Carroll Yesteryears 9 February 2020 Relocated Cemetery Spurs Memories of Family By Mary Ann Ashcraft In 1965 the Maryland State Roads Commission (SRC) ran into a snag when constructing a new road between Westminster and New Windsor. The planned route (now Route 31) would destroy a 100-year-old black cemetery not far outside Westminster officially named “Cobblers [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 26 January 2020 Carroll County’s Founding Capped 50-year Quest By David Buie A belated Happy Birthday, Carroll County! On January 19th Carroll County celebrated its 183rd birthday! The county was formed January 19, 1837, by action of Maryland’s General Assembly and fulfilled a 50-year quest. The first petition for creation of a new county [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 12 January 2020 A Century Ago, Maryland Women Fought for – and Finally Won – the Right to Vote By Mary Ann Ashcraft During 2020 we are likely to read a lot about women’s suffrage, so it is important to know just where American women’s civil rights stood one hundred years ago. Maryland women [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 22 December 2019 Masquerading a Long Forgotten Holiday Tradition By David Buie Holiday customs serve an essential role in marking the changes of time in our personal lives as well as the history of our communities. This is especially true during our end-of-the-year holidays when we repeat rituals that continue local traditions in the [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 8 December 2019 Carroll County’s Beginnings Included a Jail, Free Schools By Mary Ann Ashcraft How do you start a brand-new county? The next few paragraphs offer a glimpse into the actions of Carroll County’s first commissioners as recorded in the earliest minute book they kept. How fascinating to have a glimpse of Carroll’s [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 24 November 2019 Architectural Treasures By Mary Ann Ashcraft Whether you enjoy ornate old houses or prefer something plain and modern, there are two spectacular examples of Victorian-era domestic architecture worth seeing in Carroll County. They sit at high points in the towns of Sykesville and Westminster and were built in the 1870s or [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 10 November 2019 Local Crusader Remembered as 19th Amendment Anniversary Nears By Mary Ann Ashcraft The year 2020 is fast approaching and it promises to be an important one, not just in American politics, but because it marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Women [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 27 October 2019 Halloween Traditions From German Culture By David Buie As a cultural tradition, Halloween has evolved over many centuries from pre-Christian rituals combined with religious celebrations. All Hallow’s Eve was the vigil of Hallowmas, celebrated by lighting bonfires to fend off ghosts and witches on the evening before the Feast of All [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 13 October 2019 Conestoga Wagon and Appropriate Image for the Carroll County Seal By Mary Ann Ashcraft What story lies behind the Conestoga wagon at the center of Carroll County’s official seal? I was definitely in the dark for years and now am ashamed that my lack of county history was to blame. A [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 22 September 2019 Remembering the War of 1812 “Old Defenders,” many of whom hailed from Carroll County By David Buie Last weekend marked the 205th anniversary of the British bombardment of Ft. McHenry during the War of 1812. It was that event which inspired Francis Scott Key, born in the part of Frederick County [...]
