Talbot County

By R. Jerry Keiser and Barbara Thompson Lewis

Situated on the Eastern Shore of Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay, Talbot County, with its many rivers, creeks, inlets, and islands, boasts 600 miles of scenic shoreline. The birthplace of Frederick Douglass, Talbot County has a rich history of waterfront towns and villages and a serene beauty and tradition, which made the county the ideal setting for Pulitzer Prize-winning author James Michener's novel Chesapeake. Easton, the county seat, is home to the Third Haven Meeting House, which was built in 1661 and is the oldest wooden church still in use in America. In Images of America: Talbot County, historical documents, vintage postcards, photographs of local families, and other memorabilia depict the county's people, places, and pastimes. This volume features prominent Talbot County figures as well as many images of Easton, St. Michaels, Oxford, Trappe, Tilghman Island, and other remarkable locations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Sep 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781439633526

R. Jerry Keiser

Many of these postcards are from the lifelong collection of William A. (Pat) Biddle and include homes, churches, street scenes, public buildings, the Washington College campus, Betterton, Tolchester Amusement Park, Rock Hall, Millington, Galena, Kennedyville, and Still Pond. Patricia Joan O. Horsey and R. Jerry Keiser, both Chestertown residents, authored Arcadia's Images of America: Kent County.

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County.

INTRODUCTION

Though there were many explorers navigating the Chesapeake Bay in the 17th century and maps showing the shoreline of the Eastern Shore, the credit for claim to the region of Maryland that would become Talbot County actually belongs to William Claiborne. It was he who first located and named the islands of Poplar and Sharp. It was on Poplar Island that Talbot’s history really began.

Interestingly enough, early settlers were drawn to the area by the same two main characteristics that remain so appealing to residents and visitors of the county still today: water and land. The region offered access to tidal waterways—rivers and streams that provided a needed mode of transportation for travel and shipment of goods, not to mention a bountiful supply of seafood waiting in their depths to be harvested. The land was flat, sandy, and fertile. Combine that with the geographical advantage of being situated where there are four seasons that nature provides for productive planting and growing, and one has Talbot County, then and now.

Such an attractive area was bound to bring people to the region, and so they came. Wealthy and poor, freemen and slaves, educated and unschooled, English, Welsh, Scots, Africans, Germans, religious leaders, men, women, and children all made their ways into the county. As they came, each brought along his or her heritage and traditions.

Therein can be seen what has remained the most salient feature of Talbot County. From its very start, it was an area of small towns and communities unique in their individual histories, heritage, culture, and architecture. These include towns such as Easton, the county seat, where government and business seemed to gravitate from its beginning. Today one can find Victorian and Colonial buildings, art galleries, a public library, the Historical Society of Talbot County, the oldest existing Quaker meetinghouse in the country, the Tidewater Inn, and a number of churches, schools, shops, and restaurants. Oxford, located on the Tred Avon River, is notably one of the oldest towns and ports in the state of Maryland. It is the home of the Robert Morris Inn, named for none other than the prestigious Morris family of Revolutionary War fame. Trappe’s charm remains untouched by time; Bruceville holds onto its rural community beginnings; Wye Mills’ active flour mill is still in operation and plantation heritage still apparent; St. Michaels, a major seaport from its start, is still remembered for its cunning avoidance of attack by the British in the War of 1812; Tilghman Island’s docks still outnumber homes, and visitors were, in years gone by, limited by the simple lift of a draw span. There are Cordova, Claiborne, Wittman, Bozman, and McDaniel, and the list goes on.

Each of these towns played important roles in the development of the area as well as the nation from Colonial times forward; the list of their well-known residents includes such prestigious family names as Lloyd, Goldsborough, Morris, Adams, Carroll, Harrison, Tilghman, and others one can easily find among those noted throughout America’s history. The constituents of the county still maintain their reputation for influence, as today it has become the home for several of the nation’s top political leaders.

The county’s distinctiveness has remained a constant as it has gracefully allowed modernization to move it forward. Recreation has become yet another feature for which it is now noted. The hunting, fishing, and trapping that were once used for sustenance have moved in time to favorite sporting activities of those living in and visiting the county. Log canoes and skipjacks once used primarily by watermen to earn a living are now enjoyed for racing events. Farmland has been relinquished for housing developments and golf courses. Hotels and restaurants serving fresh seafood from the area have flourished as the county has become a destination point for tourists. The entertainment industry has found it to be most conducive for use as a location for major motion pictures. The airport now supports larger aircraft. Town fathers carefully organize community events to attract outsiders to the area for economic gain.

It is our hope that this book will provide a glimpse into Talbot County’s rich cultural history. We realize it in no way covers the area and its progression through time, but perhaps for those who have spent their lives in the area, it will offer a pleasant reminder of days gone by. For those unfamiliar with the region, it will be received as an invitation for further investigation about this beautiful part of the state of Maryland.

One

EARLY DAYS

On February 21, 1857, The Easton Gazette reported, "The trustees of the