Oella’s Spirit of ’76

Fifty years ago, in 1976, the small town of Oella, Maryland celebrated America’s Bicentennial. The Maryland Traditions Archive houses three collections that centers on Oella, including the Mills of Baltimore County collection which features these wonderful photos. Tucked away in the woods along the Patapsco River outside Ellicott City, Oella was built in 1808 as a mill village for the workers of the Union Manufacturing Company. 

The Mills of Baltimore County collection includes photographs from Oella, Maryland’s bicentennial celebration that feature Alan Christian (WBAL Radio host), the Johnnycake Junior High band, Continental Army Fife and Drum Corps student band, and Ola Belle Reed performing with her family. Read the full blog post by Maryland Traditions archivist Mark Breeding on the Special Collections blog.

Join the Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery’s Special Collections department throughout the Fall semester as we commemorate 250 years of Maryland history. All semester long we will have exhibitions, events, and online programming highlighting the items in our collections that support scholarly historical research in Maryland. A full description of programming in Special Collections and the Library Gallery can be found on the Special Collections blog.