Lieutenant Colonel Philip Reed and his Maryland militia allegedly tried to fool British Troops at anchor off the Chester River. He directed his small force of cavalry to ferry back and forth between mainland and Eastern Neck Island, hoping British lookouts would think the American force was larger than it actually was.
Menacing Raids
Sir Peter Parker landed on the Eastern Shore on August 28, 1814, to lead a series of raids. The British destroyed property and routed some cavalry who were “smashingly dressed in Blue and long…feathers in their hats.”
“Running down the Eastern shore of Maryland on (August) 27…I was surprised to observe the Enemy’s Regular Troops and Militia in Motion along the whole coast.”
British Captain Sir Peter Parker to Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane, August 29, 1814.
(Inscription below the portrait in the lower center)
Philip Reed Image/Cincinnati Museum of Art.
(Inscription beside the image in the lower right)
Trooper Light Cavalry, Maryland Volunteer Militia, 1814 by Herbert Knotal. Image/Courtesy Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University Library
(War of 1812) Includes location, directions, 7 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
These 20th Century tickets for Centreville, while portraying a sense of the excitement of the circus coming to town do not represent the impact of those first circuses that came by boat up the Corsica, and up this street. The Aron Turner’s Circus was truly famous and came to Centreville before the Civil War. James Myers was the clown, renowned throughout the Atlantic States for his ability. From here he went to tour Paris and other European cities as one of the premier clowns of the 19th Century. Turner’s son Napoleon was the star of the show with his nationally famous six horse acrobatic riding act. However, it was Abdullah the elephant who first lumbered up the Chesterfield and captured the curiosity of Centreville. This 1851 story from the Centreville Observer announces the coming of the circus, led by the New York Brass Band!
Site of Marlborough, a port town laid out in the early 18th century with the creation of Queen Anne’s County. The wharf was a trade center, with a tobacco inspection warehouse administered by William Hopper. The “Captain’s Houses” were constructed ca. 1880 by Captain John C. Ozmon to quarter workers of his schooners, warehouses and store. Architecturally unique in the region they recall the importance of Centreville Wharf when water was the main mode of transport in the Chesapeake.
Western terminus and station site of 10.8 Mile Springville and Sardinia Narrow Gauge rail line built in 1878, ending the stagecoach era for Springville. It carried passengers and agricultural goods to Buffalo via Chaffee in just four hours.
Buried beneath this canal stone lies Lock #3 of the Alexandria Canal, which connected the Harbor of Alexandria with the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Georgetown, D.C. between 1843 and 1886. After Crossing the Potomac on an aqueduct bridge near the present Key Bridge, the canal ran along the western side of the river for seven miles before descending to the level of the Potomac by means of four locks in Alexandria. Coal was the most important product barged to Alexandria for shipment to foreign and domestic ports. Lumber, fish and drygoods were transported on the return trip.
Built in 1804 by William Carmichael (1775-1853), attorney and state senator who freed more than 120 of his family's slaves, 1811-1839. One of the largest manumissions in the state's history. Birthplace of Richard Bennett Carmichael (1807-1884), member of Congress, judge, and president of Maryland's Constitutional Convention (1867). On May 27, 1862, after resisting the Lincoln Administration's suspension of Habeas Corpus in Maryland, Judge Carmichael was arrested and imprisoned for treasonable acts.
After the defeat at Champion Hill, Confederate forces retreated to the Big Black River on the night of May 16, 1863. Here, Generals John Bowen and John Vaughn defended the east bank of the river and the bridge. On May 17, Federal forces under Gen. Michael Lawler routed the Confederates in a bayonet charge lasting only a few minutes. Many retreating soldiers drowned in the Big Black River. Confederate losses included 1,700 men captured and eighteen cannon abandoned.
'Place of Beginning' at which the county survey commenced junction of Flaugherty Run and Ohio River created from Washington and Westmoreland counties. Approved by the General Assembly Sept. 24, 1788
Dedicated in memory of the following people who are buried within the gates of this cemetery
Site of schools since 1820's Log House School. Union School in 1869.
Site of 4.7 acre millpond, 1870-1950. Source of power, ice, recreation with a nearby factory which produced chairs, wagons, iron, cheese flour, woolen goods. Its waters quelled the great fires of 1879, 1894, 1946.
In 1881, the newly formed Potters National Bank, organized by local pottery manufacturers, established its new offices in a three-story structure on this corner. A newspaper, the Tribune was published in the basement.
Charles E. Wilson was born on July 18, 1890 in Minerva. After earning a degree in electrical engineering from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1909, he joined the Westinghouse Electric Company in Pittsburgh before moving to General Motors in Detroit in 1919. By January 1941, Wilson had become president of General Motors, and during World War II directed the company's huge defense production efforts, earning him a U.S. Medal of Merit in 1946. While still with General Motors, President Dwight Eisenhower selected him as secretary of defense in January 1953. During his confirmation hearings, Wilson said, "What was good for the country was good for General Motors and visa versa," but was interpreted as saying solely, "What's good for General Motors is good for America." He served Eisenhower for four years, reorganizing the department of defense to effectively deal with missile and nuclear technology. He died in Norwood, Louisiana, on September 26, 1961.
