Elkton, Cecil County, Maryland Genealogy

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Histories and Tidbits
Elkton is a town in Cecil County, Maryland. The population was 11,893 as of the 2000 census and 14,842 according to current July 2008 census estimates. It is the County seat of Cecil County. It was formerly called Head of Elk because it is located at the head of navigation on the Elk River, which flows into the nearby Chesapeake Bay.

When northern states began to pass more restrictive marriage laws in the early 20th Century, Maryland did not. As a result, a number of Maryland towns near borders with other states became known as places to get married quickly and without many restrictions, or "Gretna Greens". Elkton, being the northeasternmost county seat in Maryland (and thus closer to Philadelphia, New York, and New England), was particularly popular. It was a notorious Gretna Green for years; in its heyday, in the 1920s and 1930s, it was "the elopement capital of the East Coast" and thousands of marriages were performed there each year. A 48-hour waiting period was imposed in 1938, but Elkton continued to be a place to marry, and especially elope. Hundreds of people are still married in Elkton each year.