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86-589: Port Deposit is a town in Cecil County , Maryland , United States. It is located on the east bank of the Susquehanna River near its discharge into the Chesapeake Bay . The population was 653 at the 2010 census . Port Deposit is located at 39°36′39″N 76°6′1″W  /  39.61083°N 76.10028°W  / 39.61083; -76.10028 (39.610915, -76.100172). According to

172-490: A Puritan trader based in Virginia, earlier established a trading post at what is now known as Garrett Island at the mouth of the Susquehanna River near what became Perryville. Bohemian immigrant Augustine Herman lobbied for Cecil County's creation, and drew the 1674 maps, in exchange for which Herman received extensive land grants, including one developed as Bohemia Manor , where he eventually died. Another early developer

258-773: A banker, philanthropist, and politician; and died one of the richest men in the United States. He was to become Cecil County's first millionaire and its greatest philanthropist. The Tome mansion (built in 1850 but no longer standing) was the largest house in the town. In 1889, Tome founded the Jacob Tome School for Boys on Main Street, part of a system of schools called the Jacob Tome Institute. When he died on March 16, 1898, in Port Deposit, he left

344-640: A canal to connect the Elk River to Christiana, Delaware (connecting the Chesapeake and Delaware watersheds) failed within two years. However, between 1824 and 1829, with financial support from the states of Maryland, Delaware , and Pennsylvania , over 2600 workers built the 14 miles long Chesapeake and Delaware Canal , which became for a while the busiest canal in the new nation. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers still operates it today, and Chesapeake City, Maryland , which had been Bohemia Manor until 1839, has

430-611: A continuous line from Philadelphia to Baltimore. The main line passed southeast of Port Deposit; the town was connected by a branch line in 1866, running along the riverbank from Perryville . In 1881, the PW&;B came under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). In 1893 the branch line was sold to the Columbia and Port Deposit Railway , also PRR-controlled. Jacob Tome arrived in Port Deposit penniless; became

516-399: A household in the county was $ 50,510, and the median income for a family was $ 56,469. Males had a median income of $ 40,350 versus $ 28,646 for females. The per capita income for the county was $ 21,384. About 5.4% of families and 7.2% of the population were below the poverty line , including 9.2% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 65 or over. Maryland state planning data suggest that

602-422: A household in the town was $ 34,167, and the median income for a family was $ 37,813. Males had a median income of $ 32,083 versus $ 21,932 for females. The per capita income for the town was $ 15,297. About 19.4% of families and 22.2% of the population were below the poverty line , including 35.4% of those under age 18 and 12.8% of those age 65 or over. Cecil County, Maryland Cecil County ( SEE -sil )

688-542: A judge, before moving to Washington D.C. to help President Lincoln, who later named him to the United States Supreme Court. Slavery's abolition affected many local property owners, as well as their slaves. After the war, Perryville again became a railroad town, and later received business from interstate highway travelers crossing the Susquehanna bridges. Although Cecil County had once been one of

774-429: A museum explaining the canal's importance. Railroads and bridges also proved economically important to Cecil County and surrounding region. The New Castle and Frenchtown Railroad began service in 1831. Railroads crisscrossed Cecil county within three decades, although they ultimately greatly reduced its importance as a trading center. Cities such as Philadelphia and Baltimore could achieve economies of scale impossible for

860-556: A northeastern part of a much larger Baltimore County, Maryland , in the northeastern portion of the Province . This had included present-day Baltimore and Baltimore County , and Harford , Carroll , eastern Frederick , and portions of Howard and Anne Arundel counties. At the time of its founding, Cecil County also included modern Kent County and the border on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay went as far south as

946-548: A solidly Republican county. The last Democrat to carry the county was Jimmy Carter in 1976. Prior to December 3, 2012, Cecil County was governed by county commissioners, the traditional form of county government in Maryland. On that date, Cecil County began governance under a new charter approved via voter referendum in November 2010, which authorized an elected County Executive and a five-member County Council, which separates

