John Wingate

Easton, MD is an arts and cultural center with a population of over 14,000 individuals who love living in a small town that offers the best of many worlds; access to large metropolitan areas like Baltimore, Annapolis, Washington, and Wilmington; good health care from a strong local hospital and medical community; casual and gourmet dining; shopping for all budgets from collectibles to fine antiques; eclectic art galleries; numerous public golf courses; the splendid Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries in their backyard for sailing, canoeing, kayaking, and crabbing; a historic Town Center with Colonial and Victorian architecture; and an active local community that welcomes new ideas and enthusiasm.

Easton has deep historical roots; in 1711, the first courthouse for Talbot County established the site of the town and it has been the center of trade and government ever since. Since the earliest days, the town residents have been people who came to do business, participate in county government, and be a part of the community's future. Today's residents are no different; many have moved to Easton for the same mix of small town community life and economic opportunity that have been attracting people since the early eighteenth century. This is not a static, backwater group of people!

Easton, MD TOWN'S CREED

I BELIEVE in Our Town - first, last and all the time;

I BELIEVE it's the Best in the Land.

I BELIEVE in our ideals of "Boost Our Town - Buy at Home."

I BELIEVE in our institutions, religious, education and commercial.

I BELIEVE in Peach - not Strife.

I BELIEVE in talking Prosperity - not Depression.

I BELIEVE in Service - not Servitude.

I BELIEVE in making Our Town a power in the State, and if we all get together, BOOST and BUY AT HOME it will make all highways into Our Town real 'HIGHWAYS TO SUCCESS.

I BELIEVE in Encouragement - not Criticism.

I BELIEVE in spreading Good News - gossip is Social Poison.

I BELIEVE in Boosting - not Knocking.

I BELIEVE in Truthfulness - Falsehood is a liability.

I BELIEVE in our Home Blessing.

I BELIEVE in Preparedness today for the greater tasks of tomorrow.

A man who neglects his duty as a citizen of his own town is not entitled to his rights as a citizen of any town.

Ocean City, MD has been a vacation spot for a while, at least by American standards. The first beach-front cottage that accepted paying guests was built here by Isaac Coffin in 1869. Other properties soon followed, but given the natural geographic barrier thrown up by the Chesapeake Bay, the area was primarily visited by folks from Baltimore, Philadelphia and Wilmington, rather than Washington, D.C. Eventually, Ocean City became popular enough to attract one of its most prominent demographics……land developers.

The beach was cut into lots and, on July 4, 1875, the enormous (for its time) Atlantic Hotel opened up. Still, until the turn of the century, Ocean City was a quiet place, with a tiny full-time population that was tied to the sea by more than tourism. Fishing was a livelihood, and a local coast guard kept their eyes to the water to watch for the shipwrecks that the rough Atlantic so often produced.

By 1876, the railways connected OC to the rest of the U.S., and by the early 20th century the town was a popular regional getaway. A powerful four-day storm in 1933 didn’t change this situation, but it dramatically reshaped the physical lay of the land. Wind and water cut an inlet on the southern edge of town that revived fishing and turned the Assateague peninsula into Assateague Island, giving geographic justification for protecting that spit of land.

The completion of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in 1952 and Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in 1964 opened the entire Delmarva Peninsula to the rest of the country, and, by the 1970s, Ocean City was a glittering condo canyon. With the end of the Cold War, Ocean City became a popular place for young Eastern Europeans with work visas, which explains all that Slovakian slang you sometimes hear.

Today Ocean City is, to put it lightly, over-developed, a situation that hasn’t been particularly kind to the beaches. Ocean City has a boardwalk of over 10 miles in length with shops and restaurants.

Ocean City, MD

Ocean Sity, MD Storm Damage

Ocean City, MD White Marlin

Millville, DE is a small town of 206 and is only 3 miles from Bethany Beach, DE. Millville has many vacation homes, rentals and hotels for their community of nearby towns. Millville has a growing number of businesses, including large chain grocery stores, are serving nearby communities and Route 26 beach traffic. The Millville Volunteer Fire Co., serves not only Millville but other area communities, as well and it is their price and joy.

Historic Millville, DE Firehouse

Selbyville, DE history goes all the way back to its founding in 1778. Selbyville was incorporated in 1902 and now has a population of 1,645.

Selbyville was originally known as Sandy Branch due to its location at the head of the St. Martin's River, where a mill and saw mill operated. In 1842, Sampson Selby began marking packages for delivery to his country store, Selby-Ville.

By 1918, Selbyville was the major supplier of strawberries for the entire east coast, an industry that remained strong until the 1930s.

Selbyville, DE Library

Ellendale, DE has a population 342 and is located on Routes 113 and 16 on a major route to the Delaware beaches. Ellendale is about halfway between Milford and Georgetown and was founded in the early 1800s. Ellendale was incorporated in 1905, it was first settled near the Morris Tavern Crossroads by a handful of families. Named after the daughter of Whig Republican Alfred Short, a state legislator, Ellendale's current site was established in 1866 when the families moved east to settle around the Junction and Breakwater Railroad Depot.