Oxford in Talbot County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Remembering Ancestors: The Middle Passage in Oxford, Maryland
Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project
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Photographed by Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project
1. Remembering Ancestors: The Middle Passage in Oxford, Maryland Marker
Oxford is a documented Middle Passage port on Marylands Eastern Shore. As a major maritime tobacco sea port during the colonial period, there were four Transatlantic ships and twenty-five Intra-American voyages that delivered captive Africans to Oxford and local plantations. The Two Sisters were the first Middle Passage ship to arrive in Oxford on August 29, 1763. Talbot Countys Jeremiah Banning captained the ship, leaving a diary with vivid accounts of his journey to Senegal where he met the King and transported his court to the island of Gorιe. The last known documented Middle Passage ship docked on August 11, 1772. The last Intra-American ship, The Experiment, whose owners were from the Eastern Shore and among Americas founding families, arrived on July 4, 1772.
Over the centuries, these enslaved Africans and their descendants made possible the agricultural and maritime commercial development of the region, with special emphasis on the oyster and ship-building industries. It remained a shipping and seafood center predominated by black watermen until the 20th century. Ancestors of many of Marylands founding
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Born in Oxford, Maryland, in 1910, Morgan State University Professor Water Edward Turpin was a person of color with deep roots on the Eastern Shore. In his final novel, The Rootless (1957), he shares vivid images of Middle Passage disembarkations handed down through oral histories.
The Waters Edge Museum seeks to empower the young people of today to find their place in history and identify their own positive and unique voice when facing contemporary issues and challenges. Our mission is to celebrate how people of color on the Eastern Shore lived and how their lives mattered.
Erected 2021 by Water's Edge Museum.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Colonial Era • Industry & Commerce • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical date for this entry is July 4, 1772.
Location. 38° 41.567′ N, 76° 10.233′ W. Marker is in Oxford, Maryland, in Talbot County. It is on Mill Street north of Tilghman Street, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 101 Mill Street, Cambridge MD 21613, 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, in the Chesapeake Bay Region, and on the Eastern Seaboard. 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: Oxford Wharf (approx. 0.2 miles away); The Robert Morris Inn (approx. 0.2 miles away); Liberty Tree Memorial (approx. 0.2 miles away); Oxford-Bellevue Ferry (approx. 0.2 miles away); 1668-1710: Oxford's Beginnings (approx. Ό mile away); Before There Was an Oxford (approx. Ό mile away); 1812-1865: Rebuilding (approx. Ό mile away); 1900-1950: Holding On (approx. Ό mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Oxford.
Additional keywords. Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project; Middle Passage; human trafficking; UNESCO Routes of Enslaved Peoples (Slave Route Project); Trans-Atlantic Trade; UNESCO Site of Memory; International Coalition Site of Conscience
Credits. This page was last revised on April 27, 2026. It was originally submitted on September 24, 2023, by Kaycee Hailey of Charlotte, North Carolina. This page has been viewed 674 times since then and 96 times this year. Last updated on April 27, 2026, by Kaycee Hailey of Charlotte, North Carolina. Photo 1. submitted on September 24, 2023, by Kaycee Hailey of Charlotte, North Carolina. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
Editor’s want-list for this marker. A clearer photo of the marker. • Photo of the marker in context. • Can you help?