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1032-751: A steamboat which he demonstrated to George Washington, before traveling to London to secure patents against competition from John Finch. Rumsey died there in 1792, but his lawyer brother Benjamin Rumsey moved south to Joppa, Maryland and served as Maryland's Chief Justice for 25 years. Steamboats, using technology such as by Robert Fulton , came to dominate travel on the bay during the following decades. The Eagle, built in Philadelphia in 1813, transported travelers between Baltimore and Elkton , where they connected with stagecoaches to travel to Wilmington, Philadelphia and other points north. An 1802 attempt to build

1118-479: A substantial endowment for the institute, which the Tome School tapped to build a series of beaux arts granite buildings on the bluffs above Port Deposit, overlooking the Susquehanna River . The CP-TOME interlocking on the railroad line through downtown Port Deposit is named in his honor. The Susquehanna River drops 167 feet (51 m) as it passes through the region above Port Deposit, as it cuts through

1204-455: A survey in 1813, which included the first written reference to Port Deposit, the company proposed a location that complied with the law but was longer than necessary. After petitioning for relief, the company was allowed to route the bridge closer to the falls, allowing it to be 1,000 feet (300 m) shorter. The Port Deposit Bridge , a wooden covered bridge , was built just north of Port Deposit during 1817 and 1818. Put into service in 1818, it

1290-918: A weak tendency to fracture along these layers. In Europe, the term has been more widely applied to any coarse, mica -poor, high-grade metamorphic rock. The British Geological Survey (BGS) and the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) both use gneiss as a broad textural category for medium- to coarse-grained metamorphic rock that shows poorly developed schistosity, with compositional layering over 5 millimeters (0.20 in) thick and tending to split into plates over 1 centimeter (0.39 in) thick. Neither definition depends on composition or origin, though rocks poor in platy minerals are more likely to produce gneissose texture. Gneissose rocks thus are largely recrystallized but do not carry large quantities of micas, chlorite or other platy minerals. Metamorphic rock showing stronger schistosity

1376-475: Is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland at the northeastern corner of the state, bordering both Pennsylvania and Delaware . As of the 2020 census , the population was 103,725. The county seat is Elkton . The county is part of the Mid-Eastern Shore region of the state. The county was named for Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore (1605–1675), the first Proprietary Governor of

1462-475: Is a gneiss resulting from metamorphism of granite, which contains characteristic elliptic or lenticular shear-bound grains ( porphyroclasts ), normally feldspar , surrounded by finer grained material. The finer grained material deforms around the more resistant feldspar grains to produce this texture. Migmatite is a gneiss consisting of two or more distinct rock types, one of which has the appearance of an ordinary gneiss (the mesosome ), and another of which has

1548-518: Is called gneissic banding. The darker bands have relatively more mafic minerals (those containing more magnesium and iron ). The lighter bands contain relatively more felsic minerals (minerals such as feldspar or quartz , which contain more of the lighter elements, such as aluminium , sodium , and potassium ). The banding is developed at high temperature when the rock is more strongly compressed in one direction than in other directions ( nonhydrostatic stress ). The bands develop perpendicular to

1634-449: Is classified as schist, while metamorphic rock devoid of schistosity is called a granofels . Gneisses that are metamorphosed igneous rocks or their equivalent are termed granite gneisses, diorite gneisses, and so forth. Gneiss rocks may also be named after a characteristic component such as garnet gneiss, biotite gneiss, albite gneiss, and so forth. Orthogneiss designates a gneiss derived from an igneous rock , and paragneiss

1720-572: Is mostly 7a. The county operates Cecil Transit , which provides fixed-route bus and demand responsive transport service throughout Cecil County. The northern terminus of MARC 's Penn Line commuter rail service to Baltimore and Washington, D.C. is in Perryville, Maryland . Recently, the Wilmington Area Planning Council conducted a study on the travel patterns of residents in the county, and they suggested that

