Rising Sun is a town in Cecil County,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, United States. The population was 2,781 at the 2010 census.

History

The town which became known as Rising Sun was located in the disputed “Nottingham Lots” along the border between colonial

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and

. This area was claimed by

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...

and settled by

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

s in 1702 over the objection of

. When Charles Mason and

Jeremiah Dixon Jeremiah Dixon (27 July 1733 – 22 January 1779), British surveyor and astronomer, created the Mason–Dixon line with Charles Mason, from 1763 to 1767, which became significant during the American Civil War. Early life and education Dixon wa ...

conducted a survey of the order in the 1760s, Rising Sun was found to be located in Maryland. Around 1720, Henry Reynolds established a stone

tavern A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...

on Nottingham Lot No. 17 to serve as a

stage coach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

stop. According to local lore, he erected a sign over the entrance of the tavern depicting the rays of the sun at dawn and the words "The Rising Sun". As the tavern was located along the route between

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, it became known as a meeting place for business, politics, elections, and other public activities. Local legend states that the tavern was more well known than the surrounding village (Summer Hill) so that by the time the town's first

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

was established around 1815, Rising Sun was chosen as the official name. There is some conjecture that the post office was located in the tavern. When the town was incorporated in 1860, the commissioners had

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

sidewalks installed, erected street lamps, and hired a lamplighter who doubled as

bailiff A bailiff is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. There are different kinds, and their offices and scope of duties vary. Another official sometimes referred to as a '' ...

and street maintenance man. Six years later the Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad began to serve Rising Sun.Garrett, Jerre
"The Baltimore Central Railroad Reaches Rising Sun."
Town of Rising Sun, Maryland. Accessed January 22, 2015. Most of the town's current structure has been built since then. In 1895, a 24-year-old Rising Sun Man, Sailor John A. Kay, enlisted in the Navy. When the Battleship Maine sailed for Havana Harbor in January 1898, Kay was an assistant machinist on this voyage. He and about 268 crew members perished when an explosion ripped through the vessel on February 15, 1898. On Independence Day 1900, a tall, handsome monument was dedicated at the Brookview Cemetery, which sits on a hilltop at the edge of town. In 1916 women voted in the Rising Sun municipal election for the first time. This was four years before the 19th Amendment to the Constitution passed, which provided voting privileges to women across the nation. Listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

at Rising Sun are: the Jeremiah Brown House and Mill Site, East Nottingham Friends Meetinghouse, Joshua Lowe House, Thomas Richards House, and West Nottingham Meetinghouse.

Geography

Rising Sun is located at (39.6994, -76.0630). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Politics

The current mayor is Travis Marion. The state senator for this area is Jason C. Gallion and the local delegates are Mike Griffith and Teresa E. Reilly. Rising Sun is a largely conservative town, having voted Republican in every election since 2000. Approximately 60% of the population is registered Republican.

Transportation

Roads are the primary method of travel to and from Rising Sun. The most prominent highway serving Rising Sun directly is U.S. Route 1, which skims the northwest edge of town. Heading south, US 1 heads across the

Conowingo Dam The Conowingo Dam (also Conowingo Hydroelectric Plant, Conowingo Hydroelectric Station) is a large hydroelectric dam in the lower Susquehanna River near the town of Conowingo, Maryland, Conowingo, Maryland. The medium-height, masonry gravity dam ...

on its way towards

, while to the north, US 1 enters

on its journey towards

. Other highways which pass through Rising Sun include Maryland Route 273 and Maryland Route 274. Maryland Route 276 passes just outside the town limits.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 2,781 people, 1,062 households, and 732 families living in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 1,137 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 95.8%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.7%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.7% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.6% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 2.6% of the population. There were 1,062 households, of which 42.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.1% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 16.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 31.1% were non-families. 27.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.17. The median age in the town was 32.5 years. 30.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.7% were from 25 to 44; 22.7% were from 45 to 64; and 11% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 47.8% male and 52.2% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 1,702 people, 681 households, and 456 families living in the town. The population density was . There were 716 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.5%

, 0.7%

, 0.1% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.1%

, 0.1% from other races, and 0.35% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 1.2% of the population. There were 681 households, out of which 39.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.8% were

living together, 16.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.0% were non-families. 28.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.06. In the town, the population was spread out, with 29.7% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 16.6% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.7 males. The median income for a household in the town was $41,089, and the median income for a family was $48,646. Males had a median income of $36,765 versus $26,875 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $17,835. About 9.3% of families and 9.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 10.3% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

Town website
{{authority control Towns in Maryland Towns in Cecil County, Maryland Quakerism in Maryland