Prince Frederick is the county seat for Calvert County
Solomons is in Calvert County
Calvert County(153) ► ADJACENT TO CALVERT COUNTY Anne Arundel County(468) ► Charles County(150) ► Dorchester County(148) ► Prince George's County(644) ► St. Mary's County(297) ► Talbot County(131) ►
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Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
Scoot was built in 1989 by Winslow Womack of St. Michaels, Maryland. Her design is based on plans by Howard I. Chapelle for a 20-foot Chesapeake "sharpie," a craft with a double-ended hull and a shallow, V-shaped bottom. The boat is similar . . . — — Map (db m138601) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) just south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
Spirit was designed and built by Ernest H. "Dick" Hartge at Eustis, Florida, in 1976. Dick Hartge was originally from Galesville, Maryland, where he built many of the well-known Chesapeake 20s. Spirit resembles a Chesapeake 20 but with . . . — — Map (db m138599) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South just south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
This land-locked "boat" was built over 2011-12 in the form of a scaled-down classic Chesapeake bugeye. The two-masted bugeye was originally developed in the 19th century for oyster harvesting. Solomons built more bugeyes than anywhere else on the . . . — — Map (db m138564) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) at Thomas Johnson Road when traveling north.
Five thousand pound anchor from the USS Valcour, a seaplane tender and a research vessel. Vessel was stripped for salvage at the U.S. Navy Ordinance Testing Station at Solomons in 1976. Anchor was originally aboard USS Portsmouth . . . — — Map (db m138562) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) just south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
Iron anchor from round stern, gaffed-rigged bugeye Catherine. The anchor was found in the Chesapeake Bay off Dares Beach and recovered by Capt. Martin O'Berry. The Catherine was built by M. M. Davis in Solomons in 1911 and owned by . . . — — Map (db m138563) HM
The point to the north protruding into the river is appropriately called “Point Patience” as it was difficult to maneuver around in the era of sail. The south side of the point provided good anchorage, visibility, protection from other . . . — — Map (db m81121) HM
On Charles Street just east of Williams Street, on the right when traveling east.
Built in 1924 by Clarence Davis as a general store operated by Gus, Sam and Hyman Becker; later converted to a laundromat. Acquired by CBL in 2000. — — Map (db m138618) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) just south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
This flat-bottom crabbing skiff was built around 1920 by Harry Benning at Galesville, Maryland. A Clinton air-cooled engine was installed in the 1930s, but the former sail rig was retained. She is currently outfitted for trotlining. A trotline . . . — — Map (db m138575) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) just south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
John A. Ryder represents the most common type of Chesapeake Bay workboat, with its V-bottom and flat box-stern. These gradually replaced earlier powerboats like the adjacent Penguin.John A. Ryder was built in 1944 as the . . . — — Map (db m138589) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) just south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
"The Chesapeake Bay has been known from the earliest times for the speed and beauty of its vessels" — Henry Hall, 1884
For centuries, wooden boats served as the primary means of transportation and communication, and chief tool . . . — — Map (db m138566) HM
On Solomons Island Road (Maryland Route 2) at Lore Road, on the right when traveling south on Solomons Island Road.
Established as Patuxent County in 1654, it was given Lord Baltimores family name in 1658. Now the state's smallest county, it once encompassed most of Prince Georges County and parts of Anne Arundel and St. Marys counties. A narrow peninsula with . . . — — Map (db m3416) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) just south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling north.
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Like all Chesapeake skipjacks, the Dee of St. Mary's has a shallow draft to negotiate the waters along the shorelines and a wide bottom for stability. She is constructed mostly of white oak and spruce pine.
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
Rail skiffs were used almost exclusively for hunting rail birds in season in the early autumn. The marshes of the upper Patuxent River were once one of the most well known hunting grounds in the mid-Atlantic region. In use, a gunner stood in front, . . . — — Map (db m138595) HM
On Farren Avenue, 0.1 miles south of Charles Street (Maryland Route 2), on the right when traveling south.