1806-517: Is one from a sedimentary rock . Both the BGS and the IUGS use gneissose to describe rocks with the texture of gneiss, though gneissic also remains in common use. For example, a gneissose metagranite or a gneissic metagranite both mean a granite that has been metamorphosed and thereby acquired gneissose texture. The minerals in gneiss are arranged into layers that appear as bands in cross section. This

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1892-626: Is part of the Delmarva Peninsula as well as Maryland's " Eastern Shore ." Topographically, Cecil County straddles the border between the rolling hills of the Piedmont Plateau north of U.S. Route 40 and the flatlands of the Atlantic Coastal Plain to the south. The highest and most rugged hills are found in the northwestern and north-central parts of the county, reaching 534 feet (163 m) just south of

1978-510: Is subjected to extreme temperature and pressure and is composed of alternating layers of sandstone (lighter) and shale (darker), which is metamorphosed into bands of quartzite and mica. Another cause of banding is "metamorphic differentiation", which separates different materials into different layers through chemical reactions, a process not fully understood. Augen gneiss , from the German : Augen [ˈaʊɡən] , meaning "eyes",

2064-423: Is the current County Executive. In addition, Cecil County is an area that has some home rule in its towns, in places such as Perryville and North East , who have town governments, and hence have minimal county reliance. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 418 square miles (1,080 km ), of which 346 square miles (900 km ) is land and 72 square miles (190 km ) (17%)

2150-528: Is water. Cecil County is in the northeast corner of Maryland, bounded on the north and east by the Mason–Dixon line with Pennsylvania and Delaware . The western border is defined by the lower reaches of the Susquehanna River and the northernmost coves, flats and tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay . On the south, the county is bounded by the Sassafras River and Kent County, Maryland . The county

2236-564: The Cecilton area that was founded in 1999. Amish families moved to the area from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania because of increasing costs and the declining amount of farmland there. There are 17 elementary schools, six middle schools, five high schools, and the Cecil County School of Technology, which specializes in career and technology education, all operated by Cecil County Public Schools . Cecil County schools acts as

2322-766: The Chester River , until its later formation in 1706. The Piscataway traded with the Susquehannocks near Conowingo , and with Lenape of the Delaware valley and their Nanticoke allies near the Elk River and Elk Neck Peninsula . A southern tribe sometimes called the Shawnace also moved into what later became North East, Maryland . Captain John Smith visited the area in 1608. William Claiborne ,

2408-762: The Declaration of Independence , and still operates today (though disaffiliated from the Presbyterian church and with additional buildings). The Principio Furnace , founded in 1719, became an important exporter of pig iron. During the American Revolution both British and colonial troops traveled through Cecil County, although no major battles occurred within its borders. The Battle of Cooch's Bridge occurred in nearby Delaware, and both General Howe and General George Washington stopped in Elkton during

2494-744: The Delaware and Maryland Rail Road Company to build from the river's eastern bank to the Delaware state line. That same year, Delaware chartered the Wilmington and Susquehanna Rail Road Company to continue the line to Wilmington . In 1836, the D&;M merged with the W&;S to form the Wilmington and Susquehanna Railroad Company. On February 12, 1838, all three companies merged to form the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company , forging

2580-523: The Elk River . The canal passes through the town of Chesapeake City , where a high-level bridge facilitates the passage of large ships beneath Maryland Route 213 . Cecil County is also bisected east-to-west by Interstate 95 , known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway in Maryland. The highway provides a major artery for traffic between the Baltimore-Washington area to the southwest and

2666-540: The Mason–Dixon line near Nottingham, Pennsylvania and just east of U.S. Route 1 . The lowest elevation is sea level along the Chesapeake Bay . Cecil County is primarily rural, with denser development around the county seat of Elkton and along U.S. Route 40. The county is bisected from east to west by the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal , which connects the Delaware River to the Chesapeake Bay by way of

