Childs, Maryland

Childs, Maryland
Unincorporated community
Childs

Location within the state of Maryland

Coordinates: 39°38′46″N 75°52′18″W / 39.64611°N 75.87167°WCoordinates: 39°38′46″N 75°52′18″W / 39.64611°N 75.87167°W
Country United States
State Maryland
County Cecil
Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)

Childs is an unincorporated community in Cecil County, Maryland, United States.[1] Childs was originally known as Spring Hill.[2][3] Childs is the location of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. The Shrine of our Lady of the Highways is visible from Interstate 95. The Shrine is dedicated to the memory of three people who died as a result of a nearby automobile accident in 1968.[4][5]

The Little Elk Creek winds through Childs, parallel to Blue Ball Road.[6]

Childs is named after George W. Childs, an owner of the Philadelphia Public Ledger.[7] In 1886, Childs purchased the Marley Paper Mills to support his newspaper operations.[8]

A train station called "Childs Station" opened in 1886 on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad line.[9]

The Childs Post Office was established in 1887, and has been housed in at least three locations since that time.[10] The zip code is 21916. The Post Office is currently located on Blue Ball Road, just north of the intersection of Childs and Blue Ball Road. At one time it was housed in the Old Childs Store, located at the northwest corner of what is now Childs, Star Route and Blue Ball Roads.[11] The Old Childs Store is now an antique and art store.[12] The third location was in a small one room building.[13] In 1985, Childs was the location for the first issue of a six-cent tricycle stamp.[14][15] A forgery of the first day of issue bearing a Childs postmark can be found on display at the Smithsonian.[16]

Dr. Richard C. Brookings and Mary Carter, the parents of Robert Brookings, founder of the Brookings Institution, were from the Childs area.[17][18]

Confederate General William W. Mackall grew up in Childs at the Wilna, a home said to date to 1740.[19][20] Richard Mackall, William W. Mackall's brother, was born at the Wilna and was a dentist and member of the Maryland General Assembly.[21]

There is a Potter's Field located on Childs Road near the present day Mt. Aviat Academy. There is a stone on the southern side of Childs Road that notes the location and dates of active use of the burial ground. The Potter's Field was also the site of a public execution in 1879.[22]

References

  1. ↑ "Geographic Names Information System". Childs (Populated Place). U.S. Geological Survey. 2009-01-29.
  2. ↑ Ask the Historical Society - Childs, Cecil Whig, Oct. 16, 2011, http://www.cecildaily.com/local_news/article_5ef19126-f6a6-11e0-b31e-001cc4c002e0.html?mode=story.
  3. ↑ Ask the Historical Society - Childs Station, Cecil Whig, Jan. 24, 2014, http://www.cecildaily.com/our_cecil/article_597317d8-9009-5468-bfc9-f56a613571dd.html.
  4. ↑ Katie Moose, Maryland's Western Shore: The Guidebook 51 (2001).
  5. ↑ http://www.oblates.org/development/prayer_ministry/lady_of_highways.php.
  6. ↑ http://www.cecilhistory.org/researchreports/los.pdf
  7. ↑ Maryland Historical Trust Determination of Eligibility, attaching a 1976 National Register of Historical Places Inventory: Nomination Form http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/stagsere/se1/se5/007000/007600/007648/pdf/msa_se5_7648.pdf
  8. ↑ Pamela James Blumgard, ed., At the Head of the Bay: A Cultural and Architectural History of Cecil County, Maryland 118-119 (1996).
  9. ↑ Ask the Historical Society - Childs Station, Cecil Whig, Jan. 24, 2014, http://www.cecildaily.com/our_cecil/article_597317d8-9009-5468-bfc9-f56a613571dd.html.
  10. ↑ http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/statepostalhistory/Maryland_Post_Offices.pdf
  11. ↑ http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/stagsere/se1/se5/007000/007000/007005/pdf/msa_se5_7005.pdf
  12. ↑ http://campbellstories.com/news/cousin-jerimy-opens-childs-store/
  13. ↑ http://www.cecildaily.com/local_news/article_5ef19126-f6a6-11e0-b31e-001cc4c002e0.html?mode=story
  14. ↑ http://www.mysticstamp.com/viewProducts.asp?sku=2126.
  15. ↑ http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/behindthebadge/stamp-frauds.html.
  16. ↑ http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/behindthebadge/stamp-frauds.html.
  17. ↑ http://www.brookings.edu/about/history/robert-s-brookings
  18. ↑ http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/stagsere/se1/se5/007000/007600/007648/pdf/msa_se5_7648.pdf
  19. ↑ http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=1735
  20. ↑ Pamela James Blumgard, ed., At the Head of the Bay: A Cultural and Architectural History of Cecil County, Maryland 329 (1996).
  21. ↑ Pamela James Blumgard, ed., At the Head of the Bay: A Cultural and Architectural History of Cecil County, Maryland 329 (1996).
  22. ↑ Mike Dixon, A Place of Need, Cecil Soil Magazine (July/Aug. 2011),available at http://www.bluetoad.com/article/A+Look+Back+With+Dixon%3A+Mike+Dixon/829998/0/article.html.