30
Jan 09

County Courthouses continued

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Yesterday’s markers located just down a hill from this building.  I’ll explain why in a minute.

This building is the continuation of our tour of county courthouses.  Today we have the Allegany County courthouse, built after … that’s right…. a fire destroyed the original courthouse, in the late 1800′s.   This courthouse also sits above the location of Fort Cumberland.  Though the fort no longer exists, those markers from yesterday denote the fort’s boundaries.  The church adjacent to this site, which is visible here, is directly over the location of the barracks of the fort.  In fact, in this area, tunnels still exist which were used to move between buildings in the fort.

The fort is significant in that it is a British fort in Maryland, unlike some of the other’s we’ve visited, it was never used by the American government.   It’s also famous as a stopping point in the British attack and retreat from the french as well as for a certain general with wooden teeth and a distaste for cherry trees who was the leader of a regiment there.


29
Jan 09

Markers

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Any guess what these are or where they are?   What they may mark? 


28
Jan 09

Drum Point Light

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This is the Drum Point Lighthouse formerly located where the north end of the Patuxent reaches the Chesapeake, but currently situated in the middle of the Calvert Marine Museum.   Construction on the light finished in 1883, and it served the area well, as many boats had run aground in the shallow areas around drum point.   While it was orignally built in the water, by the 1970′s it was competely on land due to the constantly growing shoreline from the deposit of silt from upstream.

In the 70′s it was moved to its current home after it had been vandialized and abandoned following its decommisisioning in the 60′s.


27
Jan 09

Guess where this house is!

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Here’s is picture of a house that’s located in quite an unusual spot.  Any guesses?   I’ll post the answer tomorrow.


25
Jan 09

Coastal Bays

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This is a picture of the Isle of Wight Bay, in the middle of a cold winter day.  If you look at the water near these reeds you can tell that its actually frozen.   The Isle of Wight Bay is one of many connected waterways that stretch between the both Assateague and Ocean City and the main land of the eastern shore.  This interactive map will show you the different waterway names as they stretch from the VA border to the DE border. 


23
Jan 09

The Great War

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As a followup to Wednesday’s post, here is a picture of a plaque standing just outside the courthouse dedicated to the soldiers from Worcester County who died in the first world war.   The courthouse is also the site of a similar plauque comemorating those who gave their lives in the second world war, as well as two smaller plaques along the walkway dedicated to the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. 

Thanks to contributing photographer Shelly for this picture.  

 Also a note to Bryan about his comment on Wednesday, I do have a picture of the church, but I am not happy with it.   Monday was a tough day for photographs, and I plan to go back this summer to take a better shot. 


22
Jan 09

Queponco Ralway Station

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Here is the Queponco Railway station located smack in the middle of Worcester County, between Berlin and Snow Hill.  It was built in 1911, by the Pennsylvania railroad, used for a brief while and then sold in the 60′s.  It found itself in a state of disrepair and then a group of concerned citizens found that to be unacceptable.  Since 1990 those citizens have repaired and maintained the station.   

That show on the ground was the only remnant on Monday of Sunday’s snow flurries. 


21
Jan 09

Another Courthouse

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Of course the snow that everyone made such a big deal out of on sunday morning turned out to be next to nothing at all. However, MDP was determined to make a big deal of it by heading to ….. Snow Hill.   There was little snow left on the ground there, but the overcast sky accented whatever was left.  

Show Hill was once a booming town due to its riverside location and its proximity to the Atlantic.  The Pocomoke river still continues to wind though town, though there’s little commerce left on the river.  

Snow Hill is the seat of Worcester County, and so this building serves as the county courthouse.   It was built after a fire destroyed the previous courthouse and jail, which were built after a fire destroyed the original courthouse and jail.   This brick building has withstood the ages, though the woodwork is certainly starting to show its age.   


20
Jan 09

A Place to Be Sworn In

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I needed something related to the inaguration and this was the best link I could find.   I don’t have any stories about the courthouse, other than it was built to replace the smaller brick courthouse across the street, as featured in this picture


16
Jan 09

Dickerson Train Station

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Back in 1891, the B&O railroad line along the Potomac was rather popular.  This is the dickerson train station along that line, which is used in modern times for the MARC.  (you might remember the MARC from previous MDP posts.)   Today, the town is best known for being close to Sugarloaf mountain.    It’s also close to the Monocacy river. (I’ll stop talking about Monocacy….just as soon as I get to the battlefield)   All in all though, wikipedia seems to have it covered.   If anyone knows about the town, please let us know.  I’m actually pretty curious about it.  It seems like the kind of place that needs a local to describe it. 

Also, MDP will be taking off Monday, as it is a holiday that I will not be at work.  (which has become the criteria for not posting)