02/19/2025
Presidents day fun facts
ELKTON -- Since today is Presidents' Day 2019, we are sharing a few photos from the busiest spot in Cecil County for visits by presidents and presidential candidates. That is the porch of the Howard Hotel, currently the popular 's Pub & Restaurant
In the middle of a heated four-way presidential contest, a special train screeched to a stop at the Elkton station one Saturday in May 1912. On board for a quick whistle stop tour of Maryland was President William H. Taft. When he arrived at 11:45 a.m., he was met at the station by a committee with automobiles and was quickly whisked to the Howard Hotel for a quarter-of-an-hour reception.
Promptly at 12:00 p.m. the Chief Executive was introduced by William T. Warburton and for three-quarters of an hour he spoke about the issues of the day. Houses, stores, and officers were decorated in his honor, and the Cecil County News reported that a crowd of about 2,000 listened to the speech.
He was then hurried back to the station, returning to the President’s car for a brief rest, the special leaving for Aberdeen as soon as the tracks were clear.
In October 1952, Richard M. Nixon, a U.S. Senator, campaigning for vice-president on the Eisenhower ticket addressed an enthusiastic crowd of more than 500 people from the hotel porch. The Cecil Whig reported that the last time a national candidate visited Elkton for a political rally was when William Howard Taft appeared at the hotel in 1912. Nixon was introduced by then-Gov. Theodore R. McKeldin.
