The Fall Line, the line that separates the crystalline rocks of the Piedmont from the unconsolidated sediments of the Coastal Plain passes through the cities of Newark and Wilmington. This Fall Line is the actual border of the Delmarva Peninsula, but for many the northern border of Delmarva is the Chesapeake & Delaware (C&D) Canal.

This would technically make the region not a peninsula but an Island, since you can’t get on or off without crossing a body of water. However it’s still regarded as a peninsula since the canal is man-made.

The oldest English settlements of the area were settled as part of the Virginia Colony. In 1631 the Colony of Maryland was chartered to Cæcilius Calvert giving him the rights to lands North of the Potomac River and east of the Chesapeake Bay to the Delaware River and Bay. This was followed in 1681 when William Penn was given a Charter for Pennsylvania that included the land area now known as Delaware.

For the the first 150 years of English settlement the peninsula borders were questioned, Maryland felt that the entire peninsula should be part of the Maryland Colony and not fell under the control of three colonies. The borders were finally established by the Surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in 1767.

Surprisingly for a short period time the peninsula was part of Calvert’s Charter. The original charter included all of the peninsula, but under the protest of Virginia, who made claims of settlement on the lower peninsula, it was change to be any lands not already settled.

Near Cape Henlopen, near present day Lewes, Delaware, the Dutch began a colony in 1631. The settlers were all killed by natives, but this took away the rights of Calvert to call the shores of the Delaware Bay as his. A few years later the Swedes established a settlement near present day New Castle, Delaware. This settlement fell to the Dutch and then to the English.

When William Penn was granted the Pennsylvania Colony, he request and received as part of his land half of the peninsula north of the Cape Henlopen. In 1704 Pennsylvania allowed the Three Lower Counties to self govern although the two had a common Royal Governor.

Calling the peninsula Delmarva is a recent development and didn’t become common until after World War I. The first use of Delmarva for commercial purposes serving as business names of companies that served all three states. The most common used name was the Chesapeake Peninsula or the Chesapeake Delaware Peninsula.

As far back as the mid 1600’s a canal across the peninsula between the Delaware River and the Chesapeake Bay was discussed. Augustine Herman was the first to proposed a canal. Herman was a mapmaker and developed one of the first maps of the upper Delmarva for the Calvert’s of Maryland. It wasn’t until the late 18th century that surveys of possible water routes were made. Even Benjamin Franklin was part of a group looking into a canal possibility.

In 1802 the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Company was incorporated. Construction would begin in 1814, but due to lack of funds the project was halted in 1816. In 1822 the canal company reorganized and with monetary support from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and the Federal Government work began again in April 1824. It was open for business in 1829 at a cost of near 2.5 million dollars.

The canal of 1829 is much different than it is today. Then it was 14 miles long, 10 feet deep, 66 feet wide at the water line and 36 feet at the bottom. Locks existed at Delaware City and St. Georges Delaware as well as two at Chesapeake City Maryland.

In 1919, the Federal Government purchased the canal. In the six years from 1921 to 1927 the Army Corps of Engineers converted it to a sea-level canal, widened it, and removed all the locks. Today the canal is 450 feet wide with a depth of 35 feet. The canal is a modern sea-level commercial waterway that carries about 40 percent of the ship traffic to the Port of Baltimore.

From the C&D canal to the peninsula’s southern point at the tip of the Eastern Shore of Virginia it’s about 180 miles. At it’s widest it’s about 60 miles, although most of the peninsula is much narrower. The land area is about 5.45 million square miles.

The other bodies of waters surrounding the peninsula are to the East, Delaware Bay, Delaware River, Atlantic Ocean; to the West, The Chesapeake Bay and to the South the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay as it flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

The western or Chesapeake Bay coast is indented and marshy. Most of its western coast is Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The rest is the Virginia Eastern Shore west coast. The eastern coast is more regular with sandy beaches, especially along the Atlantic Ocean.

There are 5 bridges over the C&D canal to get onto the peninsula. These are at MD 213, Delaware 896, US 13, Delaware 1 and Delaware 9. There is also a railroad bridge that crosses the canal east of Delaware 896.

There are also two accesses to the peninsula across the Chesapeake Bay. One is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, which crosses the bay near Annapolis Maryland to Kent Island. The other is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, which, links Cape Charles, Va., the southern tip of the peninsula, with Norfolk, VA.

Prior to the opening of Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay Bridge, officially called the William Preston Lane, Jr., Memorial Bridge in 1952, the only route across the Chesapeake Bay was through ferries. A parallel structure with three lanes was opened in 1973. These lanes are used for west bound traffic while the original 2 lane span is used for those east bound.

The shore–to-shore length of 4.3 miles makes it a long scenic over-water structure. Since 1975, typically on an early Sunday in May, the east bound span is closed to traffic for use by walkers for a scenic view of the bridge and bay. Although at times the walk has been cancelled due to weather conditions and once for security reasons.

