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48-508: The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is located in St. Michaels , Maryland , United States and is home to a collection of Chesapeake Bay artifacts , exhibitions , and vessels . This 18-acre (73,000 m) interactive museum was founded in 1965 on Navy Point, once a site of seafood packing houses, docks, and work boats. Today, the museum houses the world's largest collection of Chesapeake Bay boats and provides interactive exhibits in and around

96-494: A Lecture Series, Adult-Guided Tours, and the Academy for Lifelong Learning, a series of courses centered on continuing learning inside the classroom and beyond. In addition to a variety of programs, the museum offers a 10,800-volume library of ship plans, manuscripts, books, and sketches. The museum has a working boatyard for restoration projects and education. Visitors can learn about the restoration of commercial skipjacks and

144-403: A boat placed in the site of the old one, Capt. Conway [his assistant] and myself will be ready to take charge of it[.]" Lighthouse tenders sent after the sunken house located it some five miles (8 km) south of the strait and were able to salvage the lens, lamp, and fog bell. A new light was erected at the same location in 1879, another screw-pile light of the then typical hexagonal form, with

192-440: A brief exchange, neutralized the battery and returned to their boats. The British proceeded to bombard the town from the barges and a brig, but failed to destroy the shipyards or cause any substantial damage to the town. The militia returned fire from artillery batteries at Impy Dawson's wharf (the foot of Mulberry Street) and Mill Point (the foot of Carpenter Street). A contemporary report noted that "several houses were pierced" by

240-407: A central square. The town was incorporated in 1804. A rural Anglican church that long predated the town gave St. Michaels its name. Despite this church's presence on the shore of the harbor, the town of St. Michaels early became predominantly Methodist following visits by itinerant Methodist preachers. Braddock donated land for a Methodist church in the center of St. Mary's square. A brick structure

288-568: A hands on and onboard "waterman" experience. Mister Jim , the museum's replica buy boat, takes museum visitors out on the water for tours of the Bay throughout summer weekends. Through the variety of exhibits, the museum provides the opportunity for all to experience the history and culture of the Chesapeake Bay region. During the COVID-19 pandemic the museum opened a digital exhibit to allow

336-499: A living shoreline and led other environmental initiatives. Beginning in 2009, his successor, Langley Shook, rebuilt the museum's finances following the downturn in the economy, while overseeing a major restoration of the 1955 skipjack Rosie Parks and acquisition of the historic 1920 buy boat Winnie Estelle , which replaced the buy boat replica Mister Jim for taking passengers on tours of the Miles River. Shook retired in 2014 and

384-524: A rate of 1.3% annually, its population hit a peak with the 2020 Census reporting a 3.99% increase. Saint Michaels derives its name from the Episcopal Parish established there in 1677. The church attracted settlers who engaged in tobacco growing and ship building. The town was laid out as a speculative development in the 1770s by James Braddock. Unlike the more typical 18th century grid-pattern town planning, Braddock laid St. Michaels out around

432-511: A skeleton tower would then be erected on the old foundation. The Hooper Strait Light was slated to be so treated in 1966, but the newly founded Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum arranged with the Historical Society of Talbot County and the federal government to have the light moved to its campus instead. The light was sliced in half at its eaves, and the two pieces of the house were barged to St. Michaels , where they were reassembled on

480-575: Is by road. Maryland Route 33 is the only state highway serving the town, connecting it to Tilghman Island and Easton . In 2007 the town was named #8 of the Top Ten Romantic Escapes in the USA by Coastal Living Magazine. In 2018 Forbes published an article declaring St. Michaels as "The East Coast Weekend Getaway You've Been Missing". From April to November, the town hosts a Saturday farmer's market featuring local produce from around

528-658: Is one of four surviving Chesapeake Bay screw-pile lighthouses in the U.S. state of Maryland . Originally located in Hooper Strait, between Hooper and Bloodsworth Islands in Dorchester County and at the entrance to Tangier Sound, it is now an exhibit at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Maryland . Lightships were stationed at this site beginning in 1827, including one destroyed by confederate forces during

