Historical Markers and War Memorials in Chestertown, Maryland
Chestertown is the county seat for Kent County
Chestertown is in Kent County
Kent County(101) ► ADJACENT TO KENT COUNTY Anne Arundel County(474) ► Baltimore County(336) ► Cecil County(184) ► Harford County(204) ► Queen Anne's County(113) ► Kent County, Delaware(266) ► New Castle County, Delaware(835) ►
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Establishing a county government is the first step for people building a stable community and a strong trade economy.
The first Kent County Courthouse was located at New Yarmouth, a 17th-century settlement abandoned when county lines were . . . — — Map (db m186650) HM
When four British barges entered Worton Creek in July 1814, local militia sprang into action. They ambushed the barges and forced them out of the creek. The Americans claimed they killed about 15 of the 20 enemy soldiers without losing any of their . . . — — Map (db m80623) HM
Kent County braced for the return of the British in August 1814. Enemy raiders had destroyed nearby Georgetown the previous year while terrorizing Maryland's Eastern Shore. Now they were back in an attempt to divert attention from their main . . . — — Map (db m186648) HM
During the Civil War, Baltimore and its environs exemplified the divided loyalties of Maryland’s residents. The city had commercial ties to the South as well as the North, and its secessionist sympathies erupted in violence on April 19, 1861, . . . — — Map (db m190078) HM
Building built in 1883 by Thomas S. Bordley as a two-story men’s haberdashery. Gutted by fire in 1910. Rebuilt in 1911. Owned and operated as a men’s store by Carl and Ruth Bordley 1922-1950. Now rented by the Bordley family. — — Map (db m6157) HM
You are looking at a rare survivor—a building that embodies the radical social change brought on by the Civil War. In 1882, 28 African American veterans of the United States Colored Troops (USCT) chartered the Charles Sumner Post #25, Grand Army . . . — — Map (db m199235) HM
African American Civil War veterans constructed this meeting hall for Charles Sumner Post No. 25, Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) in 1908. The hall is one of only two known to survive that were built for soldiers who served in . . . — — Map (db m156672) HM
Chestertown Historic District has been designated a Registered National Historic Landmark under the provision of the Historic Site Act of August 21, 1935. This site possesses exceptional value in commemorating or illustrating the history of the . . . — — Map (db m69840) HM WM
In remembrance of the people who built and nurtured Chestertown for 300 years including those who worked land and river and those in trade professions, and religious leaders who inspired the essential being and spirit of our town. From their . . . — — Map (db m69844) HM
County seat of Kent County. Established in 1706. Situated on the most traveled highway between south and north during the revolutionary period. George Washington made eight known visits here between 1756 and 1793. Rich in Colonial History. — — Map (db m3059) HM
Erected by James A. Pearce June 1917 in commemoration of the patriotism and valor of a once divided but now reunited county. To the soldiers of Kent in the Confederate Army 1861-1865
Captain William I. Rasin; Macall M. Rasin; George T. . . . — — Map (db m62822) HM
The last remaining one-room schoolhouse in Kent County. Erected in 1878 to serve a watermen's and farming community and was so used continuously until 1939. One teacher taught seven grades and as many as 46 students. — — Map (db m40195) HM
The people of Chestertown---a commercial center connected to international trade---generally opposed going to war with Great Britain. Yet when war came, most supported the American effort. Chestertown sent many distinguished fighters to battle.
The . . . — — Map (db m80629) HM
From this point
on
May 23, 1774
a group of Chestertown citizens
undisguised and in broad daylight
boarded the brigantine
Geddes
and threw its cargo of tea
into the
Chester River. — — Map (db m3060) HM
George Vickers was born in Chestertown in 1801. He opposed secession in 1861. Assisted Governor Hicks to raise an Eastern Shore Regiment and attained the rank of Major General of Militia. In the trial of President Johnson, Senator Vickers voted for . . . — — Map (db m3049) HM
Benefactor of Washington College
Member of the
Board of Visitors and Governors
1784-1789
Honorary Degree Recipient 1789
A gift from the Class of 2000
in commemoration of the
Bicentennial of
George Washington's death . . . — — Map (db m138233) HM
History
1845…The first Chestertown Fire Company was owned and maintained by the Mutual Fire Insurance Company. They paid $1,000 for a hand pumper in 1878 that was built in 1804 by Philip Mason, in Philadelphia. In . . . — — Map (db m199225) HM
In Memory of more than 400 prominent United States Colored Troops from Kent County, Maryland who bravely displayed extraordinary acts of heroism as they faithfully served their country with courage & honor in an attempt to gain freedom & equality in . . . — — Map (db m5414) HM
John Leeds Barroll first walked these courthouse grounds as a prominent Kent County lawyer before becoming a newspaper publisher. He was admitted to the bar in 1852 and served as the county State’s Attorney, 1854–1856, then founded the Kent . . . — — Map (db m186649) HM
On this site stood the courthouse built in 1707 which was burned and repaired in 1720. A new building was erected in 1860 and remodeled in 1937. — — Map (db m3065) HM
The Chestertown waterfront seems quiet today, but it was a flashpoint in the American colonists' struggle for liberty.
