Thursday, December 10, 2015

TIME MACHINE ... This Sunday's Preview.

View pages from dozens of Christmas Catalogs from the 1930's through the 1980's! 




It's this Sunday right here at The Pocomoke Public Eye!

Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers or something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? Please send to tkforppe@yahoo.com .

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Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Pocomoke CC Award Nominations..


Please take a moment and consider nominating a person for one of the Pocomoke Area Chamber of Commerce’s three awards recognized yearly at our Annual Dinner. This year the event will be held on Saturday, January 23, 2016. The three award categories are Business Person of the YearCommunity at Heart Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Nominations are due at the Chamber office no later than Monday, January 4, 2016.


Download nomination forms at www.pocomoke.com .


Sunday, December 6, 2015

TIME MACHINE ... 1895, 1896, 1904, 1917, 1950's/60's.

"Friendliest Town On The Eastern Shore."  Our tradition runs deep.  Excerpt from a letter to the editor from a visitor to Newtown, (former name of Pocomoke City) published in the Baltimore Sun, April 28, 1847.

This place (Newtown) is a pretty snug little village, containing about 500 clever and hospitable inhabitants; it has good wide streets, quite clear of that "eye sore," known mostly over the Peninsula by the name of "deep sand"; the houses, though built of frame, are generally built substantially and with some discretion and taste; there are two neat, new, and quite handsome frame churches in it; as for the merchants of the place, suffice it to state that they are very clever and hospitable.  F. Mezick, Esq., the landlord with whom I stopped, and his very obliging and jolly assistant, are richly deserving of a passing notice, for the good treatment and the extension of the many civilities to "the stranger."



(Reader-friendly viewing of news archives/historical archives material)


December, 1895..




December, 1896..




December, 1904..

                                                                                           

(Above ads published in The Peninsula Enterprise)


December, 1917 (Time Machine archive)

In a 1967 "Scratch Pad" column Salisbury Times Editor Dick Moore related a letter received from Mrs. George E. Bonaville of Accomac who recalled a stormy Christmas Eve trip by boat to visit relatives in Chincoteague in 1917. "We went three days and stayed three weeks."  The freight and mail boats at Franklin City were frozen in, and finally some people walked over the ice to the mainland.  The column also mentioned a note from Scott Brewington who remembered driving his Model T on the frozen Wicomico River, the date not recalled.



1950's & 1960's (Time Machine archive) 

During the Chrstmas season the Coffman-Fisher clothing store at the northwest corner of Second and Market Streets in Pocomoke City set up a large toy department on an upper level of their store.  Chidren of that era may still recall climbing the flight of stairs above the balcony level of the store to visit the once a year large display of toys.  In Salisbury, "Jolly Jack's" toy department at the R. E. Powell clothing store was a favorite visit for the kids.


Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers or something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? Please send to tkforppe@yahoo.com .

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Thursday, December 3, 2015

TIME MACHINE ... This Sunday's Preview.


In Pocomoke City it was beginning to look a lot like Christmas.. in  1895, 1896, 1904, 1950's/60's; And, the weather outside was frightful for a 1917 Christmas Eve trip to Chincoteague.
.
It's this Sunday right here at The Pocomoke Public Eye! 


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Monday, November 30, 2015

Sunday, November 29, 2015

TIME MACHINE ... 1914, 1954, 1956, 2004, 1890.

"Friendliest Town On The Eastern Shore."  Our tradition runs deep.  Excerpt from a letter to the editor from a visitor to Newtown, (former name of Pocomoke City) published in the Baltimore Sun, April 28,1847.

This place (Newtown) is a pretty snug little village, containing about 500 clever and hospitable inhabitants; it has good wide streets, quite clear of that "eye sore," known mostly over the Peninsula by the name of "deep sand"; the houses, though built of frame, are generally built substantially and with some discretion and taste; there are two neat, new, and quite handsome frame churches in it; as for the merchants of the place, suffice it to state that they are very clever and hospitable.  F. Mezick, Esq., the landlord with whom I stopped, and his very obliging and jolly assistant, are richly deserving of a passing notice, for the good treatment and the extension of the many civilities to "the stranger."