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576-799: Is still used by the industry today. St Michaels is where Frederick Douglass was sold in 1832 to Thomas Auld, and it was in the St Michaels jail that Douglass was confined in 1835 after an attempted escape to freedom. In addition to the Cannonball House and St. Michaels Historic District, Crooked Intention , Edmee S. , Edna E. Lockwood , Island Bird (log canoe) , Island Blossom (log canoe) , Island Lark (log canoe) , Jay Dee (log canoe) , Magic (log canoe) , Noddy (log canoe) , The Old Inn , Persistence (log canoe) , Rover (log canoe) , Saint Michaels Mill , Sherwood Manor , Stanley Norman (skipjack) , and Victorian Corn Cribs are listed on

624-595: Is water. St. Michaels is located in a long, narrow neck of land along the Miles River . The village is a tourist attraction, and there are high quality hotels, inns, seafood restaurants, and gift shops in town. Tour boat cruises connect the town with Annapolis across the Chesapeake Bay . A for-pay public ferryboat service in nearby Bellevue also takes people across the Tred Avon river to Oxford . As of

672-475: The 1879 Hooper Strait Chesapeake screw-pile lighthouse . At the museum’s working boatyard, visitors can have their hand at constructing a wooden skiff through the Apprentice for a Day program (see below). One of the interactive exhibits the museum offers is Waterman's Wharf , where one can practice seafood harvesting by hauling an eel or crab pot out of the waters of Fogg Cove. Another exhibit, Oystering on

720-472: The Baltimore Clipper . Such vessels were well adapted to evading blockades or outrunning pirates or foreign naval vessels at sea, and some were later used as private armed vessels carrying a letter of marque. For example, Thomas L. Haddaway launched the schooner Lottery at St. Michaels in 1812, and its owners obtained a letter of marque allowing it to take prizes at sea. The town played a role in

768-525: The Civil War . In 1867 a square screw-pile structure was erected. It survived only ten years; in January 1877 ice tore the house loose and sent it floating down the bay. The keeper John S. Cornwell and his assistant barely escaped using one of the light's boats, and were trapped on the ice for 24 hours before being rescued. In spite of frostbite, Cornwell said that "should there be another house erected, or

816-565: The War of 1812 when, in 1813, a fleet under the command of Admiral George Cockburn moved up the Chesapeake Bay , and targeted St. Michaels because of the presence of a militia battery erected to defend the town and its shipyards. Under cover of early morning darkness on August 10, 1813, the Battle of St. Michaels commenced as the British sent a landing party ashore just south of the town, and after

864-486: The census of 2010, there were 1,029 people, 509 households, and 281 families residing in the town. The population density was 894.8 inhabitants per square mile (345.5/km ). There were 711 housing units at an average density of 618.3 per square mile (238.7/km ). The racial makeup of the town was 69.0% White , 27.4% African American , 0.3% Native American , 0.5% Asian , 1.4% from other races , and 1.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.9% of

912-493: The 35 buildings which dot the campus. The museum also offers year-round educational seminars and workshops. First opened to the public in 1965 the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, was a project of the Historical Society of Talbot County, which acquired three waterfront houses along St. Michaels Harbor. Within the first few years, the museum acquired historic watercraft and exhibited them afloat, notably

960-454: The British fire. Nearly a century later, a story was recorded that as a result of the town's ruse of dimming the lights and hanging lanterns in the trees beyond the town so that the cannonballs would overshoot the town, the town was spared. Based on this story, St. Michaels became known as "the town that fooled the British," a nickname selected during the sesquicentennial celebration of the battle in 1963. The Cannonball House survives as one of

1008-473: The Chesapeake , transports visitors to the deck of a working waterman, and explains how the oyster industry has shaped the region’s landscape, culture, and history. The Floating Fleet is one of the most popular exhibits offered. This collection of water vessels docked at Navy Point includes Edna E. Lockwood , a National Historic Landmark , and the last sailing log-bottom bugeye . The museum helps keep

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1056-452: The Chesapeake Bay log canoe racing tradition alive through preserving and sailing the Edmee S. , the museum’s own log racing canoe , which is crewed and raced by Museum staff on weekends in the summer. The dredgeboat Old Point , built from seven logs in 1909, was once used to haul fresh fish in the winter, carry oysters during the fall, and dredge clams during the summer. Today, it offers kids

1104-562: The National Register of Historic Places. Saint Michaels is located at 38°47′1″N 76°13′20″W  /  38.78361°N 76.22222°W  / 38.78361; -76.22222 (38.783748, -76.222214). According to the United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 1.25 square miles (3.24 km ), of which 1.15 square miles (2.98 km ) is land and 0.10 square miles (0.26 km )

