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There are many opportunities for visitors and residents to go out and explore the cultural, historic, and natural resources of the Upper Eastern Shore. Interpretive programs can link sites across geographic areas to show how historic trends are represented in the landscape. Two types of trails can be employed to present the heritage of the area. Heritage trails focus on the sites and their geographic distribution. Experiential trails allow visitors to experience the sites in a manner similar to historical means of travel. A variety of methods may be employed to guide people from site to site while exploring themes using both types of trails.
Heritage trails are the most common methods of linking important sites. Trails can be devised according to theme,
coordinated with guidebooks and interpretive signs. This will give visitors a well-rounded view of many aspects of the theme. For example, a trail based on agriculture could begin at a farm, trace the
production of crops through barns and along transportation corridors to a mill or the waterfront. A trail could also link all colonial-era mills in the region to demonstrate variations in mill design depending
on uses and location. The opportunities are great to develop a wide variety of trails, and the following section presents a few options based on themes.
Each theme plays out across the landscape in different ways and individual towns present opportunities for
interpretation and linkage based on the presence of sites related to each theme. Planning such interpretation schemes requires understanding how the themes lie upon the land and which towns offer resources for
each theme. The following table presents a breakdown of towns by the types of sites that can be used to interpret each theme. This information is based on the list of sites compiled for this report and
included in Appendix A. Table B identifies towns possessing resources related to each theme. Such towns can be potential links for interpretation.
Table B: Distribution of Historical Themes
Centreville, Chestertown, Denton, and Easton, the county seats, should be targeted for interpretive programs linking
towns.
Georgetown, Kent Island, Millington, Oxford, Queenstown, and Wye Mills deserve special attention; each of the five main
themes is represented in these towns.
Betterton, Crumpton, Church Hill, Federalsburg, Grasonville,
Greensboro, Kennedyville, Queen Anne, Ridgely, Rock Hall, St. Michaels, Sudlersville, and Tunis Mills are other potential interpretation candidates because each town is associated
with three or more primary themes.
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