(Reader-friendly viewing of news archives/historical archives material)

March, 1914 (Time Machine archive)
(The Evening Times- Cumberland, Md.)

PLAN TO BUILD CHURCH BY MAIL

Bricks Will Be Sent To Site By Parcel Post

MATERIAL TO BE DONATED

President Wilson And Members Of Congress Asked to Send One Brick Each- 

Name Of Donor On Each Brick.

Baltimore, March 23-  Congressman David J. Lewis, father of the American Parcel Post system, in his most roseate dreams never contemplated the coming of the time when so bulky a package as a brick church could be sent through the mails.

Yet a project is on foot to do this very thing.  The mails will be burdened with the church brick by brick, however, and the thousands of them required to erect the edifice will each be stamped and addressed to "Methodist Church, Wenona, Somerset County, Md."

The Representative from Western Maryland will be asked to be among the senders of the first bricks.  President Wilson also will be requested to mail a brick or two. 

The congregation of Wenona Church desires to rebuild the edifice, which was destroyed by fire March 1 during a terrific wind storm.  Wenona, by the way, is on Deals Island, Chesapeake Bay, where the oyster is the chief subject of conversation and the chief source of income.  It is 26 miles from Princess Anne, the county seat.

It took years of effort for the congregation to build the first church, which was a frame structure.  No insurance was paid after the fire, for the blaze started from an exploding gasoline lamp, and this absolved the insurance company from financial obligation.  The accident was felt throughout the whole community, for the nearest place of worship of another Methodist congregation is miles away.  The Wenona church had 800 men, women and children in its flock. 

For the last two or three weeks the communicants have been discussing ways and means, and finally some of them hit upon the unique plan of "building the new church by parcel post."  The idea "took" immediately, and Denwood W. White, treasurer of the congregation, indorsed the project and now it is a well-defined campaign.  

No effort will be made to have all the bricks of a uniform size, shape, weight, or color.  Any variety will do, from the white enameled kind that they use to build mantels to the heavy paving brick.

An interesting thing will be the memorial feature of the undertaking.  The sender of each brick is requested to write his or her name on the surface.  This side will be turned inward and the edifice, when completed, will be a mammoth roster of donors.

The contributors will doubtless be persons from all over the country, although Marylanders are expected to be the first to send bricks.  And among the "foreigners" looked upon as possible patrons are the various Representatives and Senators who supported the Lewis bill.

In the meantime Postmaster Vetra, of Wenona, is making arrangements to store the bricks upon their arrival until a sufficient number have accumulated to make possible the beginning of building operations.  The bricks will go to Princess Anne, and must be carried by rural route all the way to Wenona. 

Footnote: Anyone know what became of this project?  My search didn't turn up any further info.- tk


April, 1954 (Time Machine archive)

Daniel Shaw was elected Pocomoke City mayor.  He was former president of the city council and unopposed to succeed Mayor Crady Matthews.  Clayton Lambertson, a former Pocomoke mayor and councilman in the 1940's, was unopposed for one council seat that was on the ballot.


November, 1956..








(Above items from Salisbury Times television and radio listings.) 


December, 2004
The Somerset Herald (Princess Anne)

(Excerpt)

CRISFIELD - Consultants are within days of unveiling the latest findings of a Crisfield ferry feasibility study, a report that is expected to name potential
terminal sites and boat operators, members of a ferry review committee said.

Early December is the completion target for the release of second-phase findings of the study that could decide whether the committee moves forward with a proposal to establish a ferry link between Crisfield and Reedville, Va.


1890..

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Saturday, November 28, 2015

Under 21 Liquor Compliance In Somerset County..

Maryland State Police News Release

ALCOHOL COMPLIANCE CHECKS CONDUCTED IN SOMERSET COUNTY


(Somerset County, MD) On Wednesday, November 25, 2015, Troopers from the Maryland State Police and Officers from the Princess Anne Police Department conducted a collaborative effort and performed numerous alcohol compliance checks at retail establishments in Somerset County.

Law enforcement officers throughout Somerset County ensured that various retail establishments which hold a Somerset County Liquor License are denying sales of alcoholic beverages to persons under the age of 21 years old.

