Preserving Caroline's History & Culture
The Society has worked to preserve over fifty historic buildings. We also preserve and safeguard sacred sites, precious artifacts, and shared stories.The Society is almost certainly the most active historical society in rural America in terms of the number of buildings being preserved. Located from Goldsboro to Choptank Village, our projects are found throughout the county. All preserved buildings must have a specific future use. Most will become the centerpiece or parts of multi-building and multi-site educational “interpretive centers” to tell unique stories that highlight the national historical signifcance of Caroline County as well as the qualities that make us so exceptional.
For example, Caroline’s resilience produced an extraordinarily unique 350+ year history of commercial agriculture as our only major industry; our service to country led to Caroline’s unmatched record of residents fighting in every major battle save one in American history; and our moral courage gave Caroline the best Underground Railroad history in rural America.
William Still Center – a U.S. National Park Service Network to Freedom Historic Site
We are honored that the William Still Family Interpretive Center has been accepted as a U.S. National Park Service Network to Freedom historic site.Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony was Monday, May 23, 2022 The William Still Family Interpretive Center and Historic Site Caroline...
Help us preserve the 1802 Tuckahoe Neck Quaker Meetinghouse
Donate to save the Meetinghouse. It takes just a minute.The Tuckahoe Neck Quaker Meetinghouse was built in 1802. The building was later used by the "Dunkards" as a place of worship and a school. The Committee for the Preservation of the Tuckahoe Neck Quaker...
Underground Railroad House (c. 1820) to be Available to the Public
The Society documented the dwelling in 2005 for the National Park Service as the only surviving UGRR station house on the Eastern Shore. It was then placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The UGRR network that operated here was run by Quakers and free...
Gadow Dwelling (c. 1851) Being Restored
Despite living his life in the local Long Depression (1819-1895), Jesse Hubbard (c. 1811-1879) was determined to erect for his wife and nine children a fine house in the Greek Revival style of architecture, a style then prevalent in the Deep South and other prosperous...
Rebecca Tylor Dwelling (c. 1810) Rescued
Despite being a widow with seven children, Rebecca Tylor (1823–1884) was indomitable in addressing local ills: She educated free and enslaved blacks, sought fair treatment for county “Poor House” inmates, demanded equal rights for women, advocated prohibition, took in...
1927 Firehouse Being Exposed and Repurposed
The 1927 Denton Firehouse was the epitome of the bygone era of a true "community project". This photo c. 1927 shows original truck doors to be reinstalled and façade to be restored. The original was doubled in size by an addition in 1954. In the 1970’s, when a new...
Site of Barwick’s Inn (1775) Studied
Thee location of Barwick’s Tavern (c. 1775–c. 1790) was part of a colonial commercial cluster of now-vanished buildings that once included a government-mandated tobacco warehouse, a "jail", a ferry crossing and several buildings that all predated 1747. The site is...
James H. Webb Cabin Restored
James Webb, a free African-American farmer, built this hand-hewn log home in 1852. He lived here with his enslaved wife, Mary Ann, and their four children, Charles, Elizabeth, John and Ann, and Webb’s father, Henry. The Webbs were members of Mount Pleasant Church....
Ridgely Train Depot (ca. 1892) Restored
With its broad Victorian porches stripped away and surviving interior woodwork behind cheap wallboard and 1970s partitions, the 1892 depot was recommended by town staff in 2008 as a site for public toilets. As an alternative, the Society prepared concept plans for...
Miller’s Dwelling (c. 1873) Improved
Below the cat-urine-soaked floorboards were termite-riddled floor joists and sill plates, all requiring very costly reconstruction. The dwelling also lacked a septic system, approved well and modern electric service. Immediately after our purchase a decade ago, the...
Hear All of Our Stories
Historic Black Schools since 1870. Eight are still standing.
Through 90 years of racial segregation and funding disparity, black schools in Caroline County were sacred ground in the fight for literacy, democracy, and civil rights.
Eight are still there.
Stand in the Place.
