Mission Statement
Conserve, steward, and advocate for the unique rural landscape of the Eastern Shore.
We were pleased to host Plein Air artists during Plein Air Easton! at the former McCord building, which will become part of the Eastern Shore Conservation Center campus. Studio B Art Gallery in Easton donated a $500 Historic Preservation Award which this year was given to the painting that best highlighted the building. Peruse photos of artists painting inside the McCord building …
Last week, we were honored to attend the Talbot County Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Robert Morris Inn in Oxford. Eastern Shore Land Conservancy Executive Director Rob Etgen gave a presentation about our work toward completing the Eastern Shore Conservation Center. We at ESLC are happy to be coming to Easton and becoming part of the community there. The luncheon was sponsored by Pier Pressure, which now is managing Easton Point Marina. The company also offers kayak rentals and other recreational boating services.
I was encouraged to see Gov. O’Malley host the Maryland Climate Change Summit and to hear the discussions on the effects of climate change, but many questions still need to be answered if we want a more resilient and prepared region. Here on the Eastern Shore, we are seeing the effects of climate change faster than nearly any other area in the country. According to the Governor, Maryland currently is losing 1.6 acres of land every day to sea-level rise. 584 acres a year may not seem significant, but what’s happening on that land is significant. Holland Island, just one of the 13 major Chesapeake islands to forever be sunk into the Bay, was within the past 100 years a significant place that included a thriving community of 70 homes, over 350 residents, a main street, stores, a school, a church, a baseball team and more. It’s all gone. Lost land doesn’t immediately affect those that live inland, but what about the effects of rising temperatures on farming and human health? Will fungi or other pests prosper, or will longer growing seasons significantly increase farm outputs? Are our roads and bridges planned to serve us through rising sea levels and more powerful storms? The Eastern Shore and its people have been resilient throughout history, but in order for us to adapt to a warmer and wetter climate, we need to prepare. The land and life here are precious and as the Governor said, “It’s not just about what we stand for; it’s about what we stand on.” Rob Etgen Executive Director
Letter to the Editor 7/11/2013: Recent news about climate change reveals big issues facing the Eastern Shore: a shrinking shoreline, more and bigger storms, more salinity in our lands and farms. According to the United States Geological Survey, the Chesapeake Bay will rise two feet by 2050. Every person in the region will be affected in some way, with Dorchester County especially vulnerable with submersion of region-defining landmarks such as the Blackwater Wildlife Refuge and sites along the newly minted Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument. The sea is coming, and news isn’t good … so, what now? The Eastern Shore has faced adversity before. Our history is thick with challenges, which more recently include battles over development, shifting agriculture, and traffic clogging our roadways. Through all this, a fierce combination of ingenuity, regional identity, independence, and perhaps out-and-out stubbornness has kept the Eastern Shore together as a region, and as a place we are still proud to call home. Sea level rise is just one important trend to consider – our demographics, development patterns, and economic activity also are forecasted to shift greatly. Our Eastern Shore of tomorrow likely will look very different from the one we live in today. Rather than let these forces of change wash over the region, today is the opportune time to take control. How can we build resilience regionally to safeguard what’s most important? And, of equal importance, how do we find opportunity in the changes ahead? For this conversation about our region’s gameplan for what’s ahead, mark Thursday, Oct. 3 on your calendar for the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy’s 14th Eastern Shore planning conference: The Unsinkable Eastern Shore – Regional Resilience and Prosperity. From this event, expect the details about these trends facing the region and a showcase of actions and planning already underway. Help build a strategy
UNSINKABLE EASTERN SHORE REGIONAL RESILIENCE AND PROSPERITY Join us Thursday, Oct. 3, at the Tidewater Inn in Easton. Check eslc.org/unsinkableshore regularly for conference speaker announcements and registration.
