T is for Taylors Island

T is for Taylors Island (click here for map.)  It took a little less than 2 hours to arrive in a small town with the perfect blend of water, woods, and farmland.  Additionally, this unassuming town was actively involved in several events of significant history – a few stemming back as far as the War of 1812.  I was anxious to begin my exploration!   

Slaughter Creek

Taylors Island is an unincorporated community and is located in the western part of Dorchester County.  The town has 173 residents, and encompasses a total land area of 4.14 square miles in addition to .02 square miles of water.  It is separated from the mainland by Slaughter Creek. 

Taylors Island was actually one of the first settlements in Dorchester County.  In 1662, John and Thomas Taylor took ownership of about 400 acres on the island and originally called it “Taylor's Folly.”  At the time of the island’s settlement, Taylors Island was connected at the north to James Island and at the south to Hooper’s Island.  

Gull overlooking Slaughter Creek

However, severe erosion by the Chesapeake Bay from the west has now eliminated most of James Island and all traces of the road to Hooper’s Island.  This constant deterioration by the Chesapeake Bay has reduced the size of Taylors Island by a significant amount since it was first settled.  There is good evidence the Bay has taken roughly 1,500 acres from the west side of the island in the last 100 years.   

My journey began as I approached the Slaughter Creek Bridge.  My lunchtime location was located at the base of the bridge, but lunch would have to wait since it was much too early in the day to indulge in seafood.  You had to know seafood was on the menu since I was visiting a town located on the Chesapeake Bay, right?  Onward to the first stop on my agenda – the Taylors Island Family Campground.

Before I continue, I had to wonder how Slaughter Creek got its name.  According to, “The Disappearing Islands of the Chesapeake” by William B. Cronin: 

 “As the story goes, the creek got its name from a man who joined the hated seventeenth century pirate Rodger Makeele whose exploits are chronicled in Donald G. Shomette’s, “Pirates on the Chesapeake.”  In the 1680s, Makeele sailed out of Watts Island preying on local shipping and the few unfortunate people who lived on the shores of the [Chesapeake] bay.”

In other words, apparently meeting Mr. Makeele = meeting your demise, hence “Slaughter Creek.” 

Slaughter Creek Bridge



As mentioned earlier, Slaughter Creek separates the island from the mainland.  Connection with the mainland was originally by ferry until about 1852 when the Maryland legislature approved the building of a bridge.  In 1856, a wooden bridge was constructed, and in 1999 a new concrete bridge was dedicated.

Not long after I crossed the Slaughter Creek Bridge I arrived at the Taylors Island Family Campground.  It is located on the Chesapeake Bay, so if you are a fisherman, this family friendly campground is definitely worth checking out.  According to the camp’s website, tenting and transit sites are available by the day, week, or by the month.  Camper rentals

and an apartment rental are also available.  In fact, there are a total of 161 camp/RV sites.  Additionally, there is a boat launch and a little marina with a channel leading out to the Bay.  A few people without boats were fishing from the jetties.  If you wanted to go swimming in one of the coves, you could do that, too.  During the summer, there are ice-cream parties, concerts, pool parties, movies, mini golf, and other activities for families. Everyone walking around the property was smiling and waving as I drove by.  Was it too crowded to relax?  Not at all.  

Channel - Taylors Island Family Campground

Overall, it was a very pleasant experience, and is a place I would seriously consider staying if I were camping on the Eastern Shore.  

Getting back on the road, I decided my next stop would be the Bay Shore Road House.  This one room house was built between 1840 and 1850 and is located on the corner of Bay Shore and Hoopers Neck Road.  According to the short description provided, this type of house is a rare survival in Dorchester County and is representative of a once common house design used by a large portion of residents of the Eastern Shore during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. 

Bay Shore Road House

The house did not have a numbered street address – it was simply a little house sitting at the intersection of two roads.  This house was not always situated here, though.  In the mid-twentieth century, it was relocated here from another nearby, unknown location.  Unfortunately, the house was boarded up and posted with “No Trespassing” signs.  Sadly, I really wanted to see what the inside of this house looked like.  However, I had no desire to see what the inside of a jail cell looked like, so I moved on!    

Not far from this house was the Grace Episcopal Church Complex, so I decided to venture over there.  However, it was difficult to find as only the street name was listed.  If you are interested in seeing the complex, you will want to turn right on Hoopers Neck Road off Bay Shore Road (the Bay Shore Road House will be on your left on the corner) and drive about 3 miles – the complex will be on your left.  Not knowing this, I turned left, drove about 5 miles and came to the road’s dead end.  With no signs/markers posted, looking for these places is always like participating in a treasure hunt – LITERALLY!     