Founded by R.V. Truitt, 1925. Sponsored by Maryland Conservation Department since 1931, in cooperation with Carnegie Institution, Johns Hopkins and Maryland universities, Goucher, St. John's, Washington, and Western Maryland colleges "to afford a . . . — — Map (db m3456) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) just south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
During the early colonial period, boatbuilders were in short supply. As most settlements were built along the Chesapeake's rivers and creeks, there was a great need for small boats of any kind. Colonists, using metal-edged tools, were able to refine . . . — — Map (db m138584) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
In 1940, noted maritime historian Howard I. Chapelle documented a small flat-bottom, double-ended crab skiff at Deal Island, Maryland. This was one of the many varieties of Chesapeake crab skiffs noted by Chapelle in two articles written for . . . — — Map (db m138591) HM
On Solomons Island Road (Maryland Route 2) 0.1 miles south of Lore Road, on the left when traveling south.
This lighthouse, installed in 1883, originally stood 125 yards offshore at the entrance of the Patuxent River to the Chesapeake Bay. The foundation on which the cottage living quarters rest consist of seven wrought iron screw piles, hand bored into . . . — — Map (db m3457) HM
On Solomons Island Road, South. Reported permanently removed.
"The necessity of a light at this point is very great, as all vessels bound up or down the Chesapeake put in at this place during the winter to seek protection from floating ice; and as the entrance is formed by a low sand spit, . . . — — Map (db m60232) HM
British warships blockaded the mouth of the Patuxent River after the Chesapeake Flotilla and Royal Navy skirmished off Cedar Point to the south June 1, 1814. Drum Point to the north served as a major British anchorage. The British made mischief in . . . — — Map (db m81120) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) just south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
Shamrock was built around 1908 near Poquoson, Virginia. She has the dimensions of a sailing "brogan," a predecessor to the larger bugeye, but was probably designed as a powerboat. By the time of her construction, few large log-hulled boats . . . — — Map (db m138587) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
Penguin represents a once-numerous class of V-bottom boats known as Hooper Island launches, draketails, ducktails, or torpedo-sterns. Many were built on Hooper Island, Maryland, in the 1920s and 1930s; hence the name. The launches were . . . — — Map (db m138592) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
Flat-bottom skiffs offer the advantage of simple design and low cost construction. This skiff was built around 1928 by Harry Humphreys of Rousby Hall, Maryland, a carpenter at M. M. Davis & Son shipyard, who intended it for local transportation and . . . — — Map (db m138568) HM
On Solomons Island Road (Maryland Route 2) 0.6 miles south of Lore Road, on the left when traveling south.
Joseph C. Lore, Sr., began shipping seafood from Solomons Island in 1888 and established a packing house at this site in 1912. Three generations of Lore family packed and shipped Patuxent River oysters, crabs and fish until 1978. Present building . . . — — Map (db m3459) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) just south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling north.
Geda is a scaled-down version of a wide V-bottom boat once commonly found in the area of Tangier Sound. The boat was built by Leon Marsh of Rodes Point, Smith Island, Maryland, around 1955, but has its origins in earlier sailing crab scrapes. . . . — — Map (db m138576) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) just south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
A jolly boat is a general purpose ship's boat usually carried about deck or on stern davits. This example was formerly carried by the 75-foot gasoline launch Chicago, built in 1916 by the St. Louis Boat Co. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. . . . — — Map (db m138578) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
Traditionally, Chesapeake V-bottom sailing craft were commonly referred to as "bateaux," a term not much used today. This bateau was built by Capt. Ed Leatherbury (1863 - 1952) of Shadyside, Maryland, in the early 1900s and was used as part of his . . . — — Map (db m138582) HM
On Solomons Island Road (Maryland Route 2) 0.7 miles south of Lore Road, on the left when traveling south.