Dickinson’s Mill
Ruins of a mill dam survived on Fowling Creek Branch on Wiltshire Manor and have been identified as either a Blades Mill or Dickinsons Mill by Mrs. Clara Mitchell of Preston, October 17, 1967. This land at Grove near Preston had been owned by Henry Dickinson and several generations of Isaiah Blades heirs. Read more…
Denton Flour Mill
History and Location of Denton Flour MillOther Names: Smith Mill. Redden Sawmill, which possibly replaced the M.F. Allaband Steam Sawmill at this site. Years: 1886 - 1897 Structure Exists? No Historic Site Location Precision: 30 metersThe 1875 Isler map of Caroline...
T. L. Day Sawmill
History and Location of T. L. Day SawmillOther Names: J. W. Jump and Co. Years: 1875 - 1888 Structure Exists? No Historic Site Location Precision: 50 metersThe following text is extracted from John F. McGrain, The Molinography of Maryland, Expanded, 2007 Edition for...
Douglas Sawmill
History and Location of Douglas MillOther Names: Dickinson's Mill Years: 1860 - 1885 Structure Exists? No Historic Site Location Precision: 50 metersThe following text is extracted from John F. McGrain, The Molinography of Maryland, Expanded, 2007 Edition for...
Davis Sawmill
History and Location of Davis SawmillOther Names: None Years: 1877 - 1880 Structure Exists? No Historic Site Location Precision: 100 metersThe following text is extracted from John F. McGrain, The Molinography of Maryland, Expanded, 2007 Edition for Posting Online...
Casho Sawmill
History and Location of Casho SawmillOther Names: Casho's Mills Years: 1875 - 1897 Structure Exists? No Historic Site Location Precision: 50 metersThe following text is extracted from John F. McGrain, The Molinography of Maryland, Expanded, 2007 Edition for Posting...
Daniel Horsey’s Sawmill
History and Location of Horsey's SawmillOther Names: Camp Todd Sawmill (LeGrain), Chaffinch Sawmill Years: 1875 Structure Exists? No Historic Site Location Precision: 100 metersThe following text is extracted from John F. McGrain, The Molinography of Maryland,...
Driver’s Grist Mill and Sawmill
History and Location of Driver's MillOther Names: Garey's Mill, Spring Mill, Spring, Mills, Driver's Grist Mill, Driver's Sawmill Mill Years: 1769 - 1902 Structure Exists? No Historic Site Location Precision: 50 metersThe following text is extracted from John F....
Brown Mill
History and Location of Brown MillOther Names: John W. Brown’s Flour Mill, John W. Brown’s Flour Mill, J. W. Brown Mill Years: `1860 - 1890 Structure Exists? No Historic Site Location Precision: 100 metersThe following text is extracted from John F. McGrain, The...
Boyce Sawmill
History and Location of Boyce SawmillOther Names: J. Hutson Sawmill Years: 1875 - 1897 Structure Exists? No Historic Site Location Precision: 50 metersThe following text is extracted from John F. McGrain, The Molinography of Maryland, Expanded, 2007 Edition for...
Anthony’s Mill
History and Location of Anthony's MillOther Names: Possibly Pearson's Mill Years: 1792 - 1915 Structure Exists? No Location Precision: 50 metersThe following text is extracted from John F. McGrain, The Molinography of Maryland, Expanded, 2007 Edition for Posting...
Andrew Mill
History and Location of Andrew MillOther Names: Blades Mill, Deen's Mill, Dean's Mill, Fowling Creek Mill, Dawson and Co. Mill, Harmony Mill, Nagel Mill. Years: 1782 - 1940 Structure Exists? No Location Precision: 100 metersThe following text is extracted from John...
Andersontown Mill
History and Location of Andersontown MillOther Names: Pool's Mills, Booth Sawmill Years: 1875-1897 Structure Exists? No Location Precision: 50 metersThe following text is extracted from John F. McGrain, The Molinography of Maryland, Expanded, 2007 Edition for...
Allcock Sawmill
History and Location of Allcock Sawmill Other Names: Allacock Sawmill, Alcock Sawmill, Alcocks Saw Mill Years: 1739-1897 Structure Exists? No Location Precision: 100 meters Burtonwood Allacock sold half a sawmill on Fowling Creek to Joseph Allford, November 14,...
M.F. Allaband Steam Sawmill
History and Location of Allaband Steam SawmillOther Names: None Years: 1875 - 1887 Structure Exists? No Location Precision: 10 meters M. F. Allaband was listed as a sawmiller at Denton in the 1887 State business directory. (John J. McGrain, Caroline County...
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...
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...
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...