Bel Air Chronicles

Book excerpt: When Bel Air was chosen as the seat of Harford County in 1782, it was a small commercial hub surrounded by green pastures and farms. With industrialization and the advent of the Ma & Pa Railroad and nearby Aberdeen Proving Ground, the quiet town was transformed into a bustling urban center. Through a series of fascinating vignettes and using firsthand accounts, local author Carol Deibel renders a portrait of a proud community that rallied around its own when hard hit by the Great Depression and one that gave tirelessly on the homefront and abroad during the wars of the twentieth century. From Friday night dances at the armory to the pounding of the turf at the Bel Air Racetrack, join Deibel as she recalls readers to hazy, cicada-filled summers and the glow of the hometown lights.