When I finally reached the complex I was immediately impressed with the three buildings standing before me.  It was evident the community takes pride in their history – the buildings looked freshly painted, the lawn was manicured, and the trees and shrubbery were well pruned.  There were only a handful of homes located near the complex – the entire area was extremely peaceful.  Unfortunately, there was not anyone present to give me a tour or open the buildings, so I could only look around in admiration. 

As stated above, there were three structures in this complex – a schoolhouse, a Chapel of Ease, and the Grace Episcopal Church.  Both the Chapel of Ease and the schoolhouse have some pretty interesting history.  I will begin with the Chapel of Ease…..

The Chapel of Ease was the first church

Chapel of Ease

built on Taylors Island, and it is believed the building was constructed between 1707 and 1720.  However, where the chapel is standing now is not the structure’s original site – it was actually located several miles from its present location.  By about 1762, it became a Chapel of Ease for members of Old Trinity Church who lived too far from the church to attend services.  In 1873, the Grace Episcopal Church was built and the Chapel of Ease ceased to be used as a place of worship.  Prior to moving the chapel to its present location, it served successively as a school for African-American children, a blacksmith shop, voting place, community hall, and for farm storage.  In 1951, the chapel was purchased by the Grace Foundation for $800.00 and moved to its present site and restored.  A fireplace has been added, which contains more than 5,000 bricks from old homes on Taylors Island and from Baltimore.  The flooring was restored using wood from old buildings on Taylors Island.  The balcony is original and reportedly built of materials salvaged from a ship.     

Old Taylors Island Schoolhouse

Now about The Old Taylors Island Schoolhouse.  Originally named, “The Old James Island Schoolhouse,” it is believed to have been the first schoolhouse in Dorchester County, and the oldest school to still be standing in the county.  This little building (15 foot square) was built in the 1780s prior to the establishment of a public school system and sat about twelve pupils.  Interestingly enough, it had a stove pipe hole in each wall so the pipe could be shifted to suit the prevailing wind! The schoolhouse was situated on the road leading to James Island.  In the mid to late nineteenth century, the road began to erode and the schoolhouse was moved to a farm on Taylors Island.  While on the farm, the little building was used as a smokehouse.  It remained there until 1959 when the heirs of the farm gave it to the Grace Foundation.  The schoolhouse was moved a second time to its current location, and in 1984, the Foundation restored it to its present condition.  
 

Grace Episcopal Church

The other structure located on the complex was the Grace Episcopal Church, which was built in 1873 by the residents of Taylors Island at the cost of $3,500.00.  The church is no longer used on a weekly basis, but it “is” used on occasion during the warmer months of the year.      

Realizing that two of the three  buildings located on the complex were actually “rescues” made me smile.  Thanks to the Grace Foundation each was restored and not destroyed.  The community is certainly doing what it can to preserve the town’s past.       

Shifting gears, I would like to make mention of a little known fact about a celebrity born on Taylors Island.  I am speaking of the beautiful Rebecca T. Ruark.  Who?  Well, she’s not a “who,” she’s a “what.”  The Rebecca T. Ruark is actually the name of a skipjack.  If you didn’t know this already, a skipjack is a traditional fishing boat used on the Chesapeake Bay used for oyster dredging, and in 1985 was designated as the State boat of Maryland.  How does this all relate to Taylors Island?  In 1886, the Rebecca was built on Taylors Island and is the oldest skipjack on the Chesapeake Bay still sailing AND still racing.  Is she fast?  You betcha!  She just won the 2016 Deal Island Labor Day Skipjack Race.  Her home port is not on Taylors Island, though – her home is at nearby Tilghman Island, Maryland.  Rebecca’s story is well documented, and I hope if you have a few moments you will take the time to access the above hyperlink and read the article written by Cyndy Carrington Miller.  Ms. Miller closes her article with the following:

 “The story of Rebecca T. Ruark can't be told without reference to the races. Without a doubt, she's a fast boat. There are two surviving skipjack races, the Deal Island Labor Day race and the Choptank Heritage Skipjack Race in Cambridge. Since 1988, Rebecca and Wade Murphy [her owner] have won the Deal Island race 11 times, more than any other boat or captain in the history of the race, and they won the Cambridge race four times between 2010 and 2014. Author Christopher White, in his book Skipjack, described racing as "blood sport" for Wade Murphy. He never won a race with Sigsbee [Wade’s other skipjack], but says, "Ruark can sail herself."”

