Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1923-09-22
Peninsula News

Before the first spade was sunk m
to the Chesapeake and Delaware Ca
nal in 1928 the village of Bethel, in
Cecil county, was there, clustered a.
round the Methodist Church, built in
1870. When the waterway was cut
through from the Chesapeake to the
Delaware, Bay, the ditch bisected the
village, neatly on the south side and
the store on the north. A bridge
about so feet long was constructed
across the canal and for 100 years
exactly the community has been serv-
ed satisfactorily.
The widening and deepening of the
canal will necessitate either a new
bridge, with a swing span of IT'S
feet, Of the abandonment of the
crossing. The Federal Government
considers the bridge an obstruction
to navigation; and says that at Chesa-
peake City, three miles to the one
side, there is a bridge and at Summit.
DEL, two miles to the other side, there
is another. The Government offers to
build, on the south side, a concrete
road and already Cecil county has
started the building of a similar road
on the north side. e-
Residents of Bethel offer these OBJ
jections to the link between the two
halves of their home town: Il,
For 226 years the road the engi-
neers would scrape has been a main
highway up the peninsula. It is a
road of history. First an Indian trail,
then bride path. From the cart to
the wagon, the coach to the automo-
bile it has. carried the vehicular traf-
fic for two and a quarter centuries.
With the passing of the bridge the
people Of the south side will have to
use Mount Pleasant, Del, for a ship
ping point for" their farm products,
while their neighbors, 200 feet away,
will send their produce to Elkton. i
The freight rate from Mount Pleas
ant, shipper said, is almost double
that from Elkton. Besides this, he
added, it is driving them outside the
State to transact business. Mount
Pleasant is on the Delaware division
of the Philadelphia, Baltimore and
Washington Railroad, making it nee
essary to transfer all. freight at Will
mington, with the attendant costs.
The church has an average attend
ance Of rs of which more than so
come from the other side of the canal.
With the closing of the thoroughfare
to attend worship persons on the
north side Of the canal will have to
drive to- Chesapeake City and come
up that side, a round trip Of IL miles.
Each morning the children who attend
elementary scheol--25 of thepn-will
have to be transported over the same
distance.
On the. south side of, the canal, a.
butting the church, is the Bethel
Cemetery, the burial place of people
from four States. In four lots, side
by side, are the remains of people
from Maryland, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey and Delaware. Last year there
crossed the bridge 81 funeral process
sions. At one corner of the old ceme-
terry is. one of the stones marking the
original Mason and Dixon lipe. Della
ware is very close The first Govern
or of Delaware is buried here, as, is
William Master, at one time Mayor
of Baltimore.
The plans for the canal call for a
widening of the bottom width to 80
feet, with future increase to 125
feet. This will necessitate a bridge
of at leasts ITS feet, the engineer
say.
Bethel is only a community. It is
not incorporated and it's affairs are
managedby a sort of committee. The
preacher, the Rev. O. L. Martin,
paused on his way to church service
Sunday morning to give the object
ions of the people to the abandonment
of the bridge and called to his aid
Clarence Thornton, excusing him from
service so that the case might be CIV
en- to The Baltimore Sun readers. 1t
is from these two men that the infor-
nation was obtained.