The Caroline County Historical Society
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Visit the Museum of Rural Life
Saturdays 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. From March through November
For Special Tours, contact Robin Westre at 443-786-8204
Produced as part of SHINE grant awarded by
Maryland Humanities
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Our Featured Upcoming Event
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Caroline County Historical Society’s Upcoming Events
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See our Past Events here
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.
Courageous & Creative Women
Nettie Dean Carter, prominent 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.
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.
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.
Historic Buildings Preservation
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...
The Historic Landscape of Caroline County
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...
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...
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...
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...
Miscellaneous Commercial Enterprises
The Historic Landscape of Caroline CountyIn addition to general stores, shops, markets, and other mercantile establishments, we identified these miscellaneous enterprises in the Choptank River Heritage area: Banks Creameries Fish Hatcheries Fisheries Foundries Hotels...
Isler 1875 Map of Caroline County
We give you two ways to explore the 1875 John B. Isler map of Caroline County and compare it to the modern landscape:Spyglass ViewSwipe ViewIn each of these maps, click the icon in the upper left:Do you like what you're reading here? Please consider donating to our...
Mercantile Stores, Shops, and Markets
The Historic Landscape of Caroline CountyWe identified the locations of general stores, shops, markets, and other mercantile establishments in the Choptank River Heritage area primarily by georeferencing the 1875 Isler and 1897 Saulsbury maps of Caroline County. Below...
Civic Buildings and Sites
The Historic Landscape of Caroline CountyWe identified the locations of Almshouses, Courthouses, Jails, Fairgrounds, Grange and Ruritan Halls, and Tobacco Warehouses in the Choptank River Heritage area primarily by georeferencing the 1875 Isler and 1897 Saulsbury maps...
Cemeteries and Religious Campgrounds
The Historic Landscape of Caroline CountyWe identified the locations of cemeteries, family burial plots, and religious revival campgrounds in the Choptank River Heritage area primarily by georeferencing the 1875 Isler and 1897 Saulsbury maps of Caroline County In the...
Museum Exhibits
WWI - The Great War
Built for merchant-broker Solomon Brown in 1819 and later owned by the Taylors, an African American family. This house was moved twice by mule cart and survived the fire that leveled most of Denton on July 4, 1865, when balls of candlewick and kerosene were flung in celebration at a Civil War reconciliation picnic.
WWII - Lost Lives
In the Lost Lives exhibit, visitors will recognize the names Corregidor, Cuadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Normandy, Tripolis Мопtе Cassino, The Bulge, Guam, and others. Together with the Letters Home and Romance, our WWII exhibits give visitors compelling and straight-forward insight into how World War impacted Caroline County families.
Sea Stories
Caroline County captains, sailors, and shipbuilders in the Age of Sail and the Age of Steam.
FDR on the Denton Courthouse Green
FDR’s visit on Labor Day 1938 was more than just a big day for Denton. It was also a carefully planned and orchestrated event in FDR’s battle to secure the New Deal.
Taylor-Brown House
Built for merchant-broker Solomon Brown in 1819 and later owned by the Taylors, an African American family. This house was moved twice by mule cart and survived the fire that leveled most of Denton on July 4, 1865, when balls of candlewick and kerosene were flung in celebration at a Civil War reconciliation picnic.
Painter’s Range
One-room dwellings were so common at the end of the 18th century that they housed roughly 85% of the inhabitants of southern Delaware and the lower Shore. They became less popular by the mid 1800s. By the time the log dwelling was built on Painter’s Range about 1828, one-room houses in rural areas were associated with “subsistence farmers”; i.e., a family scratching out a living on fifteen to thirty acres.
Chance’s Desire
Typical home of a “middling planter,” circa 1787, Chance’s Desire was a classic hall-parlor dwelling in which there were two rooms aligned end to end on the ground floor with a fireplace at each gable end. Parlor room with large “chimney breast” with thirteen hand-carved raised panels over the fireplace. Overhead were decorative floor/ceiling joists carved from local poplar trees.
Skillington’s Right
Skillington’s Right was built circa 1795, home of the Fraziers, a wealthy planter family. Once said to be the finest specimen of colonial architecture on the upper Choptank. The area along the Great Choptank River between Skillington’s and Edmondson’s Creeks has long been known as “Frazier’s Neck.” It was first surveyed in 1663 for John Edmondson.
Our current Bylaws are available here:
CCHS Bylaws as of October 12, 2024