In the 1950’s and 60’s the little town of Essex was a bustling community. The business district in the 400-500 blocks of Eastern Boulevard was loaded with every kind of store that any consumer could ever dream for. We bought our groceries at the A&P. We ran “right to Read’s” Drugstore to get our prescriptions filled. Manny, Moe & Jack replaced our old car batteries and tires. Woolworth's had the glassware and dinnerware we needed. For relaxation, we could bowl at the New Essex bowling alley or watch a movie at the Elektra or New Essex Movie Theaters. Dungarees and sneakers for school came …

  Several years ago, during the Memorial Day Services at the Lamky, Luther, Whitehead Veterans Memorial, World War II veteran Al Clasing requested that all WWII veterans in attendance please step forward. A small group of very proud survivors made their way to the front of the monument. Each succeeding year, the number of veterans who come forward has grown increasingly smaller. According to the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs, 16,112,566 Americans served in the Armed Forces during World War II. Today, 740 World War II veterans die each day. That means just 1.7 …

The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. It is remembered as the time when, in 1918, Germany signed the Armistice that ended the major hostilities of World War I. The following year President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation declaring Nov. 11, 1919 as Armistice Day. His proclamation contained the following words: "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has …

Original land grants for what we now know as Essex began to appear in the late 1600’s and continued through the early 1800’s. Tracts such as Borings Range, Reserve, Hopewell, Long Point, Hines Purchase and Dundee were just a few of these grants. One of these grants, “Paradise,” was an approximately 1,700-acre tract that was surveyed for a gentleman by the name of Elijah Taylor in the early 1800’s. Approximate borders of the grant would have followed Back River/Northeast Creek, Stemmers Run Road and Marlyn Avenue. In the 1860’s “Paradise Farm” was rented to members of the Tuchton Family who …

Halloween, a night where most little boys and girls dress up in costumes and go door to door in their neighborhood in search of candy and treats. Also known as All Hallows Eve, a night of spooks, goblins, ghosts, witches, and the undead. A night celebrated by the Sanderson sisters, the Witches of Eastwick and even friendly little Casper. A night where Michael Meyers did his most infamous work. It is also a time for the telling of urban legends. Those quirky little local tales, mostly scary in nature and believed by the tellers and listeners to be true. We here in the Essex-Middle River …

They could be found in just about every small neighborhood community throughout the Essex-Middle River area. Oliver Beach, Wilson Point, Chase, Cedar Beach, Evergreen Park, Rockaway Beach, Holly Neck and more. It seemed that every little hamlet had that neighborhood store where grown-ups could go to in between trips to the supermarket to purchase essentials such as bread and milk. As kids, we loved them because they were just a short bicycle ride away where we could get a quick Coke and some penny candy. In the 1940’s, 1950’s and early 1960’s they were the forerunners to 7-11, Royal Farms, …

Sometime back in the mid 1970’s, during one of my reading moods I became enthralled with the autobiography penned by Boston Red Sox legend Tony Conigliaro. Conigliaro's fantastic career, which ran from the mid 1960’s until the early 1970’s was sadly cut short when he never fully recovered from being accidentally hit in the head by a pitch. Conigliaro had become great friends and a constant companion of Frank Sinatra and his circle of buddies. He reserved one chapter in his book to tell of the Sinatra friendship. In one particular instance he mentioned being at Sinatra’s house one day along …

Aviation has long played an important role in the growth and development of eastern Baltimore County. Logan Field in Dundalk provided commercial service prior to Friendship International (now BWI Marshall) and military service during the War. Glenn L. Martin literally put Middle River on the map when the aircraft manufacturing company relocated here in the 1920’s. During World War II, the Martin Company was the largest employer in the area and as a result created a population and housing boom the likes of which may never be seen again. These large airports were not the only ones in the …

Today, if you live in eastern Baltimore County and you want to take the family to see a movie, your choices are relatively simple. You can either travel to White Marsh where you can chose from 16 different movies in one building at AMC Theaters, or to Eastpoint where you can pick from 10 different movies at Eastpoint Movies 10 . For the more adventurous people out there, you can load up the car  and spend the evening watching a triple-feature on the largest screen in Maryland at Bengies Drive-In in Bowleys Quarters. Today’s Megaplexs, with their digital images, Dolby surround sound, and …

It was a typical Tuesday morning for me. Like millions of other Americans, I was preparing myself for the daily grind of that 9-to-5 job. Never one to read the morning paper or watch the morning news on TV, I was completely oblivious to what was going on in my surroundings. Little did I know that in less the two hours the entire world would change forever. At exactly 8:46 a.m. on the morning of Tuesday Sept. 11, 2001 (unknown to me at the time), five hijackers who had seized control of American Airlines flight 11 crashed it into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York. As I …

