COURTHOUSE ADDITION, KENT COUNTY, 379

will stand as this generation's contribution to the historic complex
which we see about us.

It is fitting that the building which will rise in this place is an ad-
dition, for it is symbolic of the traditions of continuity, development
and contribution that have characterized Maryland's second oldest
County throughout its proud history.

A love of history and a pride in tradition cannot help but touch
each citizen of Kent County, for both abound about them — visible,
tangible and vital. In this thriving community and in this County
which is developing at such a rate that it must expand its facilities,
we see a gracious past and a dynamic present tastefully intermingled.

Only a short walk across the green will bring us to the church where
a generation, constant in their faith of the Lord — yet intent upon
their loyalty to their new nation — adopted a new name, the Prot-
estant Episcopal Church, for their religion.

Not far away is Washington College, chartered by the Acts of 1781,
the only college in America that received the express consent from
our nation's first President that it could bear his name. In fact, his
interest in the welfare of the college was so great that he served as a
member of its Board of Visitors and Governors.

Lawyer's Row and the many beautiful and stately colonial homes
along the Chester River give further testimony that one need not dis-
card the past to embrace the future, that it is not necessary to obliter-
ate the graceful charm of tradition to enjoy the conveniences of
modern progress. Here in Chestertown and in Kent County, we can
see the positive proof of living history, where vision of the past has
been a source of inspiration to the future.

The continuity of Kent County's tradition of living history is as-
sured today as ground is broken for this new addition. History is
alive in Kent because the citizens of this County have constructed
versatile, practical buildings where people can live and work — not
monuments or tombs which enshrine the past yet fail to serve the
future. This addition affirms the County's faith in the future through
the provision of an expansive, modern facility and its reverence for
the past through its graceful design which will complement the pre-
Revolutionary setting of this City.

I thank you for this opportunity to share this moment with you; I
compliment your vision in the planning and realization of this build-
ing, and I hope you and all the present and future citizens and leaders
of Kent County will enjoy not only greater convenience but greater
prosperity and progress in this new building.