The Caroline County Historical Society

We mourn the loss of our long-time President, JOK Walsh.

Read about JOK’s life and legacy here.

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Your generosity sustains our work.

Museum of Rural Life

Re-live Small Town and Farm Life

Preservation

Since 2001, the Society has been a national leader among rural societies in the
preservation of buildings.

Great Houses & Everyday Life

Great plantations, modest homesteads, small farm life.

The Great War

Caroline County’s WWI heroes.  Exhibit now open at the Rural Life Museum

Hear Our Stories

Leaders for Freedom & Civil Rights

Bishop Alexander W. Wayman, founding AME Bishop, was raised in Tuckahoe Neck.  Underground Railroad conductors Daniel Hubbard and Arthur Leverton barely escaped lynching. The parents of William Still, “Father of the Underground Railroad”, were born into slavery near the Choptank River. James H. Webb, a free black, farmed here before the Civil War.

Our African-American Legacy >>

Courageous & Creative Women

Nettie Dean Carterprominent teacher, suffragette, and businesswoman – a century ahead of her time.  Enolia McMillan, NAACP’s first woman president, started her teaching career in Denton.  Harriet Tubman’s Underground Railroad ran through the heart of Caroline County.  Anna Murray of Tuckahoe Neck helped Frederick Douglass escape north before they married and raised a family.

Our Women’s Legacy >>

War Heroes

Capt. Quentin Walsh, USCG, captured the French seaport that secured D-Day. 2LT Louise Hollister was Maryland’s only Army Nurse casualty in WWII.  Col. Peter Adams commanded Maryland troops at Yorktown. Col. William Richardson, “Father of Caroline County”, also saved the Continental Treasury from the British.  Cpl. William H. Carney, 38th US Colored Troops, was laid to rest at Union Church after the Civil War.

Our Wartime Legacy >>

Everyday Citizens

Captain C.C. Wheeler was illiterate yet built and operated a successful steamboat line. George Swartz and his mule loaded sailing vessels in West Denton in the 1930s.  The Two Johns were vaudeville actors whose riverside theater scandalized the locals.  Georgist Tax Rebels planned a colony at Gilpin Point. Robert Jacobs was a modern blacksmith at age 14.

Our Common Legacy >>

Historic Buildings Preservation

The Historic Landscape of Caroline County

Caroline County Mapped:  1670-1950

Caroline County Mapped: 1670-1950

Historical Maps from the David Rumsey Collection Maryland's Eastern Shore and what later became Caroline County were first mapped by Augustine Hermann in 1670. Many of the maps which show the Eastern Shore since 1670 have been preserved and digitized by the David...

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1897 is a Certified True Copy of the Original

1897 is a Certified True Copy of the Original

We can see the Caroline County landscape in 1897, thanks to the efforts of two county citizens working 72 years apart. I found no reference to M. L. Saulsbury's mapmaking in the Denton Journal around 1897.  So I'm not sure why this map was made.  And I haven't seen an...

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Segregated White Schools

Segregated White Schools

The Historic Landscape of Caroline CountyWe identified historically segregated white schools in the Choptank River Heritage area, primarily by georeferencing the 1875 Isler and 1897 Saulsbury maps of Caroline County. In the map shown on this page, use the toggle at...

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Segregated White Churches

Segregated White Churches

The Historic Landscape of Caroline CountyWe identified historically segregated white churches in the Choptank River Heritage area, primarily by georeferencing the 1875 Isler and 1897 Saulsbury maps of Caroline County. In the map shown on this page, use the toggle at...

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Segregated Black Schools

Segregated Black Schools

The Historic Landscape of Caroline CountyWe identified historic black schools in the Choptank River Heritage area, primarily by georeferencing the 1875 Isler and 1897 Saulsbury maps of Caroline County. In the map shown on this page, use the toggle at the upper left to...

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Sawmills and Grist Mills

Sawmills and Grist Mills

The Historic Landscape of Caroline CountyWe identified and mapped the historic locations of sawmills and grist mills in the Choptank River Heritage area, primarily by georeferencing the 1875 Isler and 1897 Saulsbury maps of Caroline County. In the map shown on this...

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River Landings and Railroad Stations

River Landings and Railroad Stations

The Historic Landscape of Caroline CountyWe identified river landings and railroad stations in the Choptank River Heritage area, primarily by georeferencing the 1875 Isler and 1897 Saulsbury maps of Caroline County. In the map shown on this page, use the toggle at the...

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Post Offices

Post Offices

The Historic Landscape of Caroline County We identified historic post office locations in the Choptank River Heritage area, primarily by georeferencing the 1875 Isler and 1897 Saulsbury maps of Caroline County. Below the map are lists of post offices which appear in...

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Towns, Crossroads, and Named Settlements

Towns, Crossroads, and Named Settlements

The Historic Landscape of Caroline CountyWe identified these named settlements in the Choptank River Heritage area: Crossroads Houses Immigrant Settlements Native American Settlements Plantations Towns We identified these sites primarily by georeferencing the 1875...

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Join Us

to Preserve and Share the History and Cultural
of Caroline County

What We're Doing

See our Events Calendar.


 

Caring, Sharing, Giving

The CCHS depends on your generous contributions to continue to promote and protect Caroline County’s rich heritage. Funds are used to operate the Museum of Rural Life, sustain our programming, and restore and maintain historically significant structures throughout Caroline County.

Be Awesome >>