By Bill Thompson Editor’s note: The building known as Brick Row neighbors the former McCord building in Easton. Fire damaged Brick Row in 2012, and former owner Helaine White donated the building to Eastern Shore Land Conservancy late that year. The handsome yet unimposing brick structure at 130 South Washington Street in Easton, next door to the McCord building, has been known by several informal names. Lately, it is referred to as the “White Building” in honor of Helaine L. White, a longtime Talbot County Realtor who transferred the property to the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy in a deed dated December 28, 2012. For brief periods it was called “Lawyers Row” and, in the late 1800s, “Barrow’s Row” after the maiden name of Mary A. Hughes, who owned the building with husband William H. Hughes. But for most of its early life—it was erected in 1850 and possibly earlier—"Brick Row" was how local residents knew it and listed it in land records. The word “row” is significant in that what clearly today is a single two-story, multiple-unit structure with a shared façade may have been originally four separate buildings. In fact, a 1904 deed recording the sale of the property describes the premises as “four two story brick dwellings,” not one brick structure with four units. Whether the original Brick Row was one or multiple buildings, it is believed that it may have been designed as low-cost “factory dwellings,” according to a 1967 Maryland Historical Trust historic site report. That same report describes the building architecture as “a late Federal design” with “a gently pitched A-roof.” The report continues: “There are 4 entryways and each house is 3 bays wide. In the center of the row is an areaway with a rounded brick arch. This areaway permits access to the rear of the property. The windows are
GIANT CLOTHING SALE! EASTERN SHORE CONSERVATION CENTER Clear Out the Cleaners As Long As the Clothes Last… Friday, Saturday and Sunday June 28, 29 &30 9 AM to 4 PM The former McCord Laundry building 120 S. Washington St., Easton $5 a Bag (Bags Provided - fill as full as you can) Women’s and Men’s Clothing and Household Items
Through their Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs), Eastern Shore Counties are playing a pivotal leadership role in saving the Chesapeake Bay. The Eastern Shore has emerged at the forefront of all the rural regions in the Chesapeake Bay watershed for your WIP work. However, there are serious challenges ahead to get the job done. From the counties, continued action is needed. And ESLC, our partners, and the State need to build a net of funding and support for our local governments. Together we can meet this challenge with the resourcefulness and ingenuity that makes us the Eastern Shore.
In partnership with the small town of East New Market and with funding from the Dorchester Heart of the Chesapeake Heritage Authority, ESLC led a community conversation to help create a plan for an 8-acre property at risk of a residential development incongruent with the look and feel of the existing town. The property at the town center is historically important to the community. Residents recognized a natural recreational opportunity at the site. With help from university design students, a vision for a park was so strong, it inspired the town’s first general obligation bond to purchase the property. This land now is held in permanent protection by the Maryland Environmental Trust’s first urban conservation easement (co-held with ESLC), and the town is exploring options for new bike and walking paths, as well as a community garden.
CAMBRIDGE - Bike sharrows have been installed on Maryland Avenue as part of the Cambridge Gateways project, an effort of the City of Cambridge and Eastern Shore Land Conservancy to improve the entry into the City and encourage travelers to discover the vibrant Cambridge downtown. Cambridge residents involved in the Cambridge Gateways project noted a desire to see better bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure at the gateway. Eastern Shore Land Conservancy approached the Cambridge City Council to approve the temporary installation of bike sharrows pavement markers for 120 days to allow staff to measure the rider frequency on Maryland Avenue. The temporary bike sharrows also help educate all road users on bicycle safety. The bike sharrows were installed on April 9 as part of the Cambridge Gateways design phase. Cambridge Department of Public Works staff members, Sarah Abel from the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, and Jeff M. Duthie, a traffic safety representative from 3M were all on hand to install the bike sharrow pavement markings. 3M provided the bike sharrows and installation training to meet Maryland State Highway guidelines for bicycle safety designations. Bike sharrows are pavement markings that indicate cyclists are allowed in the road lane. Cyclists should ride on the right side of the lane, heading the same direction as cars. The temporary bike sharrows should only be used heading from U.S. Route 50 in to downtown, to obey directional traffic. Drivers should pay attention for cyclists, as should cyclists for drivers. All should obey traffic signals and signs. Maryland law requires drivers give cyclists three feet on roadways. For more information on sharing the road with cyclists, visit: http://www.choosesafetyforlife.com/pdfs/Bicycle_Booklet.pdf The sharrows will be in place until August 8 to measure the number of bicycle infrastructure users at the peak season in Cambridge. Please email any comments or pictures of bike sharrow users to Eastern Shore Land
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