A total of 19 retail establishments were checked.  The following retail establishments complied with the provisions of the law and denied the sale of alcoholic beverage to minors:
  • Arby’s General Store, Wenona, Maryland
  • Brew Thru, Crisfield, Maryland
  • Big Willey’s, Crisfield, Maryland
  • Caesar’s Pizza Palace, Princess Anne, Maryland
  • Eden Quick Stop, Eden, Maryland
  • Junior’s Stop and Shop, Princess Anne, Maryland
  • Kash and Karry, Princess Anne, Maryland
  • Lucky’s Last Chance, Chance, Maryland
  • Oscar’s Bar and Grill, Princess Anne, Maryland
  • Peaky’s Restaurant, Princess Anne, Maryland
  • Goose Creek, Princess Anne, Maryland
  • Somer’s Cove Market, Crisfield, Maryland
  • Spike’s Pub and Subs, Crisfield, Maryland
  • Dash Inn, Westover, Maryland
  • Goose Creek, Westover, Maryland
The following retail establishments were not in compliance with the provisions of the law and sold alcoholic beverages to a minor:
  • Somerset County Liquor Dispensary, Princess Anne, Maryland
  • Crisfield Oceanic, Crisfield, Maryland
  • Shore Stop, Crisfield, Maryland
  • King’s Creek Market, Princess Anne, Maryland
In an effort to keep our teenagers safe during this upcoming holiday season, Troopers and Officers will continue with unannounced compliance checks to ensure that alcoholic beverages stay out of the hands of minors.  Historically, the holiday season sees an increase in alcohol related collisions; many of these collisions involve serious bodily injury.  This collaborative effort between law enforcement partners will continue throughout the holiday season.

Support for this program is provided by the Somerset County Local Management Board, Inc.

Thursday, November 26, 2015

TIME MACHINE ... This Sunday's Preview.

1914.. Plan seeks donated bricks by mail to build Somerset County church; 1954.. Pocomoke City has a new mayor; 1956.. Local TV and radio program listings; 2004.. Crisfield ferry to western shore?;  1890.. (Ad) "Brain Salt" remedy.

It's this Sunday right here at The Pocomoke Public Eye!

Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers or something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? Please send to tkforppe@yahoo.com .

When you're clicking around the Internet remember to check in with The Pocomoke Public Eye.  We strive to be a worthwhile supplement to your choices.

Sunday, November 22, 2015

TIME MACHINE ... Thanksgiving 1893, 1898, 1907, 1908, 1944.

 "Friendliest Town On The Eastern Shore."  Our tradition runs deep.  Excerpt from a letter to the editor from a visitor to Newtown, (former name of Pocomoke City) published in the Baltimore Sun, April 28,1847.

This place (Newtown) is a pretty snug little village, containing about 500 clever and hospitable inhabitants; it has good wide streets, quite clear of that "eye sore," known mostly over the Peninsula by the name of "deep sand"; the houses, though built of frame, are generally built substantially and with some discretion and taste; there are two neat, new, and quite handsome frame churches in it; as for the merchants of the place, suffice it to state that they are very clever and hospitable.  F. Mezick, Esq., the landlord with whom I stopped, and his very obliging and jolly assistant, are richly deserving of a passing notice, for the good treatment and the extension of the many civilities to "the stranger."


(Reader-friendly viewing of news archives/historical archives material)


November, 1893..

(Onancock)




November, 1898..



November, 1907..





December, 1908..



(Above items from The Peninsula Enterprise)


November, 1944..






November, 1944..


(Above two items from The Salisbury Times)


Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers or something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? Please send to tkforppe@yahoo.com .


When you're clicking around the Internet remember to check in with The Pocomoke Public Eye.  We strive to be a worthwhile supplement to your choices.

Friday, November 20, 2015

New Radio Station On Air..

A new Eastern Shore radio station signed on the air Friday at 102.5 FM. The former WOLC frequency is now home to WBOC-FM marking WBOC's return to radio broadcasting and complementing its' television, web, and interactive services.

Thursday, November 19, 2015

TIME MACHINE ... This Sunday's Preview

Thanksgiving.. 1893, 1898, 1907, 1908, 1944.

It's this Sunday right here at The Pocomoke Public Eye!

Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers or something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? Please send to tkforppe@yahoo.com .


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Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Pocomoke City Holiday Event!




Mayor Morrison will light the town’s Christmas tree while guests roast s’mores by the bonfire. Visit with Mr. & Mrs. Claus, make a Christmas ornament, decorate Christmas cookies or go for a horse drawn carriage ride. Local organizations will offer refreshments free to the public. Adults can enjoy a wine tasting from Layton’s Chance Winery.

Live holiday entertainment by the Dance Loft, PES Choir, PHS Choir, Brittany Lewis & Frank Henry.

A wreath silent auction will be held to benefit the Costen House Museum as well as a chili cook-off to benefit the Sturgis One Room School. Winners will be announced onstage at 8pm. Registration forms available on downtownpocomoke.com

Please bring a canned good, nonperishable food item or paper product for the Samaritan Shelter’s food drive.

Sunday, November 15, 2015

TIME MACHINE ... 1914, 1882, 1939, 1975, 1977.

"Friendliest Town On The Eastern Shore."  Our tradition runs deep.  Excerpt from a letter to the editor from a visitor to Newtown, (former name of Pocomoke City) published in the Baltimore Sun, April 28,1847.

This place (Newtown) is a pretty snug little village, containing about 500 clever and hospitable inhabitants; it has good wide streets, quite clear of that "eye sore," known mostly over the Peninsula by the name of "deep sand"; the houses, though built of frame, are generally built substantially and with some discretion and taste; there are two neat, new, and quite handsome frame churches in it; as for the merchants of the place, suffice it to state that they are very clever and hospitable.  F. Mezick, Esq., the landlord with whom I stopped, and his very obliging and jolly assistant, are richly deserving of a passing notice, for the good treatment and the extension of the many civilities to "the stranger."

(Reader-friendly viewing of news archives/historical archives material)


June, 1914..



The News, Frederick, Md. 



November, 1882
(Peninsula Enterprise- Accomac) 

Our Apprentice Boys.

ONANCOCK, Va., Nov. 18.

Editor of THE ENTERPRISE:

So few of our boys learn a trade at present, that I have thought it a matter which might well be made a subject of special mention in your paper, and comment upon the reasons therefor. It was not wont to be so. Indeed, many now living remember when it was the custom for at least one boy in every family, and frequently all the boys, to be put out as apprentices to learn some trade or business. It seems strange that a custom productive of so much good should be in our midst abandoned, that it is specially pertinent to inquire why it is so? The reason, as conceived to be, is that some false notion of propriety or economy has crept in upon us unawares. Or else this radical social change must be put down among the many sad calamities entailed upon us by the late civil war. It is a fact, that most the mechanics in Accomac County to-day have never served their time under any really skilled workman; but from pure ingenuity and good common sense have taught themselves almost all they know. It is equally true that America to-day, according to population, has fewer skilled artisans than any other first-class nation, and it is due to the premises that so few boys serve their trade. The evil is wide-spread and inherent. It is as much the fault of parents as boys. There are not a few parents, even in this county, who would consider it a family disgrace for one of their boys to be indentured to a trade; but it is no disgrace for that boy, twelve years old, to demoralize himself by the use of liquor, tobacco and by lounging around the street, and contract habits that would wreck any kind of humanity. Better by far that that boy be bound to some good mechanic to learn a trade, and what is just as valuable — habits of industry.