Port Deposit, Maryland - Misplaced Pages Continue

2752-554: The Philadelphia and New York and New Jersey regions to the northeast. The Office of Management and Budget has designated Cecil County as part of the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metropolitan area . Cecil County has a humid subtropical climate ( Cfa ) except in higher northern areas where a hot-summer humid continental climate ( Dfa ) exists. There are four distinct seasons and seven months average above 50 °F (10 °C).) The hardiness zone

2838-620: The Province (colony) of Maryland . With the eastern part of the county closer to Philadelphia than Baltimore , it is part of the Philadelphia–Camden–Wilmington, PA–NJ–DE–MD Metropolitan Statistical Area . The county is located in Wilmington 's Radio Market and Baltimore's Designated Market Area. The area now known as Cecil County was an important trading center long before the county's official organization in 1674 by proclamation of Lord Baltimore . It had previously been

2924-547: The Revolutionary War . This granite can be seen in many of the distinctive buildings in Port Deposit today. Quarries were also opened here in 1829 by the proprietors of a competitor canal, the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal , between Havre de Grace and Wrightsville, Pennsylvania , for canal construction projects routed along the opposite bank of the Susquehanna. These quarries continued in service well into

3010-713: The Sassafras River , and, meeting resistance, destroyed Georgetown, Maryland and Fredericktown, Maryland . Avoiding Port Deposit which rumors called heavily defended, the British destroyed the Principio Iron Works, an important military target. Port Deposit boomed after the Susquehanna Canal opened in 1812. Engineer James Rumsey , who grew up in Bohemia Manor before moving to Bath, Virginia (or Berkeley Springs, West Virginia ), invented

3096-580: The United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 2.28 square miles (5.91 km), of which 2.27 square miles (5.88 km) is land and 0.01 square miles (0.03 km) is water. It is the westernmost incorporated municipality in Cecil County , as well as in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metropolitan Statistical Area , better known as the Delaware Valley. The first recorded European visits to

3182-484: The census of 2000, there were 85,951 people, 31,223 households, and 23,292 families living in the county. The population density was 247 inhabitants per square mile (95/km ). There were 34,461 housing units at an average density of 99 per square mile (38/km ). The racial makeup of the county was 93.4% White , 3.9% Black or African American , 0.3% Native American , 0.7% Asian , <0.1% Pacific Islander , 0.5% from other races , and 1.2% from two or more races. 1.5% of

3268-752: The school district for the entire county. Cecil College has four campuses in Cecil County. There are 7 branches of the Cecil County Public Library and the Library also does significant outreach throughout the county. The 2017 census accounted a population of 102,746 people. On a scale of one, being low crime, to 100, being high crime, these statistics compare Cecil County's crime rates to US crime averages. In regards to violent crime, which includes murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault,

3354-492: The 20th century. Port Deposit gneiss was used in: Port Deposit was incorporated in 1824. In 1832, the governments of Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania chartered a quartet of railroads to connect Baltimore and Philadelphia. The Maryland General Assembly chartered two railroads terminating at Port Deposit: the Baltimore and Port Deposite Rail Road Company to build a line from the Susquehanna's western bank to Baltimore; and

3440-681: The Conowingo Rapids or passed through Port Deposit, as it had to terrible effect in 1907. Formerly a major industry in Port Deposit, Wiley's Manufacturing, fabricated the Fort McHenry Tunnel sections. They were floated and towed to the Baltimore construction site using tugboats. Construction was completed in 1985. The immersed tubes of the 63rd Street Tunnel were fabricated at a shipyard in Port Deposit and then towed to New York City . The entire town of Port Deposit

3526-595: The MARC line extends from Perryville up to Newark or even Wilmington , where it meets SEPTA and Amtrak lines. The county is one of only two areas on Amtrak's Acela that does not have local services. As of the 2010 United States Census , there were 101,108 people, 36,867 households, and 26,681 families living in the county. The population density was 292.0 inhabitants per square mile (112.7/km ). There were 41,103 housing units at an average density of 118.7 per square mile (45.8/km ). The racial makeup of

