| Elkton and Its Little Harbor Grow Up |
| By Michael L. Dixon |
| Part I of III |
|
| Once upon a time, the Big Elk Creek aided the development of the Town of Elkton. Today, however, its name is associated with flooding. In a three part series, the County Post examines the past of this little stream in town. Part I explores how the waterway was once central to Elkton's development and commerce. Next week, the series continues with a review of the navigation on the county seat's waterfront in the mid to late 19th century. We conclude the series with a report on the difficulties of maintaining a viable waterway and the last initiative to open a marina in Elkton. |
| The Big Elk Creek in Elkton surely isn't much to look at these days. Mud-colored, sluggish, and only inches deep in town, the Creek winds its way along what was Elkton's southern border until it links with the Little Elk Creek just above Elk Landing. Most recently, the stream's name is associated with perennial flooding. |
| But once upon a time this waterway nurtured and then strengthened the development of the Town of Elkton. Its streams no longer navigable, Elkton was once a bustling center for water transportation. Pioneers reaching the head of navigable waters settled here, the village flourished because of the waterway, and major industries locating along the creek bank brought growth and prosperity. It is hard to believe, I know! So let's examine this little tributary's past. |
| Going back to Elkton's earliest days, it was the town's location at the head of navigation that caused settlers to put down roots at Elk Landing. Starting as a hamlet of a few dwellings near the confluence of the Big & Little Elk Creeks, the settlement depended on water as its link with the outside world. Elk Landing grew and before the days of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal and Railroads it was a bustling place. Heavy teams were there daily to transport cargo that had arrived by sail from "Baltimore Town" across to "Head of Christiana." |
| As internal roadways improved, Elkton directly developed more along the old Post Road or Main Street. By the mid-1700s, a town-center was forming around Main & North streets. Pursuing this migration, vessels too churned their way up the winding Big Elk Creek. It was the Creek's water traffic that led to the commercial underpinnings of Elkton. Storekeepers received goods by ship. Working boats for watermen and pleasure craft were docked at the wharf. For some time after the Revolutionary War, vessels drawing eight to nine feet of water could come up to the center of town, records show. |
|
| A Big Event Happened in the fall of 1852 -- a steamer put in at the dock near Bridge Street. |
|
| A big event happened in the fall of 1852 — a small steamer put in at the dock near Bridge Street. While steamboats had visited Elk Landing since 1815, this vessel was possibly the first steamer to travel up the creek. She was designed for the upper Bay's smaller tributaries. Drawing a draft of one & one-half to two feet, the John C. Groome, was ideal for coming up the winding, constricted stream. She provided freight and passenger service to Elkton, North East, Port Deposit, Head of Bohemia and Head of Sassafras and communities along the Chester River. |
As the 19th century moved slowly along, industrial development changed the makeup of Elkton and water traffic became central to the town's commerce. Scott Fertilizer Plant first and then Radnor Pulp & Paper works, two major manufactories, tenanted the creek bank at the southwest corner of Bridge & Main streets. Soon the Big Elk was clogged with steamers, schooners, tugs, barges, and sailing vessels conveying goods to and from the town wharfs. Pleasure craft also crowded onto the waterway. In the first 10 months of 1888, the Pulp Mill reported 132 vessels discharged goods at its wharves.
 |
| Those manufactories depended on their access to navigable water. Late 19th century photographs dramatically show the traffic in this little harbor. In summer of 1870 another steamboat, the Harold, hugging the channel in the narrow stream, chugged up to these headwaters. It was brought up to Elkton to meet members of a party arriving on the Philadelphia train. Having gathered up its party, she "steamed gracefully away, with flags floating on the evening breeze, looking like a little nymph, dancing, fairy-like down the stream," reported the Cecil Whig. |
| Part I I -- A Busy Little Harbor |