1152-421: The age of 18 living with them, 39.6% were married couples living together, 17.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.8% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.75. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.2% under

1200-460: The age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 21.3% from 25 to 44, 26.1% from 45 to 64, and 23.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.4 males. The median income for a household in the town was $ 32,578, and the median income for a family was $ 39,821. Males had a median income of $ 30,438 versus $ 23,250 for females. The per capita income for

1248-428: The ecology of the Chesapeake Bay. A bus scholarship program helps visiting school groups with the cost of transportation. The Lighthouse Overnight Program allows children to experience the life of a mariner standing watch overnight. The museum also provides programs for children such as Sea Squirts Summer Camp, as well as hands-on games, crafts, and storytelling throughout the year. For adults, the museum's programs include

1296-438: The field fronting Fogg's Cove. By the time Jim Holt retired at the end of 1987, the museum had grown to a collection of historic structures and multiple exhibition buildings along a 17-acre waterfront campus. His successor, John R. Valliant, led the museum through further growth, including a library, Oystering Building, and At Play on the Bay building, the latter two products of a $ 17.2 million capital campaign. His tenure also saw

1344-537: The house being prefabricated at the Lazarretto Point depot. John Cornwell did in fact become the first keeper of the new light. In 1882 a red sector was fitted. This light remained staffed until 1954, at which point it was automated and the house boarded up. In the 1960s the Coast Guard had taken to removing the houses from the old screw-pile lights in order to cut maintenance costs and avoid vandalism;

1392-409: The marked expansion of the museum's programming, from resident scholars whose original research supported new publications, exhibitions and curricula to yearlong boat yard apprentices and a groundbreaking Apprentice for a Day drop-in weekend boatbuilding class. Also created during Valliant's tenure was the Academy for Lifelong Learning, which offers peer-taught classes. Valliant also dramatically expanded

1440-491: The museum acquired adjacent acreage fronting Fogg's Cove, and in 1978, the institution was first accredited by the American Association of Museums (now American Alliance of Museums). Too deteriorated for the fledgling museum to save, the J. T. Leonard sank and was cut up in 1974, but the vessel's plight emphasized the need to create the infrastructure to maintain floating exhibits, so a traditional marine railway

1488-516: The museum's collections, from the purchase of the Downes Curtis sailmaking tools (1997) to the acquisition of a major group of artworks by Baltimore marine artist Louis Feuchter (1885-1957) and the Robert H. Burgess collection of maritime objects, manuscripts, and photographs (2006). Valliant retired in 2006 and was succeeded by Stuart Parnes, who transformed the bulkheading of Fogg's Cove into

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1536-498: The museum's second major restoration of the bugeye Edna E. Lockwood beginning in 2016. The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum tells the geological , economic , and social stories of the Bay and those that lived there. Museum visitors can view over 100 boats and boat models, various artworks including a vast collection of watercolors, decoys, guns, ship's signboards, and other historical Bay artifacts. Larger structures include Tilghman Island ’s original Knapps Narrows drawbridge and

1584-453: The nearby waters of Miles River and Eastern Bay, or engaged in the shucking houses that came to line the waterfront. One of these businesses, Coulbourne and Jewett, founded in the early years of the twentieth century, is notable as a black-owned enterprise, and it early on came to specialize in crabmeat. As a means of marketing crabmeat, owner Frederick Jewett devised a five level grading system (regular, claw, special, backfin, and lump) which

1632-518: The newly acquired parcel. It opened to the public the following May. By 1971, all of the former industrial land of Navy Point had been acquired by the museum. In 1968, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum incorporated as an independent nonprofit corporation under article 501(c)3 of the IRS code. The museum hired its first permanent director, R. J. "Jim" Holt in 1971, who set the museum on a course for expansion and professionalization. In 1976, under Holt's leadership,

1680-481: The oyster sloop J. T. Leonard in 1966 and the log-bottom bugeye Edna E. Lockwood the following year. Adjacent land became available as seafood industries began closing on Navy Point, and the museum acquired land from the former Coulbourne and Jewett crab and oyster packing house in 1966. By the end of the year, the Hooper Strait Lighthouse, which had been threatened by demolition, was moved to

1728-440: The population. There were 509 households, of which 21.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.9% were married couples living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 44.8% were non-families. 39.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size

