by Kennedy Thomason | Sep 9, 2024 | 20th Century, Age of Sail, Age of Steam, Colonial Era, Kennedy Thomason Project, Maritime, Mills, Preservation, The River is the Center by Kennedy Thomason, West Denton
From the blowing sails of schooners in the 1700s to the steady hum of steamboats in the 1800s, the Choptank River has been a silent witness to the evolution of vessels that carried not just goods and passengers, but also the dreams and aspirations of those who lived...
by Don Barker | Jan 29, 2024 | 20th Century, Age of Sail, Everyday Citizens, George Swartz, West Denton
Life in West Denton in the 1920s, on Choptank River, Caroline County, Maryland Below is text from “Chapter Three – Activities Along the River” of Bridges To My Maturity, Delightful Memories of What It was Like to be a Young Lad in the 1920s Along...
by Don Barker | Jan 29, 2024 | 20th Century, Age of Sail, Age of Steam, Everyday Citizens, George Swartz, West Denton
Life in West Denton in the 1920s, on Choptank River, Caroline County, Maryland Below is text from “Chapter Three – Activities Along the River” of Bridges To My Maturity, Delightful Memories of What It was Like to be a Young Lad in the 1920s Along...
by Don Barker | Aug 7, 2019 | Age of Sail, dbarker, Maritime
Stand in the Place: The Age of Sail returns to Denton and the upper Choptank River Sailing the Choptank was never easy. Even so, schooners, bugeyes, pungies, and skipjacks tied up at Denton from the 1700s till the 1930s. Now you too can sail with us from Denton down...
by Don Barker | Sep 23, 2018 | 20th Century, Age of Sail, dbarker
The skipjack Flora A. Price was built at Chase, Maryland, in 1910. She was one of the largest skipjacks ever built. Flora dredged Chesapeake oysters for 70 years. [See hundreds of photos and historic documents here.] Flora sailed as a yacht in the 1980s. [See...
by Don Barker | Dec 26, 2016 | Age of Sail, Age of Steam, dbarker, Everyday Citizens
Caleb Clark Wheeler of Gilpin Point Caleb Clark Wheeler was born in 1839 at Gilpin Point in Caroline County. At age 12 he began work as a cook on a sailing schooner that shipped goods and passengers between the Choptank and Baltimore. By age 18, he was a schooner...
by Don Barker | Aug 10, 2014 | 20th Century, Age of Sail, Everyday Citizens, George Swartz, West Denton
Life in West Denton in the 1920s, on Choptank River, Caroline County, Maryland USGS Topo, Denton Quadrangle, 1944 From chapter 3 of Bridges To My Maturity, Delightful Memories of What It was Like to be a Young Lad in the 1920s Along the Choptank River on the Eastern...
by Don Barker | Mar 30, 2014 | 20th Century, Age of Sail, dbarker
I know, I know . . . She still shows up in the Registry of National Historic Landmarks. But I tell you, Joe, Maggie Lee died ten years ago in West Denton! I have photos to prove it. The Chesapeake Bay skipjack Maggie Lee is listed in the Registry of National...
by Don Barker | Mar 11, 2014 | Age of Sail, dbarker
On MD 404 heading east to Rehoboth, near Denton you slow down for the speed trap then speed up again at the Choptank River bridge. You look downriver toward Denton and see five pleasure boats on the water, each well cargoed with human freight. One is laden heavily...
