Queen Anne's County

queen anne county seal

Queen Anne's County, located on Maryland's Eastern Shore, extends from the Mason-Dixon Line and Delaware to the Chesapeake on the west and is bordered on the north by Kent County, and on the south by Talbot and Caroline counties. The county was created in 1706 from Dorchester, Talbot, and Kent counties. It is named for Queen Anne (1665-1714), who ruled Great Britain and Ireland from 1702 until 1714.

Like Kent County, Queen Anne's County is mostly dairy country, with fields sown in feed crops, especially corn, soybeans, and hay. Small amounts of barley, essential for dairy feed, are also grown. In the autumn and winter, thousands of Canadian geese can be seen feeding in the fields and along streams throughout the county.

Centreville, the county seat, is a well kept, quiet town typical of the Eastern Shore. The courthouse was completed in 1792 and the town was laid out in 1794. Fire has destroyed most of the older houses, but the courthouse itself remains, one of only two eighteenth-century courthouses left standing in Maryland.

Wright's Chance, Reed's Creek, and Tucker House are but a few of the historic houses in the county. The county is also the birthplace of Charles Willson Peale, who painted the portraits of many revolutionary era personages, including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and John Hanson.

Ferry line from Baltimore's terminus stop at Love Point
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Love Point was the terminus of a ferry line from Baltimore. In 1940 the cost was two dollars for the car and driver; additional passengers were fifty cents each. This view of the steamer Westmoreland was taken in June 1909.


walnut street on church hill
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Church Hill takes its name from St. Luke's Protestant Episcopal Church, which cost 140,000 pounds of tobacco to build in 1731. This view of Walnut Street was made for a picture post card at the beginning of the century.


mary semey and family in sheep pen
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Mary Semey joined her father and their farm hands to inspect the livestock at their barn in Price, c. 1910.


emma sadler standing on railroad car step at love point
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Circa 1909, Emma Sadler stands on a railroad car step at Love Point, a favorite fishing spot.


love point summer resort
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A popular summer resort, Love Point featured a modern hotel, several boarding houses, and bathing facilities. The hotel was a particular favorite with vacationers from Baltimore.