Is it not a fact that people who cannot pay their debts are often too high toned to labor? Why, if a man could see at once from the Atlantic shore to the Mississippi River, he would behold so many twelve year old boys, wearing long coats, tall hats, high collars, fancy neckties, subdued mustaches — driving fine teams — out courting — that he would be disgusted. It takes our boys to play the man. But the boy is not all to blame. The mothers and fathers now-a-days are as much in fault. If their boys are not full-fledge men — well shaved and dressed and out courting at twelve years — they begin to put them down as the black sheep of the neighborhood, and doubt their chances of future success. It delights the heart of many parents to see their boy hang around home — a professional dandy. I recognize a host of parents on the Shore who wish their boys to be a lawyer, a doctor, a dentist, a teacher or a preacher. They attach a special would-be honor to these professions and lose sight entirely of the true worth of their boy. Many a smart boy has been made a professional fool and aped through life, who should have been a mechanical genius, lived a life of usefulness and died with the laurel of triumph entwined on his brow. Parents should love, merit, and develop true worth to the exclusion of pride, pomp or show. Let us rehearse some names of a few American apprentice boys. I hope the patrons of THE ENTERPRISE will give one thought to the prominence of the men. That shoemaker, Roger Sherman, worked out his time and stayed at his bench until he was twenty-two years old. Cabinetmaker, Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, stood to his post until his health failed him. He was one of the true apprentice boys. When only ten years old, Andrew Johnson was bound out and served seven years at the tailor's trade. Every American knows something of Elihu Burnett, the learned blacksmith. President Grant and Jewell, Governor of Connecticut, were tanners. Vice-President Wilson was a shoemaker by trade. Benjamin Franklin was bound to his brother to learn the printing business. Vice-President Colfax was a printer by trade. It is very evident that what every profession, business or trade the acquisition of which doesn't imperatively demand time, labor, skill and patience, is not worth possessing. He who would wish to be independent is so far as a profitable trade will acquire, must make up his mind to serve his time. Honest toil is surely honorable, and he who has a good trade and is neither ashamed or afraid to follow it is truly the independent man.

Yours truly,

DON.


October, 1939
The Daily News Record (Harrisonburg, Va.)

$50,000 Blaze At Onancock, Va.

ONANCOCK, Oct. 18 (UP)—Three stores were razed today in a $50,000 fire that threatened the entire business district of this lower Eastern Shore town. 

Nine fire companies in a 60- mile area responded to the alarm and brought the flames under control in two hours after high winds died down. Firemen from as far south as Cape Charles and as far north as Princess Anne. Md., aided in fighting the blaze.

A recently remodeled brick building housing a grocery and two other grocery stores were raised.  Stocks of all three were destroyed. Flying embers ignited buildings on either side of the groceries, but damage to them was minor. It was not learned how the fire started.


January, 1975

"The Sting" with Paul Newman and Robert Redford was playing for six nights at the Marva Theatre in Pocomoke.  Admission: Adults $1.50, Children 75-cents.



March, 1977.. 



The Daily Times (Salisbury)



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Thursday, November 12, 2015

TIME MACHINE ... This Sunday's Preview.

1914.. Somerset/Worcester road controversy; 1882.. Why aren't young men learning a trade these days?; 1939.. Nine fire companies respond to Onancock fire; 1975.. Checking what's playing at the Marva; 1977.. (Ad) The New Towne Inn, Pocomoke City. 

It's this Sunday right here at The Pocomoke Public Eye! 


Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers or something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? Please send to tkforppe@yahoo.com .


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Maryland State Police Win National Awards..

Maryland State Police News Release

MD State Police Wins 2015 National Awards For Traffic Safety Efforts


(PIKESVILLE, MD) – The International Association of Chiefs of Police, in cooperation with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Sheriff’s Association, the Governor’s Highway Safety Association, and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, recently presented the Maryland State Police with three top national awards in recognition for outstanding traffic safety efforts aimed at reducing crashes and injuries.

The Maryland State Police won first place in the 2015 National Law Enforcement Challenge for state police or highway patrol departments with between 500 and 1,500 sworn members.  A Special Category Award was also presented to the Maryland State Police for commercial vehicle safety efforts by state police agencies.  A third honor, the Clayton J. Hall Memorial Award, was received for submitting the most comprehensive traffic safety program out of more than 200 law enforcement agencies participating in the national competition.
.
“It was an honor to accept these awards on behalf of the dedicated troopers in the Field Operations Bureau,” Maryland State Police Superintendent Colonel William Pallozzi said.  “While receiving this recognition is appreciated, our commitment to traffic safety is not to earn awards, but because we know the harder we work, the more impact we can have on reducing crashes, saving lives, and making our highways safer.”

The National Law Enforcement Challenge focuses on the police department’s comprehensive strategies to address the traffic safety issues of impaired driving, occupant protection, and speed awareness.  Agencies can select an additional traffic safety issue that has been identified as a problem in their state.  Police departments are evaluated and judged on their approaches to traffic safety issues based on the factors of problem identification, policies, planning, training, public information and education, enforcement, and outcomes.

