Sunday, September 16, 2012

TIME MACHINE ... Baseball's Vic Keen's Ties To Pocomoke City

(Reader-friendly viewing of newspaper archives material)


September, 1937

Two former major league baseball players were managing teams in the Eastern Shore League. Pitcher Vic Keen was managing as well as pitching for the Pocomoke Red Sox and infielder Jake Flowers was managing the Salisbury Senators. A couple of years later Keen managed the Salisbury team and Flowers came to Pocomoke to manage. Both had rounded out their big league careers with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Keen and Flowers had Eastern Shore roots. Flowers was from Cambridge and Keen's father, a minister, brought his family from the western shore to Snow Hill where Keen was a star pitcher on the high school team. After his major league career Keen made Pocomoke City his permanent residence and was involved in the poultry business.

Now here's more on Vic Keen (at this address):

http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=1938&pid=7329 

 

May, 1901

The Postal Telegraph Company of New York announced new offices were being opened in Pocomoke and numerous Eastern Shore Of Virginia towns, with wires also to soon be completed to locations in Somerset and Wicomico Counties, and in Delaware.

 

April, 1911

The Census Bureau released 1910 population figures for Maryland and comparative numbers for 10 years earlier.

For the lower Eastern Shore counties, Worcester's population was reported at 21,841 (20,865 for 1900).

Somerset County ... 26,455 (25,923)

Wicomico County ... 26,815 (22,852)

Pocomoke City's 1910 population was reported at 2,309 (2,124 for 1900).

Snow Hill ... 1,844 (596)

Princess Anne ... 1,006 (854)

Crisfiled ... 3,408 (3,105)

Salisbury ... 6,690 (4,277)

 

April, 1956

(The Salisbury Times)

Road-E-O To Be Held In Pocomoke

Pocomoke City - Written examinations for the 1956 Teenage Road-E-O were held in the Berlin, Snow Hill, and Pocomoke City High Schools yesterday.

The Road-E-O will be held in Pocomoke City Saturday on the parking lot of the Birds-Eye plant.

This is part of a nationwide safe driving campaign for teenagers, who will have to prove their ability to handle automobiles by driving through an obstacle course.

Winners of the Worcester County contest will enter the state finals in Westminister in May. Winners of the state contest will compete in the nation finals in Washington.

 

November, 1897

(Harrisonburg Rockingham Register- Harrisonburg, Va.)

W.F. Benson of Pocomoke City, Md., has grown a remarkably large pear. It is 16 1/4 inches in circumference and weighs twenty-five pounds and ten ounces. It is of the Kiefer variety. Mr. Benson gathered ten bushels of pears from the tree on which this large one grew.

 

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I remember when the State Police would help sponsor the annual Road-E-O. Of course, they would also bring along a 16mm movie gory movie about a teenager who gets killed in a car crash. I also remember when the State Police would bring their revolvers and a sub-machine gun and let the students try them out. Just try doing that today!

Your friend,
Slim