Stevensville, Maryland - Helpful Information and Resources
Facts:
Stevensville, MD is located on Kent Island which is the largest island in the Chesapeake Bay, and a historic place in Maryland. To the east, a narrow channel known as the Kent Narrows barely separates the island from the Delmarva Peninsula, and on the other side, the island is separated from Sandy Point, an area near Annapolis, by roughly four miles (6.4 km) of water. At only four miles wide, the main waterway of the bay is at its narrowest at this point and is spanned here by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The Chester River runs to the north of the island and empties into the Chesapeake Bay at Kent Island's Love Point. To the south of the island lies Eastern Bay.
Kent Island is part of Queen Anne's County, Maryland and Maryland's Eastern Shore region. The first English establishment on the island, Kent Fort, was founded in 1631, making Kent Island the oldest English settlement within the present day state of Maryland, and the third oldest permanent English settlement in the United States, after Jamestown, Virginia and Plymouth, Massachusetts.
The United States Census Bureau reports that the island has 31.62 square miles of land area. The census-designated places of Stevensville, and Chester are located on the island, along with several
other communities, including the fishing community of Kent Narrows, which is located partially on the island. Although all of Kent Island's communities are unincorporated, the census designated places of Stevensville and Chester on the island are both more populous than any of Queen Anne's County's incorporated towns.
History:
Prior to European colonization, the island was inhabited by the Matapeake tribe, members of the Algonquian nation who the Matapeake area of Kent Island is named after. Other tribes that inhabited the area and often visited the island included the Ozinie and Monoponson tribes, the latter of which share their name with the Algonquian name for the island, Monoponson.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, early explorers of the Chesapeake Bay, including Captain John Smith, were the first Europeans to see Kent Island; however, it wasn't until August 1631 that the island became an English settlement. At that time, William Claiborne, a resident of Jamestown, founded a settlement near the southern end of the island for the purpose of trading with Native Americans, and named the island after his birthplace of Kent, England.
Until the early 19th century, Kent Island was used almost entirely for farming of tobacco and corn, however that ended due to the depletion of nutrient rich soil as a result of the lack of crop rotation and poor farming practices. The island's economy went into decline while the soil recovered, with the exception of the port town of Broad Creek. This began to change around the time of the Industrial Revolution. In 1850, the town of Stevensville was founded after the sale of farms owned by James and Charles Stevens, and prospered as a major hub for steamboat travel across the Chesapeake Bay.
Notable People
William Claiborne - Founder of Kent Island
Theodore N. Lerner - Principal owner of the Washington Nationals
Brock Adams - United States Secretary of Transportation
|
Attractions
Kent Manor Inn
500 Kent Manor Drive
Stevensville, MD 21666
410-643-5757
Kent Fort Farm
135 Eastern Lane
Stevensville, MD 21666
410-643-1650
Kentmour Inn
910 Kentmorr Road
Stevensville, MD 21666
410-643-2263
|
Call Apter Remodeling at 410-295-9410 to schedule a
consultation for your next remodeling project.
Email Apter Remodeling: info@apterremodeling.com
|
|