It wasn’t quite time for lunch yet, so I set out to find two of the town’s historical markers.  The first marker I searched for signified The Battle of the Ice Mound.  In short, The Battle of the Ice Mound was Maryland’s last engagement in the War of 1812.  A tender (large ship) to the British ship of war, the H.M.S. “Dauntless,” was captured by Captain Joseph Stewart and local militia after it became stuck in ice near James Island.  The carronade (cannon) taken from the tender was named for two of the twenty British crewmen captured – the commander, Lieutenant Matthew Phibbs and African American Cook Becca.  The battle – actually more of a skirmish – took place on 7 February 1815.  This was a month after the Battle of New Orleans and just ten days prior to ratification of the Treaty of Ghent.  Ms. Gloria Rojas of The Dorchester Banner made a very interesting comment about this conflict:  

“The biggest irony of the Battle of the Ice Mound is that the Treaty of Ghent, an end to the war, was signed on Christmas Eve in Ghent, Belgium. The war had been over for a month and a half when this battle took place. But with no internet, no phone system — even the telegraph and Morse code had not been invented — word did not get back to the American continent. So the famous Battle of New Orleans, with horrendous numbers of casualties, and the lesser-known Battle of the Ice Mound, were both fought by two countries at peace.”

On 7 February 2015, Taylors Island experienced the Battle of the Ice Mound once again when the town engaged in a bicentennial re-enactment.

It was at this point I realized that I was getting pretty hungry.  The second marker would have to wait.  So, I drove over to Palm Beach Willies (PBW) for lunch.  PBW is a locally run and operated floating dock bar and grill located in the Slaughter Creek Marina complex.   

As it is situated on the banks of Slaughter Creek (off the Little Choptank River), it is not a problem arriving by either car or boat. 

When I got to PBW, I initially sat at a table located in the area with the bar.  I saw tables located in the adjacent building, which was a screened-in area, so I asked if I could move out there.  Good move!  Nice breeze, water, sunshine, boats….AND I was the only one in the room!  Now, about the food.  I actually perused the online menu before I left home in the morning, so I had already decided on an entrée when the waitress came by with the menu.  Handing it to me, she began listing the specials.  One of the specials was “JJ’s Oysters” (an appetizer.)  Hmmmm….alright….my mind has been changed.  This was the description:  6 oysters (no shells), laying in Worchester sauce in a small cast iron skillet, topped with cheese, bacon, and then broiled to perfection.  I quickly ordered the special (sans bacon) along with a small salad. 

As I sat looking at the gorgeous scenery,

Palm Beach Willies

I suddenly remembered reading about an event Taylors Island holds every August at this marina – The Annual Boat Docking Challenge / Waterman Rodeo, which is a fundraiser for the Taylors Island Volunteer Fire Company. As my lunch wasn’t here yet, I decided to walk into the bar area of the restaurant to ask some of the patrons if they could provide any information on the event. Mike (a local) was happy to oblige. He told me this challenge / rodeo is a timed event where the local watermen drive and maneuver their boats. The boats fit into one of three categories (small, medium, and large.) The boat starts in one dock, bow first, a horn sounds, and he has to pull out in reverse, spin the boat around and back into an adjacent slip, as well as lasso 4 individual pilings as quickly as he can.

Palm Beach Willies

The rodeo is on a regular circuit and a competition may be found somewhere on the Chesapeake Bay every weekend. Mike mentioned there is also a category for those under 16, in which a 12 year old girl competed and an 11 year old boy won. We spoke a bit more about the rodeo, I thanked Mike for the information he provided, and I made my way back to my table. The rodeo is definitely another item I will be adding to my “Must See” list!

JJ's Oysters

Lunch was here…..YES!  And then it was gone…..NO!  Those oysters were so good that minutes later (probably more like seconds later), all I had in front of me was an empty skillet.  I’m not going to lie……that was the most amazing lunch!  I spent a few more minutes on the docks at the marina before I got back on the road.  Off to find that second marker!

British carronade Becky Phipps

The second marker I spoke of was for the cannon Becky Phipps. Remember this cannon was mentioned in the description of the first marker? Around 1950, this 12-pounder carronade was mounted, and in 1999 refurbished by the Maryland State Highway Administration. It was nicknamed the “Becky Phipps,” in recognition of both the cook and commander on the British tender from which the carronade was taken.  However, the cook’s name was actually Becca, not Becky, and the commander was Lieutenant Matthew Phibbs, not Phipps. 

According to the Grace Foundation, the name of the cannon has always had an incorrect spelling of “Phipps.”  For many years, the cannon was frequently fired in celebration of local and national events.  According to newspaper reports, the cannon was fired for the last time in 1912 when President Woodrow Wilson was elected to office.  It was reported that the cannon was overloaded and exploded when fired in celebration of the election.  In 1950, through the efforts of the Daughters of the American Revolution and a few local citizens, the remains of the cannon were collected and located to its present site.   

In checking the time, I realized I needed to start my journey home. This was another great visit to one of Maryland’s small towns. However, this just isn’t a small town - Taylor’s Island is actually one of the Chesapeake Bay’s small islands. Unfortunately, these small islands are slowing disappearing due to rising sea levels. I feel extremely fortunate that I took the opportunity to see something of such historical value that may soon vanish in the not too distant future.