Impaired driving enforcement remains a priority for the Maryland State Police.  The introduction of the State Police Impaired Driving Reduction Effort, or SPIDRE Team, has been a major advancement in this effort.  This team of highly trained troopers works specific areas of the state that have a high number of impaired driving crashes.

Throughout the state, troopers use geographic information system mapping to determine where DUI enforcement is needed most in each county.  Troopers at each barrack are responsible for conducting saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints in those targeted areas.
Additional training in impaired driving enforcement was provided to 746 troopers in 2014.  That year, state troopers arrested 7,044 impaired drivers.  So far this year, troopers have arrested more than 5,800 impaired drivers.

The Maryland State Police instituted the Reducing Crime and Crashes initiative, which requires each patrol trooper to spend a portion of their duty day focusing on enforcement in an identified ‘hot spot’ for crime or where traffic crashes are most prevalent in their area of responsibility.  This program has been especially effective in efforts aimed at reducing speeding and aggressive driving.  It also ensures troopers are working in the documented areas where enforcement is most needed and appropriate.  In 2014, patrol troopers issued 117,931 citations for speeding and conducted more than 5,200 special speed enforcement details across the state.

Seat belt and child safety seat laws have helped Maryland reduce traffic fatalities to record lows.  Both education about and enforcement of occupant protection laws are a focus of the Maryland State Police.  Last year, State Police launched an effort to train more troopers as child safety seat technicians and increased opportunities around the state for parents to learn how to properly install a safety seat and buckle up their children.  Troopers issued 19,268 seat belt citations in 2014 and conducted more than 500 occupant protection enforcement initiatives.

The Maryland State Police identified crashes involving heavy trucks and buses as a problem after 70 people died in 2012 in crashes involving those types of vehicles.  The Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division launched a number of education and enforcement initiatives aimed at reducing those fatalities and increasing the awareness of both commercial and non-commercial drivers which are continuing.  Especially being targeted are new drivers, who receive instruction from troopers about how to stay out of the ‘no-zone’ and drive safely around commercial vehicles.  State Police conducted multiple commercial vehicle enforcement initiatives during 2014 and 2015 and have trained police in allied agencies who have similar enforcement teams.  Fortunately, fatalities involving heavy trucks and buses showed a steep drop in Maryland, declining to 39 in 2014.  Maryland has been recognized as having more commercial vehicle safety inspections per road mile than any state in the country.

The focus of Maryland State Police efforts was in coordination with and support of Maryland’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan.  Many of the enforcement efforts the Maryland State Police was recognized for were funded by grants from the Maryland Highway Safety Office, the State Highway Administration, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Maryland State Police traffic safety efforts will continue, in cooperation with local, state and federal law enforcement and highway safety partners.  Traffic safety is the responsibility of everyone who drives on Maryland roads.  State Police ask drivers to ensure they are doing their part to comply with traffic laws and to keep Maryland roads safe.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Mark Your Calendar!


For more information call the Chamber office at 410-957-1919 or email: pocomokechamber@gmail.com

Sunday, November 8, 2015

TIME MACHINE: 1902, 1967, 1894, 1958.

"Friendliest Town On The Eastern Shore."  Our tradition runs deep.  Excerpt from a letter to the editor from a visitor to Newtown, (former name of Pocomoke City) published in the Baltimore Sun, April 28,1847.

This place (Newtown) is a pretty snug little village, containing about 500 clever and hospitable inhabitants; it has good wide streets, quite clear of that "eye sore," known mostly over the Peninsula by the name of "deep sand"; the houses, though built of frame, are generally built substantially and with some discretion and taste; there are two neat, new, and quite handsome frame churches in it; as for the merchants of the place, suffice it to state that they are very clever and hospitable.  F. Mezick, Esq., the landlord with whom I stopped, and his very obliging and jolly assistant, are richly deserving of a passing notice, for the good treatment and the extension of the many civilities to "the stranger."


(Reader-friendly viewing of news archives/historical archives material)


May, 1902..







                       (Typo below. Should have said "Ocean City.")


The Palmyra Spectator, Palmyra, Missouri



January, 1967..




