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Caroline County

Sunset atBlackwater 2013 Featured Image
The Newsroom

“Tales from Delmarva” in Denton, Md. on Mon., May 8

Author and storyteller Jim Duffy of Secrets of the Eastern Shore will share some of his favorite “Tales from Delmarva” in a lunchtime talk and discussion on Mon., May 8 at the Church of the Nazarene in Denton, Md. The occasion is an open-to-the-public meeting of the local chapter of the American Association of Retired Persons. The author of five books focused on travel and…
April 1, 2023
Robbins Davis Dawgs Featured Image Georgia Cambridge
CharactersWay Back Machine

How Bout Them Dawgs? The Crazy Connection Between Georgia Football and Cambridge, Md.

The 2022 college football season begins in earnest in the month I'm writing this, and the defending champion Georgia Bulldogs are once again ranked among the nation's top teams. I can sense the question forming in your mind: What in the world does this have to do with the Delmarva Peninsula? Executive summary: • Georgia's official nickname is "Bulldogs." • The team's rabid fan base…
August 27, 2022
Tubman Tales: The Birth of Freedom in the Life of Frederick Douglass
Tubman TravelsWay Back Machine

A Mother/Son Love Story: Young Fred Bailey Gets His First Taste of Freedom

This is an excerpt from a chapter in my book, Tubman Travels: 32 Underground Railroad Journeys on Delmarva. The book tells true-life tales of brave souls who made their way to freedom during slavery times on the Delmarva Peninsula. Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman are here. So, too, are many other, lesser-known heroes. The book not only tells their stories--it helps modern-day travelers follow in…
January 28, 2022
William Still Featured Photo with Harriet Tubman
CharactersWay Back Machine

The Miraculous Reunions of Underground Railroad Hero William Still

I am posting this during the week of the bicentennial of William Still's birth on Oct. 7, 1821. Let's get the obvious question out of the way first: Why bother about a Philadelphia guy on a site devoted to stories of Delmarva? I mention Still countless times in my book of Tubman Travels: 32 Underground Railroad Journeys on Delmarva. That's because he played two key…
October 4, 2021
Choptank Maryland Waterfront Featured Photo
Quote of the DayWay Back Machine

A Day in the Life of a Child in Chopank, Md., early 1900s

I am not sure which individual is responsible for the memory I'm sharing here, as my source material was the work not of a single author, but of a committee of volunteers. Back in 1976, the Choptank Bicentennial Committee put together a little booklet to mark 200 years of American independence by celebrating life in their own little town, which lies on the river of…
September 1, 2020
Steamboat Memories: The Avalon and the Joppa
Quote of the DayWay Back Machine

“Like a Visit to Another World:” Remembering Childhood Steamboat Trips on the Choptank River in Times Gone By

Sometimes, the best-laid productivity plans in a day go awry. I ventured into the Maryland Room of the Talbot County Free Library in Easton, Md. one day to research a very specific topic within a tight time window. Alas, I stumbled upon a little pamphlet titled "Memories of Choptank" while thumbing through a shelf. The title is a reference not to the river, but to…
August 29, 2020
Choptank Maryland Waterfront Featured Photo
DestinationsWay Back Machine

“Men Going Places & Building Things:” The Steamboat Glory Days of Little Choptank, Md.

If you visit the town of Choptank today, you'll encounter a quiet little town of 120 or so souls set on a glorious bit of waterfront scenery in Caroline County, Md. Located a few miles below Preston, Choptank stands a little way above where the Choptank River takes a big bend to the west at the mouth of Hunting Creek. It's a pleasant place for…
August 28, 2020
Gilbert Lare of Federalsburg Maryland Featured Image
CharactersWay Back Machine

The Legend of Gilbert Lare, aka “The Del-Mar-Va Bandit” of the 1930s

The criminal career of Gilbert Lare, aka "The Del-Mar-Va Bandit,” began with a seemingly minor affair. Wilmington News Journal, Dec. 27, 1926: Gilbert Lare, a young man of , was arrested by Constable Thomas Nichols breaking into store on South Main Street Wednesday night and removing two slot machines. … The machines were found early the following morning along the river shores, broken up, and…
June 30, 2020
Sunset atBlackwater 2013 Featured Image
Way Back Machine

A Marydel Whodunnit, 1909: Amateur Actor Fatally Poisoned on Stage during Show for Charity

The Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan. 11, 1909: “The little town of Marydel, , was thrown into an intense state of excitement this morning when it became known that Charles L. Pippin, a local businessman, was dead. The cause of his death was poison in a glass of wine which he drank during the amateur performance of a play in which he was one of the actors on…
February 17, 2020