Twin City News December 24, 1947 James Temple Editor (Chicago Man) Still Goes By Name Of "Basil " By Lewis Keith Cook "A Chicago citizen is troubled about the town (Basil) name. He had promised his mother to hold a re-christening ceremony when the name was changed (to Baltimore). 'Blendon' did not sound like a boy's name. 'Baseball' was no more suitable than the 'lost' boy found here some years ago trying to escape 'America Fourth-of-July ' considered his name. Our Chicago

(Writer's Note: Readers of the Baseball, Ohio Story undoubtedly discovered the date error that appeared in the very first sentence in the opening writer's note in Part 14 last week. Judge Earl D. Parker had set November-not September- 12, 1947, as the deadline for his decision in the case of the village name to be used for the annexation of Basil to Baltimore. In Part 15 we will visit the post-decision period of unrest, Baltimore's broken promise and Basil's threat of secessi

Writer's note: Judge Earl Parker, on September 12, 1947 ruled the name assigned to the annexation of Basil to Baltimore would remain Baltimore though a majority of the two communities favored Baseball. The "Retain Baltimore" committee convinced the judge that the percentage of Baseball supporters did not reach the state law that demanded at least 75% of the merging towns must support a name change. The verified voting in the former Twin Cities did not reach that percentage. H

Writer’s note: As the November 12, 1947, deadline date imposed by visiting Judge Earl Parker to announce his decision on the merger name for the former Twin Cities of Baltimore and Basil, anticipation rose to a fever pitch. In Part 12 we take a final look at how the community reached this point. March 6, 1947 Twin City News TO THE CITIZENS OF OUR COMMUNITY During the past year there has been a great deal of erroneous and misleading information about a proposed change of name

The Rural Community Weighs In Writer's note: While we await the November 12, 1947, deadline set by visiting Judge Earl Parker for his decision on what the merger name for the villages of Baltimore and Basil will legally be, we continue to review the contentiousness that riddled the Twin Cities. In Part 11 a representative of the rural community vents his displeasure about the farming community who was mostly left out of the merger name controversy with their input not invited

Thursday, January 16, 1947 Twin City News The Citizens' Committee: "We, the undersigned qualified voters of the Village of Baltimore, realizing that better cooperation will exist between the peoples of Baltimore and Basil, and that many advantages would be gained by the uniting of the two villages named above, therefore to obtain this, we petition the Baltimore Council to proceed as provided (by State law). This with the understanding that the new name will be neither Baltimo

Writer's note: As we await Judge Parker's promised November 12 decision, we will continue to exam the famous merger name decision following the annexation of Basil to Baltimore. Will it be to retain the name Baltimore or will we become Baseball, Ohio? In Part 9 we will review some of the history of the conflict including the merger understanding after it was ratified in November of 1945 and look at some more suggested names for the merger. One suggestion was a take-off on Lib

Writer's note: In Part 7, we learned that the decision as to whether the merger name of the annexation of Basil to Baltimore would be Baltimore or Baseball would not be known until November 12, 1947. Of course, both the "Citizens Committee To Retain Baltimore" and its supporters and the "Petitioners for Baseball" and its followers were frustrated and angered by the two-month delay. Lobbying, campaigning, and arm-twisting would continue while Judge Parker deliberated on his de

Writer's note: At the close of Part 6, the last sentence of the Twin City News article from September 11, 1947, foretold that "the hearings have turned the national spotlight on our community as the wire services and radio prepare to circulate the decision offered by Judge Parker." More suspense and white knuckles. Unfortunately, for supporters of both the "Retain Baltimore" and the "Petitioners for Baseball" committees had to find even more patience. In Part 7, we revisit th

Writer's note: Remembering that the "Twin Cities" of Baltimore and Basil were officially "dedicated" one day apart (Baltimore, then called New Market, on March 1, and Basil, a misspelling of Basel by twelve-year-old Henry Leonard, on March 2) in 1825, it is not surprising that the residents of both communities were more than ready to settle the most recent of the dozens of feuds that had developed between the two communities and cultures. A delay in the merger name decision