Across the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay where it meets the Atlantic Ocean there is The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, officially the Lucius J. Kellam, Jr. Bridge-Tunnel. Its shore-to-shore distance is 17.6 miles and connects the Virginia town of Cape Charles with the city of Norfolk.

It opened in 1964, and consists of more than 12 miles of low trestle bridges, two suspension bridges and two tunnels, each a mile long under the shipping channels. It is considered the largest bridge-tunnel complex in the world.

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States with more than 150 rivers and streams flowing into it. The name Chesapeake comes from the Algonquian word Chesepiooc, which is thought to mean “Great Shellfish Bay” or “Great Water. A recent scientific discovery theorizes that the bay was created by a meteor that hit the earth about 35.5 million years ago.

The Delaware Bay and the State was named by Samuel Argall of Virginia, who explored the area in 1610. He named the Bay after the Virginia’s Royal Governor Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr.

Nine of Maryland’s 23 counties are located on the peninsula. These being the counties of Kent, Queen Anne’s, Talbot, Caroline, Dorchester, Wicomico, Somerset, Worcester and a portion of Cecil County. The Virginia counties of Accomack and Northampton and the Delaware Counties of Kent, Sussex and a portion of New Castle County makes up the rest.

The 2000 census gives the total population residing in this area as 681,030 inhabitants.
A major part of the Delmarva Peninsula’s economy is through agriculture, aquaculture, sports hunting and fishing, and tourism.

© 2007-2009 Steven G. Atkinson – All Rights Reserved – ShoreToBeFun.com
This is a 2009 revision of the original article written in 2007

Other than I 95 and a few short interstate routes in around the City of Wilmington in Northern New Castle County, there isn’t an Interstate Highway on Delmarva. Delmarva’s Highway system is largely based on US designated highways and state routes. This article will only be giving basic information about those US Highways.

The first US Highway System was developed in the early 1920s and approved in 1926. From this beginning came a couple of the major highways on the peninsula. Highways have their mile post numbered from south to north and from west to east.

The major one would be US 13, which runs from Cape Charles, Virginia, through the center of the Virginia’s Eastern Shore, running through Maryland and then through Delaware and into Pennsylvania. It’s the only highway that runs the full north/south distance of the peninsula and could easily be considered Delmarva’s Main Street.

In 1926 Cape Charles was US 13’s southern terminus. Since then it has been extended across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel into Norfolk, Virginia with its current southern terminus or beginning point since mile zero is the southern point of a North/South highway, being in Northeastern North Carolina.

Two others highways US 113 and US 213 were established as ‘daughter’ highways to US 13 in 1926. US 113 runs its full distance on Delmarva running from Pocomoke City, Maryland to Dover, Delaware. In Delaware it’s the east coast highway and helps to take many to Delaware’s Atlantic beaches.
US 213 was an original designated highway, but it has changed many times throughout its life until finally in 1972 lost it US Highway designation. Still as MD 213 it’s a major route across the Northern Eastern Shore counties of Queen Anne’s, Kent and Cecil.

When US 213 was first established it ran from Ocean City, Maryland running through Maryland’s Eastern Shore as its major route to Elkton, Maryland. The first change for US 213 came in 1936 after the opening of a new drawbridge over the Choptank River at Cambridge.

The original route had it running from Easton through Rhodesdale, Hurlock and Preston to Vienna. This part of old US213 became MD331.

The biggest change for US 213 came in 1949 after it was announced that a bridge would be built to cross the Chesapeake Bay between Sandy Point and Kent Island. US 50, which ended at Annapolis, was extended across the bay. MD 404 from Kent Island to Wye Mills where it meet US 213 and US 213 from Wye Mills to Ocean City became part of US 50 running from the Atlantic in Ocean City to the Pacific in San Diego, California.

Another of the Highways that has been extended onto the Delmarva Peninsula is US 9. In 1926 US 9 began at Absecon, New Jersey. Six years later in 1932 it was moved to Cape May, New Jersey. In 1979 US 9 crossed the mouth of the Delaware River, not by a bridge but through the Lewes-Cape May Ferry. Currently the southern terminus for US 9 is in Laurel, Delaware running nearly 30 miles from there to Lewes through Georgetown, Sussex County Seat.

US 301 also was one of the original 1926 highways and it too has been rerouted to the Delmarva Peninsula. In 1960 the northern terminus was moved from Baltimore when the highway was rerouted beginning at Bowie, Maryland, joining US 50 to cross the Chesapeake Bay. These two highways separated in Queenstown at what is known as the 50/301 split or sometimes simply as ‘the split’.