1885 Marcellus M. Davis established his shipyard at this location, in 1913 the yard was moved to larger quarters across the harbor on Mill Creek. During the 1930s, Davis yard produced many outstanding wooden yachts which brought international fame . . . — — Map (db m3460) HM
On Williams Street just south of Charles Street, on the right when traveling south.
Built in 1980 and dedicated in 1992 to honor Dr. Romeo Mansueti (1923-1964), a former CBL fishery scientist, naturalist, and biological illustrator.
This building is home to CBL's administrative offices. Housed within are the . . . — — Map (db m138619) HM
Gift: Gorman A. Buckler CMM74.521
Set of cast iron gears formerly used to operate the marine railway at M.M. Davis and Son shipyard on Mill Creek, Solomons, Maryland: The gears were originally powered by steam and later converted to electricity. A . . . — — Map (db m60231) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Route 2) just south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
Terror reigned along the Patuxent River in 1814. British invaders plundered and burned towns and plantations on both sides of the river. Menacing warships within view on Somervells Island (present-day Solomons) blockaded the rivers mouth, cutting . . . — — Map (db m81097) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) just south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
This large, flat-bottom, oyster-tonging skiff was built by Ruby Dixon at Olivet, Maryland, in 1948. From 1959 until its donation in 1990, the skiff was owned by Melvin Owen Grover who used her to hand-tong for oysters in the Patuxent River. The boat . . . — — Map (db m138580) HM
On Charles Street west of Farren Avenue, on the left when traveling west.
Built in 1954. After acquisition by CBL in 1991, it was named after the Solomons Episcopal Rectory and Parish House formerly occupying the site part of which had been used by CBL founder Dr. R. V. Truitt as a research laboratory. . . . — — Map (db m138620) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
In 1939, the M.M. Davis shipyard of Solomons built a fleet of a wood pedal-powered pontoon boats called the Ped-L-Craft for the Pedal Boat Company of America. The Ped-L-Craft consists of a stable platform mounted on two pontoons and propelled by one . . . — — Map (db m138603) HM
Southern Maryland was a dangerous place to live in the hot summer of 1814. British raiding parties traveled the Patuxent River and swept through the countryside terrorizing civilians and taking provisions for British troops gathering in the area. . . . — — Map (db m81096) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) just south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
The hull fragment from an unidentified bugeye was recovered from the Magothy River in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The fragment forms part of the bottom of a seven- or nine-log bugeye of early vintage. Clearly evident is the slot in the center log . . . — — Map (db m138588) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) just south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
Potomac River dory boats were one of the few V-bottom workboats built on the Chesapeake that were planked fore-and-aft on the bottom, rather than cross-planked. This type was developed on the Potomac River in the later 1800s for oystering under . . . — — Map (db m138581) HM
On Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
This nineteen-foot oystering and crabbing boat was built in 1983 by Francis Goddard of Piney Point, Maryland. Although of relatively recent origin, her design is traditional and she is one of the last of her type to be built in Southern Maryland. . . . — — Map (db m138602) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
Dugout log canoes were used (and still are used) by many primitive societies throughout much of the world. The first colonists to the Chesapeake found the local Indian using the dugouts for transportation and fishing. A suitable tree trunk was . . . — — Map (db m138583) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
Ernest H. "Dick" Hartge started building boats at Galesville, on the West River in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, in the 1920s. He later acquired a fleet of hire boats built and formerly owned by Ed Leatherbury of nearby Shadyside. Hartge moved to . . . — — Map (db m138600) HM
On Charles Street just east of Williams Street, on the left when traveling east.
Built in the early 1890s as a general store and ice cream parlor run by Thomas and Bertie Saunders. In the 1930s it became a gathering place for local watermen. Acquired by CBL in 1994. — — Map (db m138617) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
This 36-foot powerboat is a local type usually described as a Hooper Island "draketail" or "ducktail." It was developed in the early years of the twentieth century and known for its sleek lines and round, reverse-rake stern.
