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Few places exhibit the intimate connections between land and water better than Marylandâs Upper Eastern Shore.
With thousands of miles of coastline and innumerable inlets, coves, marshes, and rivers, the northeastern coast of the Chesapeake Bay blurs any distinction of where land ends and water begins. This unique landscape
has beckoned travelers, both animal and human, for ten thousand years. Millions of migratory waterfowl traverse this area year round.
The land and bay have hosted many Indian cultures, and early Europeans flocked here, drawn by fertile soils, mild
climate, and rich habitats. Kent Island, settled in the early 1600s, is the site of the third oldest English settlement in North America. Frederick Douglass, the great African American abolitionist leader of
the 19th century and former slave, was born here. Plantations tell a complicated history of agriculture and slavery. Numerous churches and cemeteries tell the story of religious freedom, and wharves,
marinas, rivers, and boats tell the story of 375 years of life on the water.
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