July 11-12
Annual Nanticoke Riverfest
Seaford, DE
Celebrate the Nanticoke River with a float-in, canoe and kayak races, the Duck Dash, a carnival, youth fishing tournament, pontoon boat rides, Little Miss Pageant, live entertainment, crafters & exhibitors, and plenty of great food.
www.nanticokeriverfest.com.

National Lawn Mower Races
Racers from across the country will compete
in the St. Mary's County National Lawn Mower Races at Bowles Farms.
www.bowlesfarms.com

July 12-13
Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Show
Easton, MD

July 12
Lewes Historical Society Craft Show
Enjoy a day of Crafts, food and fun in the beautiful setting of The Lewes Historical Society grounds. Live music, baked goods, and refreshments available.
www.historiclewes.org

Potomac Jazz & Seafood Festival
St. Clement's Island Museum
Riverside venue offers three dynamic jazz groups,
Southern Maryland seafood, with hospitality at its best.
www.stmarysmd.com/recreate/museums

July 16
J. Millard Tawes Crab & Clam Bake
Somers Cove Marina/Crisfield.
Entertainment & all-u-can-eat seafood

July 17
Elkton Classic Car Show
Live entertainment, food, trophies.

July 19
Praise in the Park
Chestertown, MD
A day filled with Gospel music, praise dancing, worship, education, testimonies, inspirational messages, food, fun and fellowship in the Lord. Games and activities for children will be provided. Please bring a lawn chair and get your praise on!!
www.wipministries.com

Black - Eyed Susan Day
St. Clement's Island Museum
Bring your camera and a picnic and enjoy the 4000+ Black-Eyed Susans in full bloom. Maryland State Flower at Maryland's birthplace. www.stmarysmd.com/recreate/museums

July 19-20
Renaissance Festival
Gloucester, VA
Join in the medieval times of the Renaissance Festival! Adventures, human chess, jousting, and martial arts demonstrations fill up this fun day!

State and County Fairs
Delaware State Fair
July 17-26
Delaware Fairground, Harrington, DE
www.delawarestatefair.com/

Maryland State Fair
August 22-September 1
Timonium
www.bcpl.net/~mdstfair/

Anne Arundel County Fair
September 10 - 14
1450 General's Highway
Crownsville, MD
www.aacountyfair.org/

Calvert County Fair
September 24 - 28
www.calvertcountyfair.com/

Caroline-Dorchester County Fair
August 6-10
4-H Park, Denton, MD
www.caroline-dorchestercountyfair.org/

Cecil County Fair
July 18-26
Fail Hill Fairgrounds
www.cecilcountyfair.org/

Harford County Fair
July 31-Aug 3
Equestrian Center
608 N. Tollgate RD
Bel Air, MD
www.farmfair.org/

Kent County Fair
July 15-20
Kent Ag Center, Tolchester, MD
www.kentcounty.com/events/4-hfair/

Queen Anne's County Fair
August 11-16
4-H Park, Centreville, MD
www.queenannescofair.com/

Talbot County Fair
July 9-12
Easton, MD

Somerset County Fair
July 21-23
Princess Anne, MD
thegreatpocomokefair.org/

St. Mary's County Fair
September 18-21
Leonardtown, MD
smcfair.somd.com/Home.html

Wicomico Farm and Home Show
August 14-16
Salisbury, MD
www.wicomicofarmandhomeshow.com/

Worcester County Fair
August 8-10
Snow Hill, MD
worcestercountyfair.com/

For additional information on and others goto ShoreToBeFun.com

Check out DelmarvaUSA.com. This new website, still under development is going to tell all about Delmarva.

The Counties on the Peninsula.

The Towns on the Peninsula.

And Why the Peninsula is actually an Island.

All on: DelmarvaUSA.com.

The Delmarva Peninsula occupies portions of three states. It's named is formed from letters from Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.

The Fall Line, the line that separates the crystalline rocks of the Piedmont from the unconsolidated sediments of the Coastal Plain passes through the cities of Newark and Wilmington.

This Fall Line is the actual border of the Delmarva Peninsula, but for many northern border of Delmarva is the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. This would technically make the region not a peninsula but an Island, since you can't get on or off without crossing a body of water. However it's still regarded as a peninsula since the canal is man-made.

The oldest English settlements of the area were settled as part of the Virginia Colony. In 1631 the Colony of Maryland was chartered to Cæcilius Calvert giving him the rights to lands North of the Potomac River and east of the Chesapeake Bat to the Delaware River and Bay. This was followed in 1681 when William Penn was given a Charter for Pennsylvania that included the land area now known as Delaware.Even though for the first 150 years of English settlement the peninsula borders were questioned, Maryland felt that the entire peninsula should be part of the Maryland Colony, the peninsula fell under the control of three colonies. The borders were finally established by the Surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in 1767.