Built at Broomes . . . — — Map (db m138597) HM
On Farren Avenue, 0.1 miles north of Charles Street when traveling north.
The oldest structure in Solomons, dating from ca. 1780. Isaac Solomon, the island's namesake, lived here after he bought the island in 1865, establishing the first oyster cannery on the Patuxent River. Acquired by CBL in 1994. — — Map (db m138621) HM
Originally called Bourne's (1680), then Somervell's Island (1740). It became known as Solomon's Island (1867) because of Isaac Solomon's oyster packing facilities here. Shipyards developed to support the island's fishing fleet. The famed "bugeye" . . . — — Map (db m8929) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
The Ark of Hungerford Creek has its origin thousands of miles away in Stettin, Germany, with the construction in 1906 of passenger liner Kronprinzessin Cecilie for the North German Lloyd company. After a number of transatlantic voyages the . . . — — Map (db m138614) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) just south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
Screwpile lighthouses like Drum Point get their name from the pilings which were screwed into the seabed to support the lighthouse structure. This cast-iron auger and attached section of wrought-iron pile were recovered from the original site of . . . — — Map (db m138609) HM
On Solomons Road (Maryland Route 2) 0.1 miles south of Alexander Lane, on the right when traveling south.
The first frame bugeye, the Carrie, was built on Solomons Island in 1870. The bugeye was a Chesapeake Bay work boat. It was used in the oystering industry for hauling freight. The bugeye is a symbol of the Chesapeake Bay Heritage of Solomons . . . — — Map (db m138615) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
This flagpole is reputedly made from the mast of the sailing brogan James Aubrey. The mast was removed when the vessel was converted to power and used to transport students to the Solomons School from 1925 to 1935. The Solomons School is now . . . — — Map (db m138611) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
The three-log canoe such as this was the classic oystering tonging boat of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Watermen used long-handled tongs, in a scissors-like fashion, to scoop oysters from the shallower waters of the bay and . . . — — Map (db m138586) HM
Bar Dog got its name from the oyster toadfish, called "bar dogs" by watermen. This is a rare two-log canoe, built in Virginia around 1870. At some point, the canoe was converted from sail to power. It had a Palmer Bros. marine engine when it . . . — — Map (db m138585) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) just south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
This shed was built ca. 1900 at Otterpoint, Patuxent River. Orrie Laveille lived in this shed during the oyster season, from which he oystered on the Patuxent River. The shed was moved by barge around 1910 to Tongue Cove, Helen Creek by the Tongue . . . — — Map (db m138612) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) just south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
"The necessity of a light at this point is very great, as all vessels bound up or down the Chesapeake put in at this place during the winter to seek protection from floating ice; and as the entrance is formed by a low sand spit, which . . . — — Map (db m138607) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
Luther E. Whittington built this rail skiff in 1926 for Clifton O. Whittington, who started as a professional "pusher" of rail skiffs on the Patuxent River in 1923. In the marshes, boats were pushed using a long push pole. Two oak paddles were also . . . — — Map (db m138596) HM
Wm. B. Tennison was built in 1899 by Frank Laird at Crab Island near Oriole, Maryland. Her hull is constructed in traditional Chesapeake log canoe fashion-nine large pine logs. Hollowed out and fastened together. She was built as a two-mastered . . . — — Map (db m60233) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
Wm. B. Tennison was built in 1899 by Frank Laird at Crab Island near Oriole, Maryland. Her hull is constructed in traditional Chesapeake log canoe fashion — nine large pine logs, hollowed out and fastened together. She was built as a . . . — — Map (db m138608) HM
Near Solomons Island Road South (Maryland Route 2) south of Thomas Johnson Road, on the left when traveling south.
Chesapeake Bay sailing vessels typically carried a small boat, commonly referred to as a "yawl boat." This was used to help maneuver in and out of harbors, or other restricted waters, or when the wind dropped. This yawl boat was built in Deltaville, . . . — — Map (db m138594) HM