Kent County, long loyal to England, found its ancestral ties weakening with each new generation born on American soil. . . . — — Map (db m138241) HM
In colonial times, Chestertown was designated the primary port of entry for the upper Eastern shore.
Bustling wharves lined the waterfront, where laborers loaded ships with local crops bound for Europe and the Caribbean. Vessels from . . . — — Map (db m138239) HM
Early September 3, 1814, at Mitchell House, British raiders roused Joseph T. Mitchell and his wife from their bed, shot their horses, and abducted Mitchell. They believed he ws commissary general for all of Maryland.
His was a lesser job as . . . — — Map (db m80628) HM
At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, George Vickers opposed secession and used his influence to keep Maryland in the Union. He became a major general of the 2nd Division, Maryland Militia, and helped form the 2nd Regiment Eastern Shore . . . — — Map (db m156850) HM
At 7:40 a.m. on the morning of December 9, 2015, the sound of the first firing up of a chain saw was heard around the parking lot of St. Paul's Parish, Kent. It was time to begin the felling of the 400-year-old United States Champion Swamp Chestnut . . . — — Map (db m224326) HM
In Honor of
James Alfred Pearce
Born 1840 -- Died 1920
Distinguished Citizen - Eminent Jurist
Christian Gentleman
Chief Judge of Second Judicial Circuit
Member Court of Appeals of Maryland 1897 - 1912
Erected August 1, . . . — — Map (db m62849) HM
Here stood
The Kent County Free School
authorized and established
by act of
Council and Assembly of Maryland
September 26, 1728
This became Washington College
October 15, 1782 — — Map (db m138234) HM
In 1945 former U. S. Army Sergeant Charlie Graves built a multi-enterprise operation on this site that featured a night club boasting top-notch décor, a restaurant, bar, billiards hall, and a package store. Ten years later in 1955, Charlie . . . — — Map (db m208435) HM
This Monument honors • the area Veterans • who have sacrificed • for their country.
World War I 1917–1918 • World War II 1941–1945 • Korean War 1950–1953 • Vietnam War 1964–1973. — — Map (db m3063) WM
Welcome to Kent County! The Civil War intruded into quiet Eastern Shore communities, and residents of this beautiful, water-laced region faced difficult choices.
In the years before the war, enslaved African Americans from the Eastern Shore . . . — — Map (db m190079) HM
George Washington gave to its founding, granted use of his name and served on the Board of Visitors and Governors. He attended public exercises here, 1784, and received degree of Doctor of Laws in 1789. — — Map (db m3053) HM
From the year 1642 until the end of the Civil War in 1865, slavery prevailed in Maryland. During that period, this harbor is where human beings captured from Africa were enslaved and transported to be bought and sold for the profit of free labor. . . . — — Map (db m208428) HM
In June 1917, Judge James A. Pearce commemorated the Civil War soldiers of Kent County by erecting a monument to honor the patriotism and valor of a once divided, but now reunited country. The rough-cut and polished granite monument behind you . . . — — Map (db m186803) HM
Home of
Thomas Smyth, Sr. 1730-1819
Member of the
Maryland Council of Safety 1775-1776,
Commissary of Troops Kent County 1777.
His shipyard built the Maryland Navy
Galley "Chester", launched 1777. — — Map (db m138238) HM
“Swish”
Philadelphia A.L., 1936
Chicago N.L., 1939–1948
Philadelphia N.L., 1948–1953
Born Chestertown, Kent County, Eastern Shore of Maryland, 1914. Graduate of Washington College 1936. Feared and respected . . . — — Map (db m3058) HM