Cecil County has served as gracious host to famous and ordinary travelers from many other times and continues to show the same hospitality that welcomed Captain John Smith, George Washington, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy today. Some of these travelers came to Cecil through serendipity, some to settle a new country and nation, others to the call of duty. Many more escape to Cecil County to walk in their footsteps and make their own discoveries of quiet coves, rolling farms, shaded woods, historic towns and harbors.
In 1608 Captain John Smith of Jamestown, Va., fame, sailed up the uncharted Susquehanna River to the rocks and rapids above the tiny town of Port Deposit, where his small boat could go no further. He marked the spot on his map with an “X” and proclaimed it, “Smith Fayles.” History was more kind to the Captain and denotes the area as “Smith’s Falls.” Soon settlers, soldiers, sailors, farmers and land barons made their way to Cecil’s verdant shores to build cabins and homes, wharves and farms, homes and businesses. A trading post was erected on Garrett Island at Perryville and a heavy trade was done for pelts with the native Susquehannock, soon villages would follow, which would eventually become what are today Cecil’s eight towns.
Visitor’s today come to Cecil County for rolling hills, rushing rivers and peaceful vast parkland. Through historic sites, homes, museums and trails American history is on display at every turn as opportunities abound to walk in the footsteps of Presidents and Generals. For those for whom history plays less a part, opportunities still abound at five golf courses, over 4,000 boats slips and over 200 miles of shoreline. A massive equine industry comes complete with trail, wagon, carriage and, weather permitting, sleigh rides; parks, hiking and biking trails, a zoo, shopping districts, arts districts, theatres, museums and more beckon for those who step off the “beaten path” of I-95 and discover what is truly magical and truly timeless off exits 93, 100 and 109.
Discover a town once known as Summer Hill that became after people insisting in meeting and voting at “The Rising Sun,” the name for a tavern in the center of Summer Hill, Rising Sun, where Major General Norman T. Kirk was born and saw four wars and every battlefield of his country’s involvement from 1912 until 1947; and where Ola Belle Reed founded The New River Ranch, a popular music venue attracting national talents, where she played and wrote, before earning the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Award.
Stroll down Main Street in North East and discover books and art by local artists on local subjects, unique boutiques, and restaurants offering everything from Maryland seafood to a taste of the islands, succulent steaks to sandwiches with a Mason Dixon style twist. Main Street in Port Deposit offers more restaurants to the traveler and be sure to pick your spot in the waterfront park for nature’s picture show, a Susquehanna sunset. The Main Street in Chesapeake City is a bit different than most, as this town’s Main Street is the C&D Canal, which is a busier commercial canal than even the Panama Canal, but the quiet town on either side of it belies that fact. Home to intriguing bed and breakfasts, galleries, shops, events, harbors, docks, boat tours, parks and free summer concerts at Pell Gardens, it is a haven for visitors.
The crossroads town of Cecilton, a bit further south of Chesapeake City, is a welcome find after a trip through some of Cecil’s most beautiful rolling horse country. Nearby Mount Harmon Plantation offers colonial hospitality and a host of events from a Colonial Picnic to tours and trails and a Yuletide celebration. A destination for waterfront enjoyment and quiet reflection is Charlestown with shoreline galore and amazing views, a beach and fishing pier, restaurants with inspirational menus and a great place for that Maryland staple steamed crabs.
The County Seat in the northeastern corner of Cecil is one of Maryland’s first arts and entertainment districts and as such offers more museums than any other Cecil town at the Historical Society of Cecil County and the John F. DeWitt Military Museum, Duke Log Cabin and Country Store exhibit. In the same building at 135 E. Main St., the Elkton Arts Center and Cecil County Arts Council offer rotating exhibits as well as variety of arts classes from painting to sculpture, bellydancing to paper making, poetry workshops to photography and music. Main street shops and restaurants, health and wellness programs at Union Hospital, and arts programs at Cecil College’s Elkton Station are all on tap in Elkton, where former Miami Dolphin Larry Webster attended Elkton High School.
For many reasons Cecil County is a timeless destination for those who take the time to leave I-95 and make their own discoveries, following in the footsteps of those who discovered Cecil County 400 years before.
