Browsing by Subject "Eastern Shore (Maryland)"
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Item Digging into ditches: A historical-geographic analysis of agricultural drainage ditches on Maryland’s Eastern Shore(2017) Pierson, Rachel; Environmental Studies; Geography and GeosciencesTo this day, agricultural drainage ditches form a fundamental alteration to Maryland’s Eastern Shore; however, the environmental impacts of the ditch network are relatively unknown. This ditch network has evolved in recent decades and now includes newer, larger, mechanically-dug ‘tax ditches’, introduced in Delmarva as methods of flood control due to the flat, swamp-like geography of the land. A mixed-method geographic analysis looked at this small-scale local water management infrastructure from several angles: (a) historical, utilizing Nabb Center archive research, documents obtained from various county offices, and oral history to establish the extent of the ditch network, (b) comparative land use, using applications of GIS mapping to display current ditch systems in relation to land use categories, and (c) spatial implications, assessing hydrologic proximity and drainage trajectory to the Bay. Information on ditches, both current and historical, is scattered and not easily found. This supports the need to compile this information for future reference and research. The hydrologic network shows tax ditches flow toward the Chesapeake Bay as an extension of natural streams, and land use maps display the great extent to which tax ditches are located in agricultural areas, yet still close to development. The question that remains is how much, volumetrically, of this ditch network drains into the Bay, and what water quality implications does this pose? This preliminary study has opened avenues for future research looking into this unique drainage network of Maryland’s Eastern Shore.Item Rediscovering free blacks In Somerset County, Maryland, 1663-1863(1993) Klein, Mary Olive; HistoryFrom the first days of settlement by non-native-American pioneers. free blacks counted themselves among the inhabitants of Somerset County, part of Maryland's Eastern Shore. The most well documented of these free black settlers was Anthony Johnson who moved into Somerset County from neighboring Accomack County, on Virginia's Eastern Shore. Johnson had owned nearly 1,000 acres of land in Virginia, but moved his family into Maryland during the first wave of settlement, thus establishing a tradition of free black land ownership and presence in the new county. Other free black families also moved into the area, owning varying amounts of land. Generally, the free black residents tried to fit into the social and cultural arena established by the dominant white culture: land ownership, self-sufficiency, church membership and even slave-ownership. Although African cultural identity survived in the slave portion of the population, and networks of free black support existed, acceptance of the norms set by the successful white residents was a strong incentive for free blacks to identify with that culture and society.