Twenty-five years from now, those young couples from Essex and Middle River who are just now beginning their families can sit on the front porch and tell their grandchildren about how they survived an earthquake and a hurricane all in the same week. I am sure that many of you out there will do just that. What a week it has been for Marylanders and residents of eastern Baltimore County. On Aug. 23 the most powerful earthquake ever struck the East Coast. The epicenter of the 5.8 magnitude quake was just northwest of Richmond, VA but the tremors were felt as far north as New England and as far …

Several weeks ago, we talked about how in colonial times the economy of Maryland was founded and based upon the tobacco industry. This fact is no more evident than with the Scott-Andrew house located on Luthardt Road near Carroll Island Road. In 1725, a gentleman tobacco farmer by the name of Daniel Scott received a grant on 720 acres bordering Seneca Creek to continue his tobacco farming. He called his land “Scotts Improvement.” On his land, Scott constructed a 1.5 story gambrel-roofed dwelling. According to Baltimore County Historian John McGrain, this house dates back to between 1725 to …

This column has featured prominent families in the past but they have always been in separate columns. This week, because of the closeness each had with the other, we are combining two families in one column. Both the Carback and Hughes families are considered to be among the pioneering families in Baltimore County. The ties they had with each other ran very deep. They lived and farmed as friends and neighbors. They assisted one another as needed. They shared the same Methodist faith. Eventually they were bound together by the marriage of siblings. We will begin with the Carback Family. The …

This past Tuesday I received word that a great friend and local icon had passed away on Sunday just shy of his 93rd birthday. Julius Louis Somogyi was born in 1918 to Louis and Marie Somogyi, who had immigrated to this country from Hungary. Jules (as family and friends knew him) spent his early childhood at the family home near the Turners Station area of Dundalk. When he was about 5 years old, his parents purchased the historic farmhouse on the Back River Neck, which was built circa 1760 by Edmund Stansbury. It was at this significant house and surrounding approximately 90-acre farm that …

Churches have played an important role in the shaping of the history of Baltimore County. Religious faith was a prominent trait in early settlers. One denomination, the Methodists seemingly even more than others. In fact, the Perry Hall community of the late 1700’s was called the “Cradle of Methodism” in Baltimore County. The area we now call Essex-Middle River also had its share of Methodist churches in colonial times. Many of these places of worship continue to exist. In previous columns we have made mention of the Orems United Methodist Church, which dates back to the 1700’s and the Back …

As we drive around the Essex-Middle River community today we can see vast and large apartment, town home, and cookie cutter developments such as the Greens at Essex, Town & Country, Hawthorne, Waterview and many more. This is an extremely far cry from the ways things were as European settlers arrived. In colonial times and continuing up until the early 1900’s our area was filled with farms, both large and small. The first major crop for those farmers was tobacco. In the early 1600’s settlers discovered that tobacco would grow well in the Chesapeake region and would sell profitably in England…

The Stansbury Family is one of the pioneering families of Baltimore County, and they have a long history of prominence throughout the Patapsco, Back, and Middle River Necks as well as other parts of the county. Over the years, they have been mentioned in print by many well-known authors discussing the county's history. Their legacy can still be seen in certain areas even today. I want to begin this column by thanking my good friend Betty Christopher. Many years ago, Betty gave me a copy of a book entitled “Kindred, The Davis-Stansbury Lines" written by Helen E. Davis in 1977. Much of the …

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another…” In my humble opinion, no more powerful words have ever been written. That first line on a piece of parchment changed world history back in 1776 and they continue to do so centuries later. With one simple document, The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson and his radical, revolutionary comrades laid the foundation for the birth of a new nation which would go on to become the most powerful country in the world. Although the “Shot heard ‘round…

Many people ask me what is the best way to research the history of a specific area. I am not sure if one particular way is better than another, but I do know that I largely rely on old maps as a way to begin my studies. Here in Baltimore County, we are fortunate to have many different versions of historic maps, each of which tells its own unique version of our past. For example, the map showing the approximate locations of early land grants gives us an insight into who acquired this land in the 1600s. Notice I said acquired and not owned. The reason for this is that even though the named …

With this past week being the last week of the school year, my thoughts drifted toward “final exams." My mind sometimes plays games like that on me. Anyway, reminiscing about exams like that reminded me that I have not given our readers a test in awhile. So put your thinking caps back on, because it's time for another test to see how well you know our community's history. This is not a contest. There are no winners or losers, nor are there any prizes to claim. This is just a fun quiz to gain bragging rights on who knows the area the best. Send me your guesses and I will print the correct …