Kent Island

Having crossed the narrows, we now find ourselves on Kent Island. At 4 miles wide and 15 miles long, it's the largest island in the Chesapeake Bay. Originally it was a remote farming community, with access to the mainland only by ship or later by ferry boat. In 1952 that all changed with the building of the Bay Bridge. The bridge is still the only route across the bay by car in Maryland, so everyone on their way to or from the beach drives through Kent Island along route 50. Nowadays some people live on the island and commute to jobs in Annapolis or Baltimore. We will be travelling along the Cross Island Trail, a greenway and bike path which opened in 2001. The photos above are all from the trail.

Kent Island was first settled in 1631, making it the first European settlement in Maryland. William Claiborne, surveyor of the Jamestown Colony, purchased the island from the Susquehannock tribe in that year and established a settlement and trading post. In 1632, the Calvert family (who you may remember from the Mason-Dixon line controversy several posts back) was granted a license by the King to establish a colony in Maryland. Looks like those Calverts were always fighting with someone about their land. Their charter included all lands surrounding the bay north of the mouth of the Pocomoke River, which included Kent Island. Meanwhile the Virginia Assembly backed up Claiborne in claiming it as his property and part of Virginia. The ensuing dispute involved lawsuits, naval battles, and an unfortunate ship's captain being hanged for piracy. But in the end it all came down to business. Claiborne's investors were unsatisfied with the profits they were seeing from fur trade on the island, and in 1637 Claiborne had to return to England to deal with the lawsuit they filed against him. As soon as he left, the attorney for the investors invited Maryland to come take over the island by force, which they did.

Things are a bit more peaceful on Kent Island today. Recent headlines from the Kent Island Bay Times include the crowning of the homecoming king and queen at Stevensville High School, some post office boxes being broken into, and "windshield broken by hurled oranges." My personal favorite, with photo above: "Back on the Playground: Kent Island Elementary School students play on the school playground after new mulch was put down under the play equipment."