The Daily Times (Salisbury)




March, 1894..




Peninsula Enterprise


July, 1958 (Time Machine archive)

Advertised nationally as America's best automotive investment, the Studebaker line could be seen at J. Scott Porter Motors, on the west side of Willow Street at Front Street in Pocomoke City.  A new Studebaker Scotsman sedan was priced at $1,795.







Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers or something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? Please send to tkforppe@yahoo.com .



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Thursday, November 5, 2015

TIME MACHINE ... This Sunday's Preview.

1902.. A visitor from the midwest writes about his trip to the Eastern Shore; 1967.. Spiro Agnew takes office as Maryland's governor; 1894.. (Ad) It's H.W. Callahan in Pocomoke City for boots and shoes; 1958.. Pocomoke's Studebaker dealer.

It's this Sunday right here at The Pocomoke Public Eye!

Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers or something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? Please send to tkforppe@yahoo.com .

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Sunday, November 1, 2015

TIME MACHINE ... 1924, 1967, 1941, 1972, 1893.

"Friendliest Town On The Eastern Shore."  Our tradition runs deep.  Excerpt from a letter to the editor from a visitor to Newtown, (former name of Pocomoke City) published in the Baltimore Sun, April 28,1847.

This place (Newtown) is a pretty snug little village, containing about 500 clever and hospitable inhabitants; it has good wide streets, quite clear of that "eye sore," known mostly over the Peninsula by the name of "deep sand"; the houses, though built of frame, are generally built substantially and with some discretion and taste; there are two neat, new, and quite handsome frame churches in it; as for the merchants of the place, suffice it to state that they are very clever and hospitable.  F. Mezick, Esq., the landlord with whom I stopped, and his very obliging and jolly assistant, are richly deserving of a passing notice, for the good treatment and the extension of the many civilities to "the stranger."


(Reader-friendly viewing of news archives/historical archives material)

December, 1924 (Time Machine archive)

(The Denton Journal)

Big Revival on the Peninsula

An old fashioned revival and anti-cussing movement is sweeping the Delmarva Peninsula, and swearing, bootlegging, unclean stories and the like are very unpopular, especially among the railroad men, says a dispatch in the Wilmington Evening News.  The reason is that this old fashioned revival is spreading over the Peninsula like a prairie fire.  The movement started at Pocomoke City the middle of September.  Rev. George W. Cooke, the well known evangelist, heard of some bootlegging down that way, and made up his mind that all that was needed was an old fashioned revival, such as was known 50 years ago.  He opened a meeting in the Methodist Episcopal Church, just opposite the spot where the Methodist parsonage had been burned be alleged bootleggers.  It was not long until men all through the community were getting converted and changing their lives.  The most popular subject, on the streets, in the stores and factories and homes, was the revival.  One day the community was stirred by the conversion of one "hard case" and then another until the buildings were packed shortly after six o'clock to hear the evangelist.

There were no spectacular methods, just straight from the shoulder he-man sermons.  Repeatedly Mr. Cooke would say: "This is no revival for a half-dozen old women and a few children- this is for men and for men who will pay 100 cents on the dollar and give 16 ounce to the pound.  Go out and live the way you know a red-blooded Christian ought to live."  Before the meetings were closed hundreds were converted, and money raised to replace the old parsonage with a new one, amounting to $10,000, and the new converts gave a large part of the money.

The work then spread to Delmar and the Evangelist Cooke was called to foster the work.  He began to preach and the people began to come until it was impossible to get a seat in the Methodist Episcopal Church after 630 in the evening.  Nightly the place was packed to suffocation and often they had to have "double headers" in one of the other churches.  Two meetings were going on at once and the whole community was strangely stirred.

The community for miles around was singing: "I have the joy down in my heart," and people in stores and on trains and in the railroad shops and the banks were praying and changing their lives.  Pool rooms were renovated, dark backrooms with liquids of more than 2.75 per cent were cleaned out, foul stories were discontinued and cussing on the streets became almost a criminal offense.

