Maryland, My Maryland Part 4

Photo: Tom at
 English Wikipedia

Thank you for joining me on another virtual visit to the beautiful and historic state of Maryland. For those of you who missed the first post in the series can read about the Western Region here: https://www.hhhistory.com/2022/09/maryland-my-maryland-part-3.html.

Today we’re visiting the beautiful Eastern Shore region. Many of my happiest memories are connected to this area of the state that lies mostly on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay (or the eastern side of the Susquehanna River). Nine counties that were created between 1642 and 1867 and named for a queen and various earls or their wives comprise the region. The Shore is part of the larger Delmarva Peninsula that Maryland shares with Delaware and Virginia. Although the region makes up more than one-third of Maryland’s land, only 8% of the state’s inhabitants live here.

During the colonial and federal periods, the area was developed primarily for agriculture and continues to remain mostly rural. The largest “city” in the region is Salisbury with about 33,500 residents. Because of its location at the head of the Wicomico River, Salisbury became a major trading area early in the state’s history.

Three industries: fishing (especially for shellfish such as blue crab, lovingly referred to as Maryland

Photo: Pixabay/Wen Zhu

Crab by locals), chicken farming, and tourism. With its miles of coastline, the resort town of Ocean City is the hub of the state’s tourism, seeing more than eight million visitors annually. At the end of the three-mile boardwalk, family-owned and operated Trimper’s Rides has hosted theme-park attractions since 1893 when German immigrants Daniel and Margaret Trimper sold everything they had in Baltimore and bought a seaside property.

Every summer, our family would pack up and go to Ocean City for two weeks. My paternal grandparents would also come and always stayed in the condo opposite ours. I watched the 1969 moon landing on a teeny-tiny black-and-white television propped on a tray table in my grandparents' condo.

Pixabay/Lois Szymanski

Ocean City is a popular “jumping off” spot to visit the nearby island of Assateague (any of you read Misty of Chincoteague?). A 37-mile-long barrier island, two-thirds of which is in Maryland and one-third of which is in Virginia, Assateague is home to large herds of feral ponies. Legend has it that the horses are descendants of survivors of a Spanish galleon that sank on its way to Spain during a storm in 1750, however, most scholars believe the animals are descended from domesticated stock brought to the island by farmers to avoid fencing requirements and taxation.

The north-south section of the Mason-Dixon Line forms the border between Maryland and Delaware.

Courtesy of visitcaroline.org

Originally created to lay out the boundaries between four states (Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia), the line is now known for its demarcation of the North from the South during the Civil War. Crownstones were placed every five miles, but many of the markers are long gone. The reason for the line? A feud about colonial territory between the Penn and Calvert families of England.

Other islands include Janes, Pooles, Kent (another popular tourist destination), Holland, Tizzard, Barren, Bloodsworth, Tangier, Smith (for which the nine-layer cake and state dessert is named), Poplar, and Tilghman (where my husband and I visited as part of our training to become B&B owners). The region has been home to many well-known individuals including author Frank Barth, actress Linda Hamilton, entrepreneur Frank Perdue, and abolitionists Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman.

___________________

Estelle's Endeavor

Will a world at war destroy a second chance at love?

Estelle Johnson promised to wait for Aubry DeLuca, but then she receives word of his debilitating injuries. Does she have the strength to stand by him in his hour of need?

Aubry DeLuca storms the beaches at Normandy, then wakes up in the hospital, his eyes bandaged. Will he regain his sight? Will the only woman he’s ever loved welcome him home or is he destined to go through life blind and alone?

Available on Amazon

Linda Shenton Matchett writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by. A volunteer docent and archivist for the Wright Museum of WWII, Linda is a former trustee for her local public library. She is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry (of Star Spangled Banner fame). Linda has lived in historic places all her life, and is now located in central New Hampshire where her favorite activities include exploring historic sites and immersing herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors. Learn more about Linda and her books at http://www.LindaShentonMatchett.com

Maryland, My Maryland Part 3

Photo: Pixabay/David Mark

Thank you for joining me on another virtual visit to the beautiful and historic state of Maryland. For those who missed the first post in the series can read about the Southern Region here: https://www.hhhistory.com/2022/08/maryland-my-maryland-part-2-and-huge.html.

Western Maryland, also called the Maryland Panhandle, is comprised of Washington, Allegany, and Garret counties, and is the most rural region of the state. Known for its mountainous terrain (it is part of the central Appalachians), the area’s weather is more similar to that of West Virginia rather than the temperate climate of the rest of Maryland with cooler summers and harsher winters. Despite being heavily agrarian, the region has several major highways that crisscross the region: Interstate Highways I-70, I-81, and I-68, as well as U.S. Highways US-11, US-40, US-40 Alt, US 219, and US 50. There are also quite a few state roads that traverse the area.