Port Deposit, Maryland - Misplaced Pages Continue

3612-502: The Susquehanna to Lapidum ; this was referred to as Smith's Ferry or Upper Ferry. In 1731, a road from Susquehanna Upper Ferry toward Philadelphia , as far as the jurisdiction extends, was authorized. In the same year, in the jurisdiction south of the river, a petition was submitted for a road from the mill at 'Rock Run' to Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania . This upper ferry was later purchased by Colonel John Creswell and came to be known as 'Creswell's Ferry'. This location, and Lapidum across

3698-625: The Tome Institute, became the Town Hall; the only remains of the Tome Institute's former Washington Hall is the granite doorway that separates the Main Street from a parking lot today. During the second half of the twentieth century, Port Deposit maintained a small police department, mostly made up of parttime officers. Around 1966, the town council promoted Horace Boddy, one of the parttime patrolman, to chief of police. He had joined

3784-427: The age of 18 living with them, 35.8% were married couples living together, 14.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 7.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 42.3% were non-families. 30.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.89. The median age in

3870-458: The amphibolite or granulite facies. These form most of the exposed rock in Archean cratons . Gneiss domes are common in orogenic belts (regions of mountain formation). They consist of a dome of gneiss intruded by younger granite and migmatite and mantled with sedimentary rock. These have been interpreted as a geologic record of two distinct mountain-forming events, with the first producing

3956-538: The appearance of an intrusive rock such pegmatite , aplite , or granite the ( leucosome ). The rock may also contain a melanosome of mafic rock complementary to the leucosome. Migmatites are often interpreted as rock that has been partially melted, with the leucosome representing the silica-rich melt, the melanosome the residual solid rock left after partial melting, and the mesosome the original rock that has not yet experienced partial melting. Gneisses are characteristic of areas of regional metamorphism that reaches

4042-522: The area were the 1608 and 1609 expeditions led by Captain John Smith up the Chesapeake Bay . He sailed about 2 miles (3.2 km) up the Susquehanna River to the present location of Port Deposit, and gave the name of "Smythe Fayles" to the rapids just above the future town. In 1729, Thomas Cresap established a regular ferry service near Smith's Falls (in the upper Port Deposit area) crossing

4128-416: The bottom of the deck in the other direction. These forces stretch out the rock like a plastic , and the original material is spread out into sheets. Per the polar decomposition theorem , the deformation produced by such shearing force is equivalent to rotation of the rock combined with shortening in one direction and extension in another. Some banding is formed from original rock material (protolith) that

4214-459: The center of town along Main Street, connecting northwards to U.S. Route 1 near Conowingo Dam and southward to Perryville and Interstate 95 , which is the nearest Interstate highway . Both US 1 and I-95 head north towards Philadelphia and south towards Baltimore . Maryland Route 276 also serves Port Deposit, heading northeast towards Rising Sun . As of the census of 2010, there were 653 people, 265 households, and 153 families living in

4300-474: The country drained by the Susquehanna above the falls. Further, since a number of roads converged at the ferry crossing, goods could be carted or "rolled." As early as the 1790s, the forests on the Susquehanna were being logged and the timbers floated downriver to points near the ferry landing. In 1812, the town was platted as Creswell's Landing; months later, Governor Levin Winder signed a bill officially naming

4386-517: The county was 89.2% white, 6.2% black or African American, 1.1% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 1.0% from other races, and 2.2% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 3.4% of the population. Of the 36,867 households, 36.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.7% were married couples living together, 12.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 27.6% were non-families, and 21.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size

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4472-567: The county's small Chesapeake ports. Even the railroad's Frenchtown section was abandoned in 1859, and the port became a ghost town, though other sections remain in use, operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway . During the American Civil War , Perryville, Maryland became an important staging ground for Union troops. It had been the halfway point of the railroad line between Wilmington and Baltimore, but damage to

4558-402: The direction of greatest compression, also called the shortening direction, as platy minerals are rotated or recrystallized into parallel layers. A common cause of nonhydrodynamic stress is the subjection of the protolith (the original rock material that undergoes metamorphism) to extreme shearing force, a sliding force similar to the pushing of the top of a deck of cards in one direction, and

