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Throughout the Upper Eastern Shore, private groups and organizations provide opportunities for cultural activity,
historical awareness, and environmental education. Their efforts complement governmental initiatives.
Cultural Groups
play an important role in cultivating community awareness and access to the arts and cultural events on the Upper Eastern Shore. The outstanding example is the Academy of the Arts in Easton, a
museum and cultural center. Art education is a major focus of its efforts.
Historical Societies
in each county provide repositories for local historical artifacts and archives, and plan and operate museums and exhibitions. The following list includes the names of the groups and the museum each sponsors:
- Caroline County Historical Society (Museum of Rural Life, Denton)
- Historic Easton
- Historical Society of Talbot County
(Ending of Controversie, James Neall House and Gardens, and Josephâs Cottage, Easton)
- Kent County Historical Trust
- Kent County Historical Society, Inc. (Geddes-Piper House, Chestertown)
- Kent Island Heritage Society (Cray House, Old Stevensville Post Office and Train Depot, Stevensville)
- Queen Anneâs County Historical Society (Wrightâs Chance and the Tucker House, Centreville)
Environmental Organizations
and education facilities play an important role in educating the public. Four groups, in particular, take the lead in education and conservation efforts on the Upper Eastern Shore.
The Eastern Shore Land Conservancy
is a regional land trust located at the Wye Center. It is the lead organizer of the regionâs successful affiliation for land conservation funding under the stateâs Rural Legacy Program.
The Echo Hill Environmental Outdoor School, in Kent County, is a private education facility teaching
school-age children about science, ecology, and local history.
The Pickering Creek Environmental Education Center, in Talbot County, is a private non-profit sanctuary of
the Chesapeake Audubon Society, a Maryland chapter of the National Audubon Society. The Center provides environmental education for children of the Talbot County school system. It also manages important
wildlife habitats and provides programs for all ages.
Horsehead Wetlands Center, a 300-acre habitat environment in Queen Anneâs County, provides public
centers offering examples of wildfowl and wetlands conservation, education, and research. The center is operated by the Wildfowl Trust of North America.
Museums
of the Upper Eastern Shore offer a variety of education opportunities. Each focuses on a facet of life on the Upper Eastern Shore.
The African American Heritage Council Museum
opened in early 1999 in Worton, Kent County. Housed in the last remaining one-room schoolhouse for African Americans in Kent County, the museum exhibits photographs and memorabilia documenting the history of the local community of African Americans.
The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
in St. Michaels offers an extensive view of life on the Chesapeake Bay. Its facilities include exhibits on bay cultures: people, lifestyles, tools, watercraft, occupations, and recreations. The Hooper Strait Lighthouse, one of the last remaining screwpile lighthouses, adorns the wharf. The museum maintains a fleet of historic watercraft such as the Edna B. Lockwood, a Chesapeake Bay bugeye and National Historic Landmark, the E. C. Collier, a National Register-listed skipjack, and a variety of other craft.
The Historic Sites Consortium of Queen Anneâs County heightens awareness of local history, helps manage museum
resources, and coordinates promotion efforts for twelve museums in Queen Anneâs County. These sites include the Cray House, Stevensville Train Depot, the old Stevensville Post Office, the Colonial Court House
in Queenstown, Wye Grist Mill, Queen Anneâs Museum of Eastern Shore Life, Wrightâs Chance, Tucker House, the Queen Anneâs County Court House, Church Hill Theatre, Dudleyâs Chapel, and the Sudlersville Train Station
Museum. Many of these sites are privately owned and operated.
The Kent Museum,
in Kennedyville, features historic agricultural machinery, antiques, and artifacts of rural life on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The museum complex includes the Latham House (circa 1700), Knock's Folly House, and 47 acres of nature trails and waterfront bluff along the Sassafras River.
The Museum of Rural Life
recently opened in a recently restored building moved to occupy a corner facing courthouse square in Denton. Its mission is to tell the story of life on and around the farms in the interior of the Upper Eastern Shore. It focuses on Caroline County, but its stories are appreciable across the region.
The Old Harford Town Maritime Center and Museum
stands on the banks of the Choptank River in West Denton in an old schooner and steamboat warehouse. It offers educational programs on historic port towns, navigation, boatbuilding, river tours, and other aspects of maritime life. The Center is completing an extensive inventory of maritime sites along the Choptank and Tuckahoe Rivers.
Rock Hall Museum
exhibits the townâs history. Rock Hall, formerly Rock Hall Crossroads, developed as a fishing village surrounded by farmlands in the early 1700s and once was a landing for crossings to the western shore.
The Watermanâs Museum
in Rock Hall tells the story of the watermen of the Upper Eastern Shore. More limited in its scope and resources than the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, this little museum focuses on the people who lived on the water in western Kent County.
Education Centers
on the Upper Eastern Shore provide educational opportunities for people ranging from small liberal arts degree programs to professional skills classes for the community.
Washington College,
in Chestertown, is the premier liberal arts college in the region providing undergraduate education. The college develops research and education initiatives like the Chesapeake Bay Regional Studies program, the Center for the Study of the American Experience, and the Center for the Environment and Human Society.
Chesapeake College,
in Wye Mills, is the regional community college, offering a variety of undergraduate and professional programs for five counties on the Eastern Shore: Kent, Queen Anneâs, Caroline, Talbot, and Dorchester.
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