Maryland Daily PhotoEvery Week Day a New Picture from MD

This is the 9/11 firefighters memorial in Ocean City.

Last year I might have gone overboard with the pictures from Assateague.  However, it’s a fun place to visit, and being on the eastern shore recently, it seemed a good idea to return.  Unlike last year’s visit when you couldn’t sneeze without a pony looking at you, this time around they were few and far between.  I was glad not to run back into the snake from last year, but I did feel a little diappointed at the lack of ponies.  Of course in 100 degree weather, you can’t blame them for staying hidden in the shade.  Seeing them or not seeing them is a chance that a visitor takes.   Luckily, this guy decided to brave the heat and stand idly in the middle of a parking lot where he abligingly posed for this glamour shot.

For $80 you too can jump out of an ariplane over Ocean City.  These folks made the journey 12,000 feet into the air to jump out of an airplane and land safely back at the airport.   It’s not for me, but the people seemed to be pretty happy when they made it back to the ground.

It’s almost summertime, which means that very soon people will be flocking to points east and Ocean City’s population will soon exceed Baltimore’s.  Many of those people will be dumping quarters into macines along the Boardwalk, like this one, a personal favorite: skeeball. 

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post, here’s a picture of the remnants, now upside down, of the carts that were used to “charge” the furnace.   Bringing ore, limestone and charcoal to the top of the furnace.  

Since there has been so much positive feed back about the historic structure posts, here is another structure of historic interest.  

This is one of the doors to the Nassawango blast furnace, which was built in 1829.  This was the work arch of the furnace, were workers would forge the iron.  On the opposite site a mechanical bellows blew air into the furnace, powered by water run from the Nassawango creek.   So, if there were guys making iron here, and the other side was occupied, where did the fuel and iron ore enter ther furnace?  

The answer is  obvious if you click this thumbnail:

From the top.  That ramp was a charging ramp, used to roll raw materials up to the furnace in carts. 

Somewhat visible at the top of the furnace from the full picture are pipes that were used to reciculate hot air from the chimney back to the air intake, making this a hot blast furnace which is much more efficient.  This was a change made to the Nasswango furnace about a decade after it was built. 

This is a part of the “Furnace Town” site now in Worcester, where it is accompanied by a number of living history exhibits, describing the life of a town built around a blast furnace.   These are opened seasonally.  However, the site contains many nature trails, maintianed by the nature conservancy, which are opened year round.   You can tell it was winter when the picture was taken by the tiniest bit of snow sticking to the arch of the furnace.  

For more info you can go to www.furnacetown.com.

Or for more info about blast furnaces: http://www.furnacetown.com/The%20Blast%20Furnace.pdf

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.