Tawes Museum opens for the season with agricultural heritage displays

Posted 5/3/22

CRISFIELD — “Over 50 carloads shipped daily from Marion alone,” reads a 100-year-old headline from The Crisfield Times. The story concluded, “Indications now point to a …

You must be a member to read this story.

Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.


Already a member? Log in to continue.   Otherwise, follow the link below to join.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Tawes Museum opens for the season with agricultural heritage displays

Posted

CRISFIELD — “Over 50 carloads shipped daily from Marion alone,” reads a 100-year-old headline from The Crisfield Times. The story concluded, “Indications now point to a million-dollar berry crop for Somerset County this season.”

This 1922 article is one of the fascinating artifacts from Somerset’s Agricultural Heritage, one of the new exhibits featured at the 2022 grand opening of the J. Millard Tawes Museum, Saturday, May 7, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Opening day will feature new merchandise at the museum gift shop, where visitors can enter a drawing to win a gift basket. Live crabs will be on display at the Shanty (behind the museum). In addition to the museum, the Crisfield Heritage Foundation manages the original Ward Brothers Workshop (3195 Sackertown Road), which will host award-wining carver Rich Smoker and others on opening day.

Also debuting in 2022 is a revolving exhibit titled Forgotten Villages of Somerset County. Where was Spencertown? Museum visitors will discover the answer in vintage photographs.

Other new displays link Crisfield’s past with her present: The recent loss of the “5-legger,” the Little Annemessex River Light, is memorialized in an exhibit on the original Somers Cove Lighthouse that stood for 65 years on the same spot.

Additions to the Briddell exhibit — including a stunning display of heritage sporting knives — coincide with the recent sale of Carvel Hall, the former Briddell family company on Crisfield Highway, to Phoenix Real Estate Holdings/Element MD, which plans to grow medical cannabis at the site.

New items related to the Museum’s namesake, Gov. J. Millard Tawes, will also be on display.

Somerset’s Agricultural Heritage and Forgotten Villages were funded in part by the Beach to Bay Heritage Area, a non-profit organization supporting the cultural heritage of Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Farming artifacts and photos were graciously loaned by the following: Danny Long/Long Bros.; Florence Horsey; Eugene & Kathy Kurtz; Susan Stuckey; and Vessey Orchards. Items were also shared by exhibit designer and museum volunteer Frank Rhodes.

Spencertown photos and maps are from the collections of Matt Powell and Philip Goldsborough.

The museum is located at 3 Ninth St. Regular hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., beginning May 10. The Crisfield Heritage Foundation relies on membership and volunteers to fulfill its commitment to preserving the area’s history and culture.

Learn more about the Crisfield Heritage Foundation through its Facebook page or visit crisfieldheritage.org. Call 410-968-2501 or email crisfieldheritagefdn@gmail.com.

Members and subscribers make this story possible.
You can help support non-partisan, community journalism.

x
X