4644-546: The early post- Civil War period, Cecil County, having been generally pro-secession, leaned strongly towards the Democratic Party. It was carried by the Democratic Party nominee in every Presidential election between 1868 and 1920 except that of 1896 when the Northeast was vigorously opposed to William Jennings Bryan ’s “free silver” policy. Since Dwight Eisenhower carried the county in 1952, Cecil County has become

4730-441: The force in the early 1960s, and with the command appointment he became the first African American police chief in Cecil County. In 1980, Chief Boddy stepped down from the commanding role. His next senior officer, Bill Waibel, became the chief as Boddy stayed on the force as a patrolman. He retired fully in 1983. The present-day primary method of transportation to and from Port Deposit is by road. Maryland Route 222 passes through

4816-595: The granite basement and the second deforming and melting this basement to produce the domes. However, some gneiss domes may actually be the cores of metamorphic core complexes , regions of the deep crust brought to the surface and exposed during extension of the Earth's crust . The word gneiss has been used in English since at least 1757. It is borrowed from the German word Gneis , formerly also spelled Gneiss , which

4902-498: The hard rock of the region. This characteristic, which had long been good for Port Deposit, also attracted power companies in the boom period after World War I . The Conowingo Dam , built in 1927, permanently changed the character of the town by terminating all river traffic and decimating what was left of the shad and herring fishery which was once found there. Port Deposit benefited from the dam as well; destructive accumulations of ice (referred to as ice gouges) no longer accumulated in

4988-675: The heavily traveled northeast corridor brought new opportunities and change to the county. By June 1941, the final segment of the Philadelphia Road, the new dual highway designated as Route 40 was completed across the center of Cecil County. In 1943, the dual highway was dedicated as the Pulaski Highway, to honor the Polish patriot and friend of Revolutionary American, according to The Baltimore Sun . Soon new motels, restaurants, and gas stations started sprouting up along what

5074-419: The legislative and executive functions of local government (unlike the old "board of commissioner" system). Cecil County thus joined most of the other larger, increasingly urban and complex county governments in central Maryland with county executive-county council forms, such as Baltimore, Harford, Anne Arundel, Howard, Prince George's, and Montgomery counties. Elected on November 3, 2020, Danielle Hornberger (R)

5160-432: The majority built from 1830 through the 1890s. The town remained largely unspoiled by new construction until the late 20th century, since there was little room for construction. The bulk of the older buildings line the main street and the, until recently, single side street built in the narrow space between the bluffs and the river. The bluffs have been terraced and stairways lead between streets. Adams Hall, formerly part of

5246-521: The middle amphibolite to granulite metamorphic facies . In other words, the rock was metamorphosed at a temperature in excess of 600 °C (1,112 °F) at pressures between about 2 to 24 kbar . Many different varieties of rock can be metamorphosed to gneiss, so geologists are careful to add descriptions of the color and mineral composition to the name of any gneiss, such as garnet-biotite paragneiss or grayish-pink orthogneiss . Continental shields are regions of exposed ancient rock that make up

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5332-504: The oldest rocks on Earth are gneisses, such as the Acasta Gneiss . In traditional English and North American usage, a gneiss is a coarse-grained metamorphic rock showing compositional banding ( gneissic banding ) but poorly developed schistosity and indistinct cleavage . In other words, it is a metamorphic rock composed of mineral grains easily seen with the unaided eye, which form obvious compositional layers, but which has only

5418-407: The population of the county could double in the next thirty years, reaching 160,000 by 2030. As of the 2010 Census, the racial makeup of Cecil County was 87.4% Non-Hispanic white, 6.2% black, 0.3% Native American, 1.1% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.1% Non-Hispanics of some other race, 1.8% Non-Hispanics of two or more races and 3.4% Hispanics. Cecil County is home to a small Amish community in

