Public Library an Important Resource for Family and Local History Research

The Eastern Shore of Virginia has a number of helpful research repositories for those studying the past and one of those is the Eastern Shore Public Library.  It’s about halfway down the Peninsula, between the State Line and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, in the county seat town of Accomac.  This regional system, serving Accomack and Northampton counties, has a strong local history research collection.

Over the decades I have stopped there a few times to use the Eastern Shore Room and as I spent part of a day working there this past week I was reminded of the value of this public institution.  The headquarters library has the largest group of the Shore’s published works in any public repository.  In addition there are strong, easily accessible holdings of newspapers on microfilm.  The published titles originated in Accomac, Cape Charles, Chincoteague, Eastville, Exmore, Onancock, Onley, and Tasley.  Couple these resources and the microfilm reels of court records with the extremely knowledgeable staff and you have the perfect place for someone inquiring about regional genealogy or history to do a little digging in the sources.

Here is a link to the library genealogy page, where you will find a number of e-resources.

Harford County Public Library Program: Duck & Cover: Remembering the Days of Sputnik, Conalrad & Fallout Shelters

Press Release — Harford County Public Library

Do you know how to survive a nuclear attack? Where are the fallout shelters in Harford County? Now that the Cold War is over, this information is a bit of nostalgia but there was a time when getting under a desk at school was part of a normal drill at school! Historian Mike Dixon takes us through the old emergency procedures county residents were supposed to follow and gives us a look at the films and signage that were standard in schools and public buildings.

Registration suggested.

June 24, 2013, 6:30 p.m. at Edgewood

June 27, 2013, 6:30 p.m. at Fallston

Thousands of Digital Delaware Picture Postcards Depict State History at Public Archives

The Lighthouse & Keeper’s House at Taylor’s Bridge. Source: Delaware Public Archives, George Caley Postcard Collection

The Delaware Public Archives, a special collections institution that provides outstanding leadership in creating digital products to support the study of First State heritage, has just launched another valuable resource.  It is the George Luther Caley Postcard Collection, a group of almost 7,000 twentieth century images of the State and Delmarva.

George, a Smyrna resident, was a well-known genealogist, author and local historian and an avid postcard collector.  During his life-time, he assembled this valuable assortment of Delaware and Delmarva images.  When he passed away in 2005, his wife generously donated the photos to the Delaware Public Archives.  Now the professionals at this fine repository have made those images available to researchers on the World Wide Web.

Picture postcards caught on about 1906 and remained popular, sought after items throughout the 20^th century.  Itinerant photographers traveled the area, from the Peninsula’s wide spots in the road to the larger towns, snapping up pictures of just about everything to supply the market.  When people vacationed, they mailed those tiny items back home.  Or when someone from Delaware corresponded with far away friends, they exchanged picture postcards of their towns.  Toward the end of the 20^th century the items that had been stored away in trunks decades earlier started coming out of attics.  Those tiny pieces of cardboard became valuable, sought-after collectibles as local history enthusiasts snapped up the historical pictures of the region, many of them nearly 100-years old.

Now thanks to Mrs. Caley and the Delaware Public Archives this valuable collection has been carefully preserved and it is available to a wide audience.

Click here to visit the postcard collection

The Caley Postcard Collection Homepage at the Delaware Public Archives website

Eastern Shore Sunset on a Hot Day in Late Spring

With the area suffering from the first heat wave of 2013, the setting sun late on a Saturday evening in June filled the Eastern Shore sky with colorful shades of red and orange.   The clouds, low on the horizon over toward Chestertown, had started to gather in the distance on what had been a sun soaked day.  This formations added shadows and a silhouette to a perfect day as the end of spring nears and Saturday drew to a close.

Eastern Shore Sunset outside of Church Hill on Route 213 heading toward Chestertown.

Adkins Arboretum Presents Quality Audio Tour About Nature’s Role In Underground Railroad

William Still’s Underground Railroad Records documented many cases. Source: Google Books.

June 1, 2013 — As evening descended on Caroline County on this hot Saturday in late spring, an inquisitive group of about 25 people gathered at the Adkins Arboretum to celebrate the opening of a “Journey Begins:  nature’s role in the flight of freedom.”  The nonprofit, with generous support from the Maryland Humanities Council and the Maryland Heritage Area Authority, was introducing its high quality, self-guided audio tour that explores the role of nature on the Eastern Shore for those in pursuit of freedom via the Underground Railroad.

Following opening remarks by Arboretum staff, guest grabbed audio players and strolled through the thick hardwood forest of some 400 acres.  By this time the sun was slowly slipping low in the sky, lengthening the evening shadows in this natural habitat as people listened to thought provoking voices, music, and sounds from another time, an era when freedom seekers leveraged opportunities in the natural environment.  The “Adkins Arboretum reflects the conditions through which slaves traveled en route to freedom, and serves as a dramatic vista to experience the little-known relationship between nature and the Underground Railroad,” the staff noted as they introduced us to the product.

In this native environment, the cross-section of history, cultural and the natural landscape, combine on this Eastern Shore preserve to allow for a vivid presentation about the stories of the Underground Railroad.  With its forest, thickets, marshes, rivers, and creeks, it is the perfect spot for a modern audience to grasp conditions slaves had to pass through en route to freedom

As we spent a peaceful, enjoyable hour walking through the reserve on this first day in June, stories about how the railroad made its freedom runs echoed through the woods.  Along the way, as we ambled on paths and over creeks, our audio guide revealed the stories of flights to freedom in an engaging way, vividly helping us understand the intersection between history and nature.

