It has been said that during Colonial times
all people came to this place to attend church. An itinerant
preacher came about once a month, helped with services,
performed marriages and other duties. When time came to
start a post office, there was a question about what to
call it. Because this was always known as the Church town
it was suggested to call it Churchtown, which later became
Churchton.
The Community of Davidsonville, founded in
1845, was named for Thomas Davidson, son of James Davidson,
whose home was on the intersection of 214 and 424. It was
a small village consisting of eight homes, two churches
and a post office. James Davidson served in the Revolutionary
War; Thomas was the first Post Master and the founder of
the Davidsonville Methodist Church.
The earliest mention of the area in the Maryland
Hall of Records was 1659, when Englishman Richard Gott marked
off 600 acres and called it Rams Gott Swamp. Cecil H. Marshall
notes in his handwritten history of Deale how in the 1850s
watermen traveled from the Eastern Shore to a huge, natural
oyster bar called Bay Shore Bar. About 10 of those families
settled in that era on Parker's Island, which soon began
washing away. With their land disappearing, some of these
families moved a short distance to the Deale area. Deale's
first post office was opened in 1908, about 16 years after
the original Cedar Grove Church was built with lumber hauled
from Churchton by oxcart.
Edgewater was once better known as London
Town, a once-thriving seaport village covering about 100
acres on the southern shore of the South River. It was the
site of the last ferry crossing between Williamsburg, Virginia
and Annapolis. Today archaeologists are actively engaged
in the search for the lost town of London. A national Historical
Landmark, London Town House is the last surviving structure
of the 40-50 dwellings that once stood on the grounds of
this seaport. Approximately half of these dwellings lie
under the grounds of London Town House & Gardens. This
colonial tobacco port once rivaled Williamsburg in size
and very nearly became Maryland's capital.
345 years ago the King of England gave a 660-acre
land grant to families named Brown and Clark and a portion
of the area was called Brownton, then West River Landing
and then Galloways. Since 1924 it has been known as Galesville,
a unique village nestled in the middle of our country's
early history. The town draws many to our area for boating
activities, good food, and peaceful surroundings year round.
North Beach has had a strong and colorful
history since the turn of the century. In 1924, it boasted
10 Victorian hotels, rooming houses, and a grand pier that
extended 200 feet into the Bay. Excursion boats brought
visitors from Baltimore and a busy trolley ran between North
Beach and the neighboring resort, Chesapeake beach. A decline
began with the Great Depression when the shift to automobiles
led to a shutdown of rail and boat services to the area.
Rose Haven was primarily occupied by small
numbers of people who inhabited this location from about
400 AD to 900 AD. The Picasway Indian tribe were very prevalent
in the Rose Haven area and arrowheads can still be found
on the beaches. In 1947, Joe Rose built the first home of
the community and built more than 120 homes, a marina, restaurant
and hotel with an Olympic-size swimming pool. What was once
called Red Lions Pond became Rose Haven. Joe Rose died in
1974 and four years later his heir sold the land to four
businessmen, including E. Steuart Chaney. Mr. Chaney made
numerous improvements to the existing marina.
The Shady Side peninsula has had a long and
varied history. Surrounded by the Chesapeake Bay, the peninsula
was called "the Great Swamp" and a portion was
"Sedgefield," after the sedge grass found in its
marshy areas. With the opening of a post office in 1888,
the area was renamed Shady Side. The steamboat era of the
Chesapeake Bay brought people to the peninsula for summer
vacations. Summer "boarding houses" flourished;
there were eight at the turn of the century. Permanent residents
at this time were watermen who made their living by fishing,
crabbing, and oystering in season.
Waterview