5504-481: The population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 17.9% were of German , 16.1% Irish , 13.8% English , 13.8% American and 6.5% Italian ancestry. There were 31,223 households, out of which 37.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.6% were married couples living together, 11.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.4% were non-families. 19.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.1% had someone living alone who

5590-403: The rate is 40.8 compared to the U.S. average of 31.1. In property crime, including offenses being burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson, the rate is 39.3 compared to the U.S. average of 38.1. 39°34′N 75°57′W  /  39.57°N 75.95°W  / 39.57; -75.95 Gneiss Gneisses are common in the ancient crust of continental shields . Some of

5676-448: The river, were the northernmost navigable deepwater ports on the Susquehanna. River barges and wagons loaded with lumber, grain, coal, whiskey, tobacco, and other goods floated downriver to this "port of deposit", where cargo could be transferred to ships from the Chesapeake. In the early days, it was difficult to float goods downriver, since there were many rapids and hazards, but it remained the most convenient way for goods to leave much of

5762-458: The section into Baltimore caused Union troops to embark ferries at Perryville. No Civil War battles occurred in Cecil County, but residents had strongly divided loyalties. Slavery had declined from 3,400 slaves in the county in 1790 to just 800 in 1850. The Underground Railroad had crossed through Cecil County, perhaps assisted by the 'Fighting Quaker,' former Congressman and U.S. Marshall John Conard , who moved to North East between 1834 and 1851 and

5848-596: The stable cores of continents. The rock exposed in the oldest regions of shields, which is of Archean age (over 2500 million years old), mostly belong to granite-greenstone belts. The greenstone belts contain metavolcanic and metasedimentary rock that has undergone a relatively mild grade of metamorphism, at temperatures of 350–500 °C (662–932 °F) and pressures of 200–500 MPa (2,000–5,000 bar). The greenstone belts are surrounded by high-grade gneiss terrains showing highly deformed low-pressure, high-temperature (over 500 °C (932 °F)) metamorphism to

5934-544: The summer of 1777. Robert Alexander , the area's delegate to the Continental Congress of 1776, spoke with both sides but ultimately decided to go into exile in England without his wife. She remained a loyal Marylander and received a life estate in some of Elkton property that Maryland confiscated. The War of 1812 caused Cecil County considerable damage. Not only did British Admiral George Cockburn blockade

6020-506: The superhighway, without one light halting the fast trip, a corridor that would yield major dividends to the county had opened. It spurred business growth along the route, as commercial, industrial, and residential development clustered near the interchanges in the decades ahead. In 2013, the county became a Second Amendment sanctuary . Cecil County has a number of properties on the National Register of Historic Places . In

6106-468: The town Port Deposite (it would lose the trailing "e" at some point in the future). The Susquehanna Canal (which had several owners and names over the years, including the Maryland Canal) was completed in 1812 and contributed much toward the town's growth. Until the canal was placed in service bypassing Smith's Falls, most of the traffic stopped at Lapidum, across the Susquehanna River since it

6192-554: The town was 39.4 years. 19.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.8% were from 25 to 44; 32.8% were from 45 to 64; and 10.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 53.9% male and 46.1% female. As of the census of 2000, there were 676 people, 264 households, and 163 families living in the town. The population density was 404.8 inhabitants per square mile (156.3/km). There were 402 housing units at an average density of 240.7 per square mile (92.9/km). The racial makeup of

6278-541: The town was 78.85% White , 17.75% African American , 0.44% Native American , 0.59% Asian , 0.59% from other races , and 1.78% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.63% of the population. There were 264 households, out of which 29.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.1% were married couples living together, 21.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.9% were non-families. 29.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.5% had someone living alone who

6364-469: The town. The population density was 287.7 inhabitants per square mile (111.1/km). There were 429 housing units at an average density of 189.0 per square mile (73.0/km). The racial makeup of the town was 82.8% White , 11.9% African American , 1.4% Native American , 0.6% Asian , 0.6% from other races , and 2.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.2% of the population. There were 265 households, of which 26.0% had children under

