St. Michaels in Talbot County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
What's under your feet?
| | Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum | |
If you could drill down and pull up a sample, oyster shells would be up to 10 feet deep in some places. But that wasn't always the case. Two hundred years ago, you would have been standing on low marshy land. As industries like oyster shucking houses, a sawmill, cannery, and crab picking houses developed here at Navy Point, they needed more land to expand. How did they create it? By filling in the marsh and harbor with discarded oyster shells.
The area where the Crab Claw Restaurant stands was one of the first parts of Navy Point to be built up with oyster shells. Founded as the Eastern Shore Clam Company, the business shucked clams and oysters. Local waterman came in daily with their catch of oysters, clams, or crabs. In 1965, owners Bill and Sylvia Jones turned it into a restaurant, the same year CBMM was founded next door. A St. Michaels landmark, the restaurant is still owned by the Jones family.
[Captions:]
Shells from one of the oyster shucking houses are piled on the site where the Crab Claw Restaurant stands today. Photo by Thomas Sewell, c. 1907, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
The Crab Claw Restaurant was originally built over the Eastern Shore Clam Company. Photo courtesy of the Crab Claw, Inc., 1966.
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Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Animals • Industry & Commerce • Natural Resources. A significant historical year for this entry is 1965.
Location. 38° 47.235′ N, 76° 13.236′ W. Marker is in St. Michaels, Maryland, in Talbot County. It is at the intersection of Cherry Street and Burns Street, on the left when traveling east on Cherry Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 213 N Talbot St, Saint Michaels MD 21663, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is on the Eastern Shore. It is also in the American Mid-Atlantic, on the Delmarva Peninsula, in the Tidewater, and in the Chesapeake Bay Region. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies and also the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Deflecting the Enemy (here, next to this marker); War in the Chesapeake (here, next to this marker); Oystering on the Chesapeake (here, next to this marker); "O! say can you see " (here, next to this marker); Navy Point Historic Houses (a few steps from this marker); From Seafood Packing to Tourism (within shouting distance of this marker); Lost Overboard (within shouting distance of this marker); A Mighty Pull (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in St. Michaels.
Other markers no longer nearby. What's under your feet? (has been replaced with this marker); Freedom's Figurehead (was a few steps from this marker but has been permanently removed); a different marker also named
Credits. This page was last revised on October 6, 2025. It was originally submitted on October 6, 2025, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 45 times since then and 11 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 6, 2025, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
