I have to ask the question above, because I truly don’t know the answer. I’m not a transportation expert (though sometimes I think I should have become one, rather than a museum professional). I grew up in the country, experienced … Continue reading
Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum/State Museum of Archaeology is a long official title, so the concern has been dubbed Jef Pat Park for those of us who reference it with any regularity. Recently, in a thread on the At … Continue reading
I recently visited my great uncle, Uncle B, in Arizona. Having left our ancestral seat for a life of western adventure in 1947, we don’t have all that much in common. However, as conversations meander in and out of the … Continue reading
Eddie Izzard puns on the Church of England: “Cake or Death?” For people found guilty of committing small crimes in England, transportation to the American colonies for seven to fourteen years of bound servitude was the cake option. Overcrowding in England’s … Continue reading
For a building built in 1984, I think the Maryland State Archives inspires. Maybe it strikes a chord with me akin to the library buildings of my childhood. Unlike it’s colonial and colonial revival ancestors further down Rowe Blvd in … Continue reading
Carroll County, Maryland was carved out of Baltimore and Frederick Counties in 1837. Home to both long established families and Baltimore/Washington commuters, Carroll County is a collision of country and suburban life. At Westminster High School, I sat at a table … Continue reading
My grandfather, S. Lee Bowman, returned from World War II in 1946 to marry Gurnice Stephens of Mt. Pleasant Orchard, outside Havre de Grace. The first several weeks of their marriage were spent separately: as soon as they returned from … Continue reading
What is Westminster, Maryland’s claim to fame? Besides being my childhood hometown, it was where county-wide Rural Free Delivery began on December 20, 1899. Mailboxes from the era are contained in both the collections of the Historical Society of Carroll … Continue reading
Driving through the countryside anywhere in America, you may pass any number of signs proclaiming towns that no longer exist. My grandfather was in the car sometime in the 1990s, when we were driving on Rock Run Road toward the … Continue reading
I love the word vernacular. You can stuff all that’s particular to a specific region into the term. Can’t explain it any other way? It must be vernacular. Puddle duck is the term my grandfather used to describe mallard ducks. … Continue reading