6450-448: The upper Chesapeake Bay, in response to musket fire from colonials at Welch Point, his troops destroyed a trading post known as Frenchtown . They tried to sail further up the Elk River to the county seat at Elkton, but turned back under fire from Fort Defiance , also hindered by a cable across the navigation channel. British troops also destroyed most of Havre de Grace in nearby Harford County, Maryland . Cockburn's ships then traveled up

6536-420: The wealthiest in Maryland and has worked hard recently to attract industry as well as tourist dollars, the average income of residents is now near that of Americans as a whole . From the start, Cecil County's future was shaped by its strategic location between the growing cities of Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. , and New York City . In the 20th century, as modern highways arrived its placement along

6622-550: The west and tobacco from the south. St. Francis Xavier Church (Warwick, Maryland) begun as a Jesuit mission in 1704 and rebuilt in 1792, is one of Maryland's oldest churches, though now a museum. St. Mary Anne's Episcopal Church , authorized in 1706 and rebuilt in 1742 is another (and still in use, as well as maintaining a historic graveyard). West Nottingham Academy , founded by Presbyterian Rev. Samuel Finley in 1744, educated Benjamin Rush and Richard Stockton , both of whom signed

6708-531: Was George Talbot , appointed Surveyor-General of Maryland in 1683, who came from Ballyconnell , County Cavan, Ireland. Talbot's original grant of land in Susquehanna, Cecil County is viewable online. Its subsequent history is told in the Crofton Papers, page 153. Until the American Revolution , Cecil County was an important shipping center, both within the colonies and abroad. It exported not only its own agricultural products but also animal skins from

6794-465: Was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.13. The median age was 38.9 years. The median income for a household in the county was $ 64,886 and the median income for a family was $ 75,742. Males had a median income of $ 54,379 versus $ 39,933 for females. The per capita income for the county was $ 28,640. About 6.3% of families and 9.0% of the population were below the poverty line , including 12.2% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over. As of

6880-446: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.08. In the town, the population was spread out, with 27.5% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 28.4% from 25 to 44, 26.8% from 45 to 64, and 9.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 109.3 males. For every 100 women age 18 and over, there were 100.0 men. The median income for

6966-434: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.12. In the county, 27.7% of the population was under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 23.2% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.70 males. The median income for

7052-599: Was easier to run the rapids on the south side. However, the new canal — the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal on the north side of the river — funneled the barge traffic into Port Deposit, stimulating rapid growth. The first attempts to bridge the Susquehanna in Maryland were made by the Port Deposit Bridge Company, incorporated in 1808. Its attempts failed, so the Legislature in 1812 authorized another company to proceed. After completing

7138-399: Was listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places on May 23, 1978. Starting from Bainbridge Road on the south, the district extends about 1.4 miles north along US 222 to the quarry at the north end of town. The town has several impressive older buildings, many built of the local granite or brick. The oldest structures in the historic district date from 1725, with

7224-615: Was once rural fields and woods. On November 14, 1963, President John F. Kennedy visited Cecil County to formally open and dedicate the Northeastern Expressway ( I-95 ). Motorists were relieved to be "on the clear new road" one editor noted in The Baltimore Sun . After President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas , I-95 was rededicated as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway. As traffic started zipping along

7310-470: Was reburied at St. Mary Anne's Episcopal Church there after his death in Philadelphia in 1857. Frederick Douglass crossed Cecil County on his road to freedom in 1838. While Jacob Tome made his fortune in the area and stayed, other Cecil County natives left in search of economic opportunity. David Davis moved to Illinois upon graduating from Yale Law School in 1835, where he became Abraham Lincoln 's law partner and later served in that legislature as well as

7396-426: Was the earliest bridge crossing of the Susquehanna. Rebuilt after a span burned in 1823, it remained in service until 1857. A 4 acres (16,000 m) site at the north end of Port Deposit was committed to quarrying "granite." (actually gneiss ) for bridges. The general area had been the site for granite quarrying before the bridge was constructed as there was use of this specific granite in buildings constructed before

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