Produce and dairy farms are plentiful, with the best-known crop being the apples grown in the Cumberland Valley, but corn, potatoes, beans, and various green-leaf vegetables are also grown. The town of Hancock, located in Washington County, is the narrowest stretch in the state with its northern and southern borders separated by a mere 1.8 miles.

Garrett County, the westernmost county in the state, was the last part of Maryland to be settled, and it

Photo: Pixabay/PublicDomainPictures

wasn’t until 1764 that English, German, and Irish emigrants traveled from nearby Pennsylvania to homestead there. Approximately eighty years later, the county was founded and named for Baltimore & Ohio Railroad president John Work Garrett, a testament to the importance of the railroad in county history. Other well-known industrialists, such as Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Harvey Firestone would later find their way to this county. William Jennings Bryant was also a resident at one time.

In September 1776, Washington County was founded having been “peeled off” of Frederick County. It was the first US county to be named for the Revolutionary War general (and later President) George Washington. This particular region was mostly made up of English, French, Swiss, and Scottish settlers. Home to Fort Frederick, the only British colonial fort still standing, the county has the dubious honor of being the location of Antietam National Battlefield, the site of the bloodiest single-day battle of the Civil War. As mentioned previously, the railroad had a large presence here, as well as the C&O Canal, and there are three museums that highlight this important history.

 
Allegany County was created by splitting a portion of Washington County. The area became the home to many pioneers who would travel through the Cumberland Narrows, a 1,000-foot-high gap in the Allegany Mountains. English settlers arrived to mine and created many towns and farms (when mining didn’t provide the riches they sought). The name Allegany is said to come from the Native American word oolikhanna meaning “beautiful streams.” An important center of transportation, the area saw travel by canal, train, and horse and buggy. The National Road, the first federally funded highway, began in Cumberland, and the Lavale Toll Gate House still stands as the state’s only remaining toll house on the National Road.

 

Photo: Courtesy of
Boonsboro Historical Society

The Western region is dear to my heart because of many fond memories associated with the area. Growing up, we often visited man-made Deep Creek Lake in Garrett County, the largest inland body of water in Maryland that covers nearly 4,000 acres and has sixty-nine miles of shoreline. During one of my summers, I worked at Bechtel and was befriended by a young woman who lived in Boonsboro (Washington County). Local legend has it that the town was originally called Boonesboro and named after Daniel Boone’s cousin George. I often went home with her on the weekends, and one weekend while feeling especially bold, I accompanied her to the hair salon and got myself a perm. I thought I was all that and more. Looking back at the pictures – not so much!

 
Come back next month for a virtual visit to the Eastern Shore Region of Maryland.

About Estelle's Endeavor (Releasing September 26)

  

Will a world at war destroy a second chance at love?

Estelle Johnson promised to wait for Aubry DeLuca, but then she receives word of his debilitating injuries. Does she have the strength to stand by him in his hour of need?

 
Aubry DeLuca storms the beaches at Normandy, then wakes up in the hospital, his eyes bandaged. Will he regain his sight? Will the only woman he’s ever loved welcome him home or is he destined to go through life blind and alone?

 

Pre-order Link: https://amzn.to/3Kzb5Eg

 

Linda Shenton Matchett writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by. A volunteer docent and archivist for the Wright Museum of WWII, Linda is a former trustee for her local public library. She is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry (of Star Spangled Banner fame). Linda has lived in historic places all her life, and is now located in central New Hampshire where her favorite activities include exploring historic sites and immersing herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors. Learn more about Linda and her books at http://www.LindaShentonMatchett.com

Maryland, My Maryland: Part 2 (AND HUGE GIVEAWAY)

Thank you for joining me on another virtual visit to the beautiful and historic state of Maryland. For those who missed the first post in the series can read about the Capital Region here https://www.hhhistory.com/2022/07/maryland-my-maryland-part-1.html.  Today we’re going to make our way to the Southern Region which is comprised of Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s County, and the southern portions of Anne Arundel and Prince George’s counties.

As one of the original thirteen American colonies, Maryland was founded by George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore, a member of parliament and later Secretary of State under Britain’s James I. After losing his influence for a number of reasons, he resigned his political office in 1625 and made a public declaration of his Catholicism. It was at this time he was named Baron Baltimore as part of the peerage of Ireland.

