The town of Towson in 1919 was a small village community, the county seat of Baltimore County, in the state of Maryland. The veterans who returned to the area after World War I came back to a thriving community - with paved and unpaved roads, and horse-drawn carriages vying with the new horseless carriages. Towson had long been a crossroads between the rural farm communities of northern Maryland and central Pennsylvania, and the industries and shipping centers of Baltimore City. Because of its prime location, Towson's inns and taverns attracted other businesses, and the small town began to thrive.
Convinced of the necessity for an organization to preserve and strengthen the bonds of friendship forged by the service through which they had passed in the war against Germany, a number of Towson men (World War I veterans), met on August 6, 1919, in the main courtroom of the Towson Courthouse, in order to discuss the formation of a post in the new organization, The American Legion. The main force in calling the meeting was William P. Cole, Jr., who was also very much involved in the early beginnings of the Department of Maryland. Mr. Cole was an Executive Committeeman in the Department under Commanders Janney in 1919, and Mecklin in 1920.
From this first meeting, the members established and applied for a Charter as the "Towson American Legion Post #22."
Immediately, the Post earned a favorable reputation for its welfare work, and its social functions. From the beginning, efforts were made to raise funds for a Post home.
In 1921, a Memorial Shaft was erected by the Post in commemoration of the War dead.
- See more at: http://centennial.legion.org/maryland/post22/1923/03/10/history-towson-p...