It was a powerful presentation, creating a tangible sort of reflection on the past.  We had first experienced this type of program about two years ago, when Underground Railroad Expert, Tony Cohen, presented two walking tours.  We attended both and found his presentation to be excellent so we were excited to see that the preserve was again drawing on Tony’s expertise to shape the self-guided audio tour.

Tony’s an outstanding guide and teacher and he personably engaged everyone in those first two walking tours group.  The lessons were powerful, exactly the way the study of our heritage should be presented in the 21^st century.  We’ve attended many lectures on the Underground Railroad, but we’ll remember the details of this one for a long time thanks to the way the program was put together and delivered.

Adkins Arboretum is a 400-acre native garden and preserve on Maryland’s Eastern Shore dedicated to promoting the appreciation and conservation of the region’s native plants. Four miles of paths along streams, through meadows and native plant gardens, and under the shade of a rich bottomland forest attract nature lovers, gardeners, students and birders.  The Arboretum offers programs year-round in ecology, horticulture, and natural history for all ages. The site features over 600 species of native shrubs, trees, wildflowers, and grasses.

Thank you Adkins Arboretum for producing an excellent program, and filling a needed niche with quality, new programming and delivery.

Salem City NJ, An Interesting Historic District & Town

I spent the day in Salem, NJ doing some fieldwork as I get started on a research project related to late 20th century transformations in rural towns.  It’s the first time I’ve walked Salem’s streets and I had a productive day, finding helpful staff members at the Historical Society, Courthouse, Sheriff’s Office and elsewhere.  They were all great and the county historical Society has strong research collections and a fine staff.  Whenever you are getting started on some new study, its great to have people help orient you to a new community.

Here are a few photos from today’s visit and as the town has lots of interesting architecture and history I will grab more on future visits.  The top two photos show the old county courthouse on the last day of May 2013 and the bottom two are of the insane asylum outside of town.

The Old Salem County Courthouse on a hot Friday in late summer.

Located in a rural area outside of Salem City, this is the county insane asylum. It was used to treat the mental ill until the 1920s.

On the Mason Dixon Line in Western MD & Central PA

While spending some time in the Gettysburg area over the Memorial Day Weekend, we checked out a few spots along the Mason Dixon Line. Here are a few of the photos we took over the holiday in spots between Gettysburg, PA and Cumberland, MD.

On the Mason Dixon Line between Gettysburg and Emmitsburg

Pennsylvania State Line

On the Mason Dixon Line in State Line PA.

On the Mason Dixon Line outside Cumberland MD

 

 

Website for Real Time Marine Traffic on Delaware & Chesapeake Bays, and C & D Canal

While talking about the history of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal during the Civil War at a meeting of the Fort Delaware Society last week, we discussed the website, www.marinetraffic.com.  This open source initiative provides free, real-time information about ship movements so visitors are able to view marine traffic on the Delaware and Chesapeake bays and the Canal.  It is also provides details on the vessels.  Many guests at the program were interested in this virtual information repository, so I am posting the link here.

http://www.marinetraffic.com shows real time maritime traffic on the Delaware & Chesapeake Bays and the C & D Canal.

It also provides information on the vessels.

Old Signs Reflect Past Times in Western Maryland

Whenever I’m on the road working in some new area, I enjoy looking for fading physical traces of the past.  This curiosity about the dynamics of place makes my road trips much longer as I pause to explore a community, seeking to get some view of a bygone time.  That was the case this week as I was out in Oakland doing a programs for the 8^th graders in Garrett County Schools at an event sponsored by the Garrett Lakes Arts Festival, Mountain Maryland Gateway to the West Heritage Area and the Maryland Humanities Council.

It was a long, enjoyable day as I paused in Grantsville, Frostburg, and Cumberland, MD, as well as Greencastle, PA.  At these stops I slowly strolled down streets looking for things many people might not notice.  These traces of close at hand history that got my attention on this Friday in mid-May were fading and peeling advertising signs on exteriors walls of buildings.  Sometimes I eyed signs that were here before neon  and were painted on old brick walls. In Cumberland, which had a substantial downtown business district in the middle of the 20^th century, there were a number of aging neon signs touting products or services that have disappeared.

These old advertising pieces brought to mind an earlier era in our commercial past as surviving visual relics of changing business districts.  They were also a reminder of the time when the advertising medium was far different.  Anyway it was an enjoyable day traveling through Western Maryland and I was able to snap a few interesting photos, which will eventually find some use in the classroom or public lecture.

Here are three of the pictures.

An old sign on the side of a commercial building in the downtown business district of Greencastle, PA advertises Carl’s Drug Store

A fading neon sign in Cumberland’s business district alerted shoppers to Ruhl’s photography studio.

Ruhl Photography studio in Cumberland, MD

Fine Old 19th Century Hotel/Tavern Looks Forward to Strong Run Through 21st Century

This fine old building in downtown Delaware City always catches my attention when I visit the canal town.  Located on a triangular lot alongside the original canal, it incorporates four periods of construction, ranging from the 1830s to the mid-twentieth century according to the Delaware Dept. of Transportation.  The Central Hotel/Sterling’s Tavern was recently sold and there are plans to reopen it as a commercial space, contributing to the revitalization of Delaware City.

The old hotel in Delaware City has been sold and will open next year.

Late afternoon in mid-spring at Sterling’s Tavern in Delaware City.