A Pennsylvania Railroad inspector, after making his tour of the peninsula, remarked, he had never known such an absence of cussing before among railroad men.  From one end of the peninsula to the other the chief topic of conversation is religion, and hundreds are being converted, homes are being reunited, and feuds of long standing are being straightened out.  A Jewish merchant remarked, "This is very wonderful, for they are paying me money that has been owing for years."  He afterward made a subscription to the church as he said this religion had been good for him.

James M. Tunnel, prominent Sussex county attorney, and late candidate on the Democratic ticket in Delaware for United States Senator, remarked- "I don't know what has happened on the peninsula, but at least a dozen men have spoken to me about their changed lives, and about the revival in Delmar."

The revival is spreading like an oldtime conflagration and it is sweeping into the churches men who have never been touched before.  The prayer meetings of a handful have increased into the hundreds in many places and it is hard to tell where it will stop.  While the work continues at Pocomoke City and Delmar and other places, Evangelist Cooke is now at Seaford, to which place the work has spread.


June, 1967..


The Daily Times (Salisbury)



March, 1941

George Ewell Dryden, principal of Stockton High School, was elected president of the Stockton Volunteer Fire Department. G. Rex Bromley, the U.S. Postmaster at Stockton, was elected vice-president.  Harold D. Cutright was elected Fire Chief and Preston S. Jones Assistant Chief.  Others elected were C. Merwyn Burgage secretary-treasurer and Estel G. Trader as Marshal.  A new, fully equipped, fire engine pumper was ordered for the department.  It would be the third piece of motor aparatus acquired since the organization of the Stockton Fire Department in 1924.


August, 1972 (Time Machine archive)
Bucks County Courier Times (Levittown, Pa.)

Nixon planning election campaign 

(Excerpts)

By HELEN THOMAS 

WASHINGTON (UPI) President Nixon has continued to assess his personal role in the coming election campaign in a series of behind-the-scenes strategy meetings with top aides.

The President returned Sunday afternoon from a relaxed weekend outing on Assateague Island, a 33-mile strand in the Atlantic on the eastern shore of Maryland and Virginia. 

He had with him his closest friends, including former Attorney General John N. Mitchell, who remains as one of his chief political brain-trusters; Charles G. "Bebe" Rebozo and New York industrialist Robert H. Abplanalp.



June, 1893..



Peninsula Enterprise



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Thursday, October 29, 2015

Halloween Screening..

TIME MACHINE ... This Sunday's Preview

1924.. Newspaper article says "An old fashioned revival and anti-cussing movement is sweeping the Delmarva Peninsula, and swearing, bootlegging, unclean stories and the like are very unpopular;" 1967.. Record breaking Black Drum caught off Onancock; 1941.. Stockton Fire Department news; 1972.. Assateague is meeting place for President Nixon and aids; 1893.. (Ad) McMichael Bros. in Pocomoke City.

It's this Sunday right here at The Pocomoke Public Eye!

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Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Your Turn..


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Sunday, October 25, 2015

TIME MACHINE ... 1938, 1918, 1990, 1936.

"Friendliest Town On The Eastern Shore."  Our tradition runs deep.  Excerpt from a letter to the editor from a visitor to Newtown, (former name of Pocomoke City) published in the Baltimore Sun, April 28,1847.

This place (Newtown) is a pretty snug little village, containing about 500 clever and hospitable inhabitants; it has good wide streets, quite clear of that "eye sore," known mostly over the Peninsula by the name of "deep sand"; the houses, though built of frame, are generally built substantially and with some discretion and taste; there are two neat, new, and quite handsome frame churches in it; as for the merchants of the place, suffice it to state that they are very clever and hospitable.  F. Mezick, Esq., the landlord with whom I stopped, and his very obliging and jolly assistant, are richly deserving of a passing notice, for the good treatment and the extension of the many civilities to "the stranger."


(Reader-friendly viewing of news archives/historical archives material)



October, 1938..  








Santa Cruz Evening News (Santa Cruz, Ca.)



September, 1918..



The Capital (Annapolis)



October, 1990 (Time Machine archive)

Bringing back a rare opportunity for passengers to ride the rails again on the Eastern Shore, the Maryland Main Street Special was making a day of excursions in 1920's passenger cars from the rail museum in Parksley to Pocomoke City.



September, 1936..  



Bradford Evening Star & The Bradford Record (Bradford, Pa)



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