Spotlight on Kent Island

Geographically, Kent Island, our home, is situated midway up the Chesapeake Bay. It is the largest island in the Bay and is made up of the towns of Stevensville and Chester. When you cross the Bay Bridge from the west, Kent Island’s beautiful landscape, as a backdrop to the water, opens up before you from a height of 186 feet. You see trees, houses, beaches, freighters, fishing boats, sailboats, and motor boats from the conduit that connects Kent Island to the larger Metropolitan world. What a sight to come home to! Kent Island is bounded by the Chesapeake Bay, the Chester River, Eastern Bay, and Kent Narrows. With elevations ranging from 0 to 16 feet above sea level, it’s a waterman’s paradise.

Because of our location, Kent Island was the first settlement in Maryland and the third in Colonial America. When William Claiborne, an English surveyor, was finished surveying Jamestown, he set his sights on building a trading post further north and came upon Kent Island. He established a settlement, called Kent Fort, near the southern tip of Kent Island in 1631. Surrounded by a fence, his town housed a grist mill, a courthouse, and a trading post. He had bought the island from the Indians for axes, knives, and wool and it would be part of Virginia, perfectly situated for trade. He was Virginia’s Secretary of State after all. His hopes were dashed when the Calvert Family received a charter from the King of England, making all land north of the Potomac part of Maryland. Not without a fight, Claiborne had to give up his plans of a vast marketing empire. Artifacts remain but the settlement is gone, presumably underwater. The only marking is this stone at a remote intersection of Route 8. It’s an adventure to try and find it.