Initially, his interest in colonization was for business reasons, but eventually, he would create a refuge

WikiImages

on the southeastern peninsula on the island of Newfoundland for persecuted Irish and British Catholics. However, the area’s cold climate was not to his liking, and he looked for a more hospitable spot. Traveling south, he discovered the area that would become the state of Maryland, then sought a new royal charter to settle the area. Unfortunately, he died five weeks before the charter was sealed, leaving the colony to be managed by his son Cecil.

On March 25, 1634, the English ships, the Ark and the Dove landed at St. Clements Island in St. Mary’s County. The vessels held a group of Catholics and Protestants. Despite their plan to live together peacefully, tension slowly developed over the differing beliefs of the founders, colonists, and English government. As a result, the Act Concern Religion was proposed, then passed by the General Assembly and is said to be the first legislative act allowing “liberty of conscience” in the Western World. Religious freedom was now codified into law, and would later serve as the foundation for the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. A short time later, Charles County would be named for the third Lord Baltimore, and Calvert County for the family.

The Southern region, bordered nearly three-quarters by water, began as a rural, agriculture (mostly tobacco), oyster fishing, and crabbing region and would remain so for more than two hundred years. During the steamboat era, the region would be linked by copious passenger and freight ships operating on the Chesapeake Bay.

The Civil War divided the state, and the Southern Region was primarily sympathetic to the Confederacy as evidenced by the several people who helped President Lincoln’s assassin John Wilkes Booth escape through the area. Large numbers of Union occupying troops and patrolling river gunboats prevented the state’s secession, but according to many reports, frequent nighttime smuggling across the Potomac River to Virginia was commonplace.

Pixabay/Rebounding Falcons

Geographically, the region is in the subtropical climate zone with hot, humid summers and mild to chilly winters with lots of precipitation year-round. Because of its proximity to the ocean, oysters, crabs, and striped bass are among the more popular foods to be had, although a notable dish from the region is stuffed ham, the stuffing a mixture made from cabbage, kale, onions, spices and seasonings that is inserted into deep slits slashed in a whole corned ham.

Portions of the Southern region have evolved from rural farmland into “bedroom communities” of

Pixabay/Engel9

neighboring Washington, DC. There are seven military bases (including Fort George G. Meade which plays a part in my upcoming release) in the region, and the U.S. Naval Academy is located in the state’s capital Annapolis. Additionally, numerous government agencies, power plants, research facilities, and “beltway bandits” (companies who contract with the government) call the Southern
region home. However, vacationers still appear in droves to visit Solomon’s and Broomes Islands as well as take up residents in the hundreds of summer cottages that dot the region, unsurprising considering the more than five hundred miles of shoreline on the Patuxent River, Potomac River, and Chesapeake Bay and its many tributaries.

Some of the regions famous (and infamous) natives or residents include Matthew Henson, co-founder of the North Pole; Dr. Mudd, the physician who conspired with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate Lincoln; First Lady Louisa Adams, wife of President John Quincy Adams; Star Spangled Banner composer Francis Scott Key, and authors Tom Clancy and Dashiell Hammett.

_________________ 

Estelle's Endeavor - Releasing September 26, 2022

Will a world at war destroy a second chance at love?

Estelle Johnson promised to wait for Aubry DeLuca, but then she receives word of his debilitating injuries. Does she have the strength to stand by him in his hour of need?

Aubry DeLuca storms the beaches at Normandy, then wakes up in the hospital, his eyes bandaged. Will he regain his sight? Will the only woman he’s ever loved welcome him home or is he destined to go through life blind and alone?

Pre-order link: https://amzn.to/3oqK3EO

Linda Shenton Matchett writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by. A volunteer docent and archivist for the Wright Museum of WWII, Linda is a former trustee for her local public library. She is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry (of Star Spangled Banner fame). Linda has lived in historic places all her life, and is now located in central New Hampshire where her favorite activities include exploring historic sites and immersing herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors. Learn more about Linda and her books at http://www.LindaShentonMatchett.com

To celebrate reaching 3 Million views, HHH is hosting a HUGE giveaway of over 60 books in 18 prizes, so there are many chances to win! One grand prize will consist of 10 books, two readers will win a second prize containing 5 books, and there will be 15 winners of a third prize containing 2 books each. There are several ways to earn entries, such as following or commenting on the HHH blog each day. Thank you for being part of the HHH community, and best wishes in the giveaway! http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ce16d9c612/

Maryland, My Maryland (Part 1)

I am a native Marylander, but a lifetime has passed since I was a resident. My mother’s family is from the eastern shore, and she grew up in Burtonsville (a tiny town outside of Laurel about twenty miles south of Baltimore, and according to my grandfather, only called Burtonsville because there were more Burtons than Woottens-his surname). I decided to set my current work in progress in Laurel because of its proximity to Fort Meade and Walter Reed Hospital (see what authors think about when creating a story idea?). 

