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Dorchester County Archives | Secrets of the Eastern Shore

CharactersQuote of the DayWay Back Machine

WORDS OF DELMARVA WISDOM: “What may be the manhood and history [ahead for] a plain boy in rural life?”

John Fletcher Hurst Think about this question the next time you pass by a couple of kids working the water’s edge with fishing poles or crab nets. Such scenes remain quite common along the backroads of Delmarva, of course, just as they were when John Fletcher Hurst was growing up in Dorchester County, Maryland in the 1840s. Despite suffering from occasional debilitating bouts of asthma,…
February 28, 2019
The Newsroom

Secrets of the Eastern Shore featured on WMDT-TV News Segment on Harriet Tubman

Secrets of the Eastern Shore co-founder Jim Duffy was featured recently in a news story on WMDT-TV Channel 47 News in Salisbury, Md. Reporter Erica Murphy visited the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center in the countryside outside of Cambridge, Md. to explore the life and legacy of Harriet Tubman, the famed Underground Railroad conductor who was born here on Maryland's Eastern Shore in the 1820s.…
February 13, 2019
Good Times & Fun EventsThe Newsroom

The Secrets of the Eastern Shore Holiday Pop Up Shop, 2018!

The Secrets of the Eastern Shore Pop Up Shop is returning to downtown Cambridge! Open weekends through Christmas, the shop is located inside of the popular Jimmie & Sook’s restaurant, 527 Poplar Street. Designed as a celebration of the Delmarva region in images, words, and products, the shop is the creation of a local husband-and-wife team, the writer Jim Duffy and the photographer Jill Jasuta.…
November 16, 2018
Way Back Machine

PICTURE THIS: The Story Behind the Twin Bridges of Dorchester County

    You know how the traffic goes on Kent Island come summer weekends? The backups begin many miles before from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. A legion of goofballs make it worse by looking for shortcuts when they don’t have a clue where they’re going. The poor local people end up trapped inside their houses, afraid to even run a little errand. Things used to be…
November 9, 2018
DestinationsTubman TravelsWay Back Machine

SITES & STOPS: The Historic Pine Street Corridor in Cambridge, Maryland

    When working on Tubman Travels, my Secrets of the Eastern Shore guide to the sites and stories associated with the Underground Railroad era on the Delmarva Peninsula, I also kept a bunch of notes on other African American stories in Delaware and on the Eastern Shore. Eventually, I put those together into a PDF document that’s available as a free download to everyone…
August 16, 2018
Quote of the DayWay Back Machine

QUOTE OF THE DAY: ‘The mosquito,’ Dr. Tawes would say, ‘is one of the noblest creatures known to nature.’

    The late P.J. Wingate was, appropriately enough, from the little town of Wingate, which stands amid the mosquito-ridden marshland of South Dorchester County, Maryland. (Locals pronounced it win-GIT, actually.) A chemist by trade, Wingate dabbled quite a bit in writing as well. This is from his 1979 book, Bandages of Soft Illusion. It’s full of little essays about his childhood days in what…
May 28, 2018
Quote of the DayWay Back Machine

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Cambridge in 1872–“the most beautiful place on the Peninsula”

    In an article for Scribner’s Monthly magazine, the 19th century writer George Alfred Townsend shared his impressions after a bit of wandering around Maryland's Eastern Shore. The article included the description below of what it was like to come up the Choptank River into Cambridge in 1872, just a few short years after the Civil War. When you come to the part about…
April 5, 2018
DestinationsThe Newsroom

The Secrets of the Eastern Shore Holiday Pop Up Shop!

    The Secrets of the Eastern Shore Pop Up Shop is back! Located at 412 Race Street in downtown Cambridge, Maryland, it's a seasonal celebration of the stories, scenery, traditions, and artistry of the region. The Pop Up Shop is chock full of fun finds and gift items, many of which you won't find anywhere else. Think breathtaking photos of sweet Shore scenes, one-of-a-kind jewelry…
November 15, 2017
Quote of the Day

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “On his arrival in Vienna, the people were filled with astonishment and alarm”

    Set on a gorgeous bend of the Nanticoke River, Vienna is one of the prettiest little towns on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Home to around 300 people nowadays, it dates its history clear back to 1706. There is a lovely stretch of public green space on the waterfront today. As you stroll around there and admire the views, try to imagine this place back…
September 4, 2017
DestinationsWay Back Machine

The Phillips Packing Company Strike of 1937: Black and White Together on the Picket Lines

    The next time you drive through Cambridge, Maryland along Route 50, take a good look behind the Wawa convenience store, toward Dorchester Avenue and the western horizon. The towering pair of old smokestacks there have some faded lettering on them, “PPCO,” for Phillips Packing Company. This year marks the 80th anniversary of a big strike there that made headlines around the country back…
August 30, 2017