Thank you for your service Traditional Geocache
Thank you for your service
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This geocashe is located on one of the last open tracks of land on the Crisfield waterfront. This area has great historical significance in the Crisfield. The body of water is the Tanger Sound and you can see the Stanley Cochrane American Legion Post 16 and McCready Hospital.
The Stanley Cochrane American Legion Post 16 is one of the first and oldest established American Legion Posts in the United States. It was established in July 1919, and named after Stanley L. Cochrane (12/14/1894 to 10/31/1918) a local lawyer and one of the youngest elected members of the Maryland House of Delegates. He was born and raised in Crisfield and was the best friend of another famous son, J. Millard Tawes, the 54th Governor of the State of MD. He attended the University of MD Law School and established a successful law practice in Crisfield.
When The World War (I) began Cochrane enlisted on August 10, 1917 and was honorably discharged in July 1918. He reenlisted as a First Lieutenant with the 166th Aviation Corps. On October 31, 1918, he was part of a bombing raid over German lines in France. The Germans began to attack the bombers that had just released their weapons and Cochrane was shooting at the enemy. Suffering wounds, he pulled himself back to the machine guns and saved others. He was posthumously awarded the American Expeditionary Force Citation for Gallantry in Action. He died 11 days before Armistice Day. As one legionnaire put it, “It is not the dues you pay to belong. It’s the price you pay to be eligible.”
The American Legion began in May 1919, and this post was established in July 1919. Posts are numbered in order for each state and while Post 16 was the 16th chartered post in Maryland, six of the original posts are no longer in operation. Post 16 is the 10th oldest operating post in the State of Maryland. They own the land that the post stands on (with a wonderful deck to watch sunsets and have dinner) and the beach area that they let the town use for water access. They also own the MAC building (low tan building) which was originally sold to the federal government for a radar station during WWII, then the federal government donated the land to the city as a senior center. The original bill of sale had a clause that gave The Legion first rights and the land recently reverted back to the post at the original purchase price of $1. My father is a former commander of Post 16.
Across Hospital Cove you can see McCready Hospital. McCready Hospital was built as a result of a gift from Caroline Pitkin McCready. On September 13, 1919, her husband Edward and daughter Suzanne (8) were killed in a horrific crash with a train near Westover. They were returning home from a visit with their relatives in Crisfield.
Mr. McCready and the family nurse Henrietta Steinback died at the scene. The Crisfield folks did not bill Mrs. McCready for the medical service they rendered in the attempt to save Suzanne. The people of Crisfield cared for the bodies until Mrs. McCready could make arrangements and mourned with the McCready family over their great loss. As a gesture of gratitude, Mrs. McCready donated $200,000 to Crisfield and the Edward W. McCready Memorial Hospital was dedicated on May 6, 1923.
There was a period of time when McCready hospital trained nurses (1923 – 1929). The nurses lived on the upper floor of the old building that faces the cove. My grandmother was in the first graduating class.
In 1968, The Tawes Nursing Home opened on the grounds and the new nursing home opened in 2010. McCready keeps renovating to serve the medical needs of Crisfield and the surrounding communities but one thing has never changed; McCready is one of the only hospitals with a pier for boat docking as well as the parking lot!
Crisfield is a wonderful town to visit a spell. It is built on oyster shells and named after the man who brought the railroad to town to transport our seafood. Janes Island State Park, just outside of Crisfield, offers hiking, boating, fishing, and camping. Every year we host the Crab Derby on Labor Day weekend. We hope you enjoy your time here.
Additional Hints
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