Despite my knowledge of the state, I needed to research that particular area, specifically during the war. I learned that Maryland is comprised of five regions: Capital, Southern, Western, Eastern Shore, and Central, and I will be sharing about one each month through the end of the year. I hope you enjoy the journey. 

The Capital Region is located – you guessed it – outside Washington, DC, our nation’s capital and contains three counties: Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George’s (PG as it’s known to locals). The area’s history spans three centuries, evidenced by the fact that Maryland donated land from Montgomery and Prince George’s counties to be used for the new capital city. Dotted by farms during the early days, the region is now famous for its high-tech industries and research centers in the fields of telecommunications, electronics, computers, health, and medicine. 

Pixabay/David Mark

Frederick County was home to Pennsylvania Germans who arrived in 1730 and named the county and county see for Frederick Calvert, the sixth and last Lord Baltimore. Francis Scott Key, author of The Star-Spangled Banner was born in Frederick and partnered a law firm with his brother-in-law Roger Brooke Taney who would later become Chief Justice. of the Supreme Court. The county is located in both the Appalachian Mountain and Piedmont Plateau regions and has more farms than any other Maryland County. The county’s two prominent ridges Catoctin Mountain and South Mountain form an extension of the Blue Ridge, with Middletown Valley lying between them. Many covered bridges can be seen throughout the county. There is a significant amount of Civil War history connected to Frederick. 

Montgomery County, where I spent my high school and college years was founded in 1776 by English, Scottish, and Irish settlers, and was named for General Richard Montgomery, a Revolutionary War hero. Because of its proximity to Washington, DC, there are quite a few government agencies in the county including the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Institute of Health, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In addition, the 150-year-old National Library of Medicine, the large medical library in the world, is in Bethesda. Bordered by the Potomac River, the county lies completely within the Piedmont Plateau and is made up of gently rolling hills throughout its 591 square miles. 

The 184.5-mile-long Chesapeake & Ohio Canal (C&O) runs alongside the Potomac and operated as a means of transportation and transport from 1831-1924. The tow-path (the dirt and stone lane built for canal mules to walk beside the water as they “towed” the boats through the waterway is now a heavily traveled hiking trail. And even in this age of advanced technology, you can grab a ride on White’s Ferry, the only ferry remaining on the Potomac. 

Prince George’s County is an interesting dichotomy of agriculture and technology where you can visit

Courtesy of nasa.gov

the National Colonial Farm Museum, Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, and Goddard Space Flight Center. Because PG County is close to Washington, DC, it is also home to several federal facilities such as Joint Base Andrews (formerly Andrews Air Force Base) and the U.S. Census Bureau. Named for Prince George of Denmark (husband of England’s Princess Anne) and founded in 1696, the county is filled with history. 

The county lies in the Atlantic coastal plain and is a mixture of rolling hills and valleys, but the terrain varies widely by location within the county. The Patuxent River forms the eastern border. Areas close to the capital tend to be characterized by suburban neighborhoods, while areas further out are more rural. Piscataway Park in Accokeek preserves many acres of woodland and wetlands along the Potomac River opposite Mount Vernon, Virginia (yes, George Washington’s Mount Vernon). Many well-known athletes, entertainers, and actors hail from PG county, but the most infamous is Mary Surratt, who was charged with conspiring to assassinate President Lincoln and was the first woman hanged by the federal government.

 _______________ 

Will she have to run from the past for the rest of her life?

Dinah Simpkins has no chance of making a good marriage in Baltimore. Her outlaw brothers and her father’s gambling addiction have ruined the family’s reputation. Then the Westward Home and Hearts Matrimonial Agency provides an opportunity for a fresh start. After Dinah arrives in Nebraska, she discovers her brothers played a part in the death of her prospective groom’s first wife. 

As a former Pinkerton detective Nathan Childs knows when someone is lying. The bride sent by the matrimonial agency may be beautiful, but she’s definitely hiding something, and he has no intention of marrying her until he uncovers the truth. But an easier solution may be to send her packing. Then his young daughter goes missing. He and Dinah must put aside their mutual hurt and mistrust to find her.

Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B08DBKTJC1

Linda Shenton Matchett writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by. A volunteer docent and archivist for the Wright Museum of WWII, Linda is a former trustee for her local public library. She is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry. Linda has lived in historic places all her life, and is now located in central New Hampshire where her favorite activities include exploring historic sites and immersing herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors. Learn more about her and her books at http://www.LindaShentonMatchett.com