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Dover Archives | Secrets of the Eastern Shore

Way Back Machine

A Frederica Story: From Ladies Undergarments to Man on the Moon

    Sometimes the stories Delmarva has to tell are hiding in plain sight. Consider, for example, the generic-looking, aluminum-clad buildings that make up the ILC Dover complex along Carpenter Bridge Road on the outskirts of Frederica, Del. Passersby could be forgiven for assuming this was just another warehouse or widget maker. The postal address contains a clue that something else is afoot: 1 Moonwalker…
April 15, 2018
Destinations

Spence’s Bazaar: Visiting a Delaware Classic

    Delmarva traditions can be funny things sometimes. Take Spence’s Bazaar in Dover, for example. When I approached the sprawling old marketplace for the first time recently, it had the look of a joint that hadn’t changed one iota since the day it opened eightysome ago. The flea market outside was old school, with table upon table upon table set under sweet shade trees.…
October 10, 2017
Tubman TravelsWay Back Machine

“TUBMAN TRAVELS” SAMPLER: The Miraculous Escape of the Dover Eight

The story of the Dover Eight that follows is excerpted from Tubman Travels: 32 Underground Railroad Journeys on Delmarva, a book by Secrets of the Eastern Shore that tells stories of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and many other men and women whose journeys in slavery and out of bondage went through the Eastern Shore and Delaware. BIG PICTURE: The Pressure Cooker of 1857 The lush…
March 1, 2017
CharactersWay Back Machine

Road Trips Preview: The Master Whittler of Delaware

    This piece about Jehu Camper, the master whittler of Delaware, is a free excerpt from Eastern Shore Road Trips: 27 One-Day Adventures on Delmarva, the first in a new line of guidebooks from Secrets of the Eastern Shore. It's from a Road Trip that visits a trio of interesting little museums in Dover, including one that features works by Mr. Camper. Here goes: Over the…
December 5, 2016
Road Trips

The Dover Museums Are Full of Inspiring Tales about Old-Fashioned American Ingenuity

  When Eldridge Reeves Johnson graduated from Dover Academy in 1882, the school’s director gave him some blunt advice: “You are too god damned dumb to go to college. Go and learn a trade." Soon thereafter, Johnson landed an apprenticeship at a machine shop. Then, after a few years of working for other people, he hung up a shingle of his own at the Eldridge…
March 4, 2015