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Chestertown

Spring Sailing Options Delmarva Featured Photo
Destinations

Sail Away! Nine Easy Ways to Get Out on the Water

You don't have to own a boat to get out on the water on the Delmarva Peninsula. Here are a few easy options, available in ticketed fashion rather than by putting a group together and chartering a vessel. • THE STEAM FERRY: The Patriot is a replica 1930s steam ferry that offers narrated cruises on various themes along the Miles River, sailing out of St.…
April 28, 2023
Isaac Mason Underground Railroad Featured Photo
From the BooksTubman TravelsWay Back Machine

“We All Knelt Down in the Snow-Covered Ground:” Isaac Mason’s Journey to Freedom

This is an excerpt from my book, Tubman Travels: 32 Underground Railroad Journeys on Delmarva. The book first came out in 2017. I released an updated version here in 2022. More info about the book here. BIG PICTURE: Where Slavery Meets Sadism If a movie ever gets made about the life of Isaac Mason, it would need to be done by a director who comes…
May 25, 2022
Harriet Shephard Featured Image
CharactersFrom the BooksTubman TravelsWay Back Machine

TUBMAN TRAVELS: The Other Harriet’s Wild Ride to Freedom

This is an excerpt from my book, Tubman Travels: 32 Underground Railroad Adventures on Delmarva. The book tells keystone stories about the Underground Railroad, with each story attached to place or places that you can go visit. More info about the book here. BIG PICTURE: A Ride for the Ages American history has its share of famous horseback rides. There is the “Midnight Ride” of…
March 4, 2021
Tench Tilghman 5 Things Featured Photo
CharactersWay Back Machine

HEROES OF DELMARVA: 5 Things About Col. Tench Tilghman, Revolutionary Star

Tench Tilghman served in the Revolutionary War as a top aide to George Washington, who praised the Talbot County, Md. native generously for his advice, loyalty, and trustworthiness. After the British surrendered at Yorktown, Washington assigned to Tilghman the task of making a mad dash to the nation’s capital in Philadelphia to deliver official word of the triumph. (1) That Weird First Name The tench…
October 24, 2020
Fashions in Chestertown, Maryland in the Mid-1700s
Quote of the DayWay Back Machine

Quote of the Day, Mid-1700s: “Foppery, Idleness & Dissipation are Striding Briskly On” in Chestertown, Md.

In his book Rivers of the Eastern Shore, the writer Hulbert Footner travels up this waterway, down that one, and then another, reporting on what he sees and discussing the history and culture of the towns he comes upon. Here is a little bit of what he had to say while sailing up the Chester River, on the Upper Eastern Shore of Maryland, about Chestertown…
November 3, 2019
Henry Highland Garnet, born in Chesterville, Maryland
CharactersWay Back Machine

Born in Chesterville: The First Black Minister to Address the U.S. Congress 

    Starting Point: Kent County, Md. Heading west out of Millington, Maryland on Route 291 you will soon come to a sign announcing that the road is dedicated to the memory of Henry Highland Garnet, whose life story has as many interesting twists and turns as any African American man in the 19th century. The fact that the first black minister to ever address…
January 30, 2018
Civil Rights Marchers on Cross Street in Chestertown on Maryland's Eastern Shore
Way Back Machine

WAY BACK MACHINE: When the Civil Rights ‘Freedom Riders’ Arrived in Chestertown, 1962

Early in 1962, Rev. Frederick Jones, Sr. invited a group of “Freedom Riders” to come to his town and help local blacks mount a campaign against segregation. Nearly 150 of those civil rights activists showed up on Feb. 3, in two buses and a dozen cars. They were mostly college students, and they came from schools in New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Baltimore. The activists…
January 9, 2018
Philadelphia Athletics on field at Shibe Park, 1911 World Series, Home Run Baker is second from left
Road Trips

America’s Pastime on the Eastern Shore: A tour chock full of baseball greatness

NOTES: This is a free excerpt from my book, Eastern Shore Road Trips #2: 26 More One-Day Adventures on Delmarva. Enjoy! More info on the book here. JIMMIE FOX OF SUDLERVILLE Itty bitty Sudlersville is the first of four stops in this tour of the Shore’s rich baseball history. Located off of Route 301 as it heads up from Queenstown toward Delaware, this town with…
March 22, 2015
Chestertown Waterfront (Acroterion, WikCommons)
Road Trips

Chestertown, the Colonial King of the Eastern Shore

  Chestertown sure knows how to make a swell first impression. As you cross the Chester River from the south on Church Hill Road, keep your eyes left to soak in a scene that seems to come straight out of the 1700s—a spectacular run of dripping-in-history brick homes rising up on the waterfront. Make that crossing at the right time of day, and you will have…
February 13, 2015