As far back as the mid 1600's a canal across the peninsula between the Delaware River and the Chesapeake Bay was discussed. Augustine Herman was the first proposed a canal. Herman was a mapmaker and developed one of the first maps of the upper Delmarva for the Calvert's of Maryland. It wasn't until the late 18th century that surveys of possible water routes were made. Even Benjamin Franklin was part of a group looking into the possibility.

In 1802 the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Company was incorporated. Construction would begin in 1814, but due to lack of funds the project was halted in 1816. In 1822 the canal company reorganized and with monetary support from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and the Federal Government work began again in April 1824. It was open for business in 1829 at a cost of near 2.5 million dollars.
The canal of 1829 is much different than it is today. Then it was 14 miles long, 10 feet deep, 66 feet wide at the water line and 36 feet at the bottom. Locks existed at Delaware City and St. Georges Delaware as well as two at Chesapeake City Maryland.

In 1919, the Federal Government purchased the canal. In the six years from 1921 to 1927 the Army Corps of Engineers converted it to a sea-level canal, widened it, and removed all the locks. Today the canal is 450 feet wide with a depth of 35 feet. The canal is a modern sea-level commercial waterway that carries about 40 percent of the ship traffic to the Port of Baltimore.

From the C&D canal to the peninsula's southern point at the tip of the Eastern Shore of Virginia it's about 180 miles. At it's widest it's about 60 miles, although most of the peninsula is much narrower. The land area is about 5.45 million square miles.

The other bodies of waters surrounding the peninsula are to the East, Delaware Bay, Delaware River, Atlantic Ocean; to the West, The Chesapeake Bay and to the South the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay as it flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

The western or Chesapeake Bay coast is indented and marshy. Most of its western coast is Maryland's Eastern Shore. The rest is the Virginia Eastern Shore west coast. The eastern coast is more regular with sandy beaches, especially along the Atlantic Ocean.

There are 5 bridges over the C&D canal to get onto the peninsula. These are at MD 213, Delaware 896, US 13, Delaware 1 and Delaware 9. There is also a railroad bridge that crosses the canal east of Delaware 896.

There are also two accesses to the peninsula across the Chesapeake Bay. One is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, which crosses the bay near Annapolis Maryland to Kent Island. The other is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, which, links Cape Charles, Va., the southern tip of the peninsula, with Norfolk, VA.

Prior to the opening of Maryland's Chesapeake Bay Bridge, officially called the William Preston Lane, Jr., Memorial Bridge in 1952, the only route across the Chesapeake Bay was through ferries. A parallel structure with three lanes was opened in 1973. These lanes are used for west bound traffic while the original 2 lane span is used for those east bound.

The shore-to-shore length of 4.3 miles makes it a long scenic over-water structure. Since 1975, typically on an early Sunday in May, the east bound span is closed to traffic for use by walkers for a scenic view of the bridge and bay. Although at times the walk has been cancelled due to weather conditions and once for security reasons.

Across the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay where it meets the Atlantic Ocean there is The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, officially the Lucius J. Kellam, Jr. Bridge-Tunnel. Its shore-to-shore distance is 17.6 miles and connects the Virginia town of Cape Charles with the city of Norfolk.

It opened in 1964, and consists of more than 12 miles of low trestle bridges, two suspension bridges and two tunnels, each a mile long under the shipping channels. It is considered the largest bridge-tunnel complex in the world.

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States with more than 150 rivers and streams flowing into it. The name Chesapeake comes from the Algonquian word Chesepiooc, which is thought to mean "Great Shellfish Bay" or "Great Water. A recent scientific discovery theorizes that the bay was created by a meteor that hit the earth about 35.5 million years ago.

Nine of Maryland's 23 counties are located on the peninsula. These being the counties of Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot, Caroline, Dorchester, Wicomico, Somerset, Worcester and a portion of Cecil County. The Virginia counties of Accomack and Northampton and the Delaware Counties of Kent, Sussex and a portion of New Castle County makes up the rest.

The 2000 census gives the total population residing in this area as 681,030 inhabitants.
A major part of the Delmarva Peninsula's economy is through agriculture, aquaculture, sports hunting and fishing, and tourism.

© 2007 Steven G. Atkinson - All Rights Reserved - ShoreToBeFun.com