1776-464: The preservation of the museum's own floating fleet. The "Apprentice for a Day" program allows visitors to help construct a wooden skiff under the guidance of boatyard staff members. St. Michaels, Maryland Saint Michaels , also known as St. Michaels , is a town in Talbot County , Maryland , United States. The population was 1,094 at the 2023 World Population Review . Growing at

1824-443: The public access to the institution remotely. Island Life: Changing Cultures, Changing Shorelines is a photography exhibition that details the effects climate change are having in and around the Chesapeake Bay. Themes explore rapid climate change, shore erosion, and environmentally motivated community displacement. CBMM offers field trips for students in grades PreK through college, emphasizing topics including history, geography, and

1872-501: The region. Each May, the St. Michaels Running Festival and St. Michaels Half Marathon attracts amateur runners from around the region. St. Michaels also hosts an annual fourth of July celebration and fireworks in St. Michaels Harbor. Each fall, the town hosts the "Fall into St. Michaels Weekend" featuring an annual Jack Russell dog race. One of the town's chief attractions is the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum , located on land that

1920-619: The structures reportedly struck by one of the shots, and is on the National Register of Historic Places , as is the Saint Michaels Historic District . Shipbuilding declined after the War of 1812, but an oyster industry revived the town a few decades later. By the late nineteenth century, most households in the town had at least one person engaged in some aspect of this fishery, either tonging oysters from

1968-414: The town was $ 28,131. About 11.1% of families and 15.0% of the population were below the poverty line , including 22.8% of those under age 18 and 9.8% of those age 65 or over. Although the town's tourist industry has roots in the mid nineteenth century with steamboats bringing excursionists from Baltimore to the town, and with summer guest cottages opening for weeklong rentals beginning in the 1880s, tourism

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2016-458: The town. The population density was 1,442.1 inhabitants per square mile (556.8/km ). There were 671 housing units at an average density of 811.1 per square mile (313.2/km ). The racial makeup of the town was 69.24% White , 29.25% African American , 0.17% Asian , 0.59% from other races , and 0.75% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.59% of the population. There were 548 households, out of which 25.0% had children under

2064-434: Was 2.02 and the average family size was 2.67. The median age in the town was 50.2 years. 18.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 17.6% were from 25 to 44; 29.4% were from 45 to 64; and 28.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 41.5% male and 58.5% female. As of the census of 2000, there were 1,193 people, 548 households, and 340 families residing in

2112-410: Was built and after the war of 1812 the name of Sardis Chapel was adopted. That building was razed and a new brick building was erected in 1839. The cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1839. It remains on that site. The town's earliest industry was shipbuilding, and as many as six shipbuilders were active in or near the town by the War of 1812. Their typical product was a fast schooner, a type later known as

2160-669: Was constructed in 1974 and a boat shop in 1977. A major four-year restoration rebuilt the Edna E. Lockwood , from her original nine logs, and the vessel was relaunched in 1979. New purpose-built exhibition buildings were added, including the Waterfowling on the Chesapeake building (1975), Bay of the Chesapeake building (1980), and Steamboat building (1990). Beginning in the 1980s, the museum acquired several small historic structures, most notably Mitchell House, former home of Eliza Bailey Mitchell, sister to Frederick Douglass, and located them in

2208-410: Was formerly occupied by seafood packing houses and a cannery. Saint Michaels is home to a number of historic bay vessels, including the bugeye Edna E. Lockwood , a National Historic Landmark , and several skipjacks . The Saint Michaels Mill is a 19th century gristmill and was added to the U.S. National Register of Historical Places in 1982. Hooper Strait Light Hooper Strait Light

2256-520: Was not a major part of the town's economy until the 1970s. The impetus started with a maritime museum, which opened its doors in 1965, and a waterfront seafood restaurant and a tour boat (the Patriot) followed before the end of the decade. Major employers include Harbortowne Resort, The Crab Claw restaurant, and the Inn at Perry Cabin by Belmond . The main means of transportation to and from Saint Michaels

2304-472: Was succeeded by Kristen Greenaway, who expanded the museum's special exhibitions program beginning with A Broad Reach: Fifty Years of Collecting to mark the museum's 50th anniversary in 2015. She led an initiative to correct deferred maintenance on museum facilities, which included work on the Hooper Strait Lighthouse and repointing of the brick work on Dodson House, one of the museum's first three structures, now used for administrative offices. She also oversaw

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