US 301 continues through Queen Anne’s, Kent and Cecil counties entering Delaware just south of Middletown in New Castle County. In Middletown it joins with Delaware route 896 and ends when it meets US 40 in Glasgow.

Two other US Highways touch upon soils of the Delmarva. US 40 runs across Northern New Castle County and into Cecil County. US 1 cuts through the western part of Cecil County in its route from Florida to Maine.

Taking a trip by following one of these highways can be like taking a trip through history. Just taking a ride can be in itself an enjoyable trip and peaceful one. One where you can simply think about those that have traveled the roads or to see the history of the towns and villages that the highway runs through.

Originally published in the Summer 2009 Newsletter

© 2009 ShoreToBeFun.com and Steven G. Atkinson

It wasn’t very long ago that the sun shone for its longest day, but now it’s obvious that the days are getting shorter. Depending on the time you rise in the morning it may still be dark instead of being woken by the light of the new day.

In the evening the air will begin to have that first cool nip hinting that soon it’s going to be much cooler.

The Delmarva Peninsula is moving from Summer to Fall.

Many feel that the autumn is the best time of the year. I certainly can understand why.

The farmers will begin to do their fall harvest of corn and soy beans. These have been a staple of farm life for generations.

Migratory birds are beginning to appear and with them the hunters will prepare their blinds.

With the autumn comes the Fall Festivals.

Many communities will be having harvest, waterfowl or wildlife festivals. Along with our weekly highlighted events post, we will have a post listing some of these festivals and will add them as we learn of more.

Even though the warm days of summer are coming to a close and the cooler days of autumn are fast approaching the beaches are still open for business. Autumn is a great time to visit a beach. Cool nights listening to the water waves are very relaxing.

Life is great on the Delmarva Peninsula, with autumn a great time of year.

These three Lower Counties had been a matter of disagreement for a number of years. When Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore was granted a Charter for what became the Maryland Colony, he felt that this land should be part of Maryland. It was also claimed by the Dutch, whose Colony Zwaanendae, now Lewes, Delaware began in 1631, predating the Maryland Charter. The Swedes also established a colony further north near present day Wilmington.

The Dutch and the Swedes couldn’t live in peace. By the 1650′s both the Dutch and Swedes had established settlements. The Dutch called the Delaware River the South River and from their American base in New Amsterdam (New York), in 1655 they went to war against the Swedes sending ships and soldiers from New Amsterdam. Without a battle the Swedes surrendered.

The Dutch controlled the Americas from New Amsterdam (New York) to the mouth of the Delaware Bay calling the area New Netherland. They established New Amstel (now New Castle) on the South (Delaware) River. Unfortunately for the Dutch there were English settlements to both their North and to the South.

In 1664 the English send a fleet of ships to New Amsterdam demanding that the Dutch turn their territory over to them. The Dutch surrendered. New Amsterdam was rename New York, (for James, Duke of York) and New Amstel became New Castle. The Calverts still thought that Delaware should be part of Maryland, but James disagreed.

When William Penn was originally granted Pennsylvania the agreement excluded New Castle and lands within 12 miles of it. This is how the 12 Mile Arc border between Delaware and Pennsylvania was established. Penn wanted an outlet from his land to the Atlantic and convinced James to lease to him the Western Shores of the Delaware Bay.

© Steven G. Atkinson

Lewes is located on the Atlantic Ocean meets the Delaware Bay and is pronounced ‘Lewis’. Cape Henlopen the shore division between the two waters sits as the town’s east border.

The first settlement in the area was the Dutch’s Swaanendael or Zwaanendael Colony of thirty-two first settled in 1631. It was short lived since a local tribe of Lenni Lenape killed all members of the colony sometime in 1632. In fact it’s because of this settlement that Delaware is not part of Maryland.

Originally when Cæcilius Calvert was given the grant for Maryland in 1632, his charter gave the entire Delmarva Peninsula to Maryland. After a protest by Virginia, who stated that Virginia had already settled on portions of the peninsula, the language was changed to say all areas not already cultivated.

The Dutch resettled the area in 1658 after gaining control of the Delaware Bay from the Swedes in 1655. A few years in 1664 later England gained control of the area and the settlement was renamed Deal after the city in South England.

The town served as the county seat until Delaware moved the seat of Sussex County government to the more centralized Georgetown in 1791.

The town played a focal role for the region in commerce as well as national defense. During the War of 1812 the town played a role in preventing the British from establishing a blockade of the Delaware Bay. In 1818 it was incorporated as Lewes, although it was sometimes spelled Lewis.

Improvements to harbor was made including one by the federal government changed the nature of the harbor from rough seas to a calmer and safe harbor becoming a shipping port. As the shipping industry diminished Lewes became a center for recreation and tourism. It is this popularity of Lewes as a place for summer vacations has allowed the city to thrive.

© Steven G. Atkinson