This is Teackle Mansion, currently home of the Somerset county Historical Society.  Over two centuries old, the house’s first brick was laid in 1802.   The full 20 rooms of the mansion weren’t finished for 17 years, but at that time it was one of the largest buildings on the eastern shore, and was most certainly a symbol of the wealth of the Teackles.

The home was also the setting for the book, The Entailed Hat, by George Alfred Townsend.  The book is largely about Patty Cannon, a woman who kidnapped free black men from the eastern shore in the early 19th  centry to sell them into slavery in the south.  The book is supposed to represent an accurate portrayal of life around Princess Anne at the time, but it comes with a warning that it also offers an accurate representation of the racist attitudes and perceptions of its time. 

This shot is pretty self  explanitory.  It’s the water tower in Crisfield, which like so many things in that town, is decorated with the likeness of a crab.

Yesterday’s post about the Howard County courthouse reminded me of this picture.  Maybe one day MDP will have pictures of all the state’s courts. 

It’s a complete coincidence that the Manokin Church drew MDP to it’s graveyard on the way to Crisfield because the Crisfield family is buried there.  You may have noticed the disconnect here.   The Crisfields are buried in Princess Anne, not in the town of Crisfield!  Why?  Becasue they actually had very little to do with the town itself. 

It turns out that the town Crisfield took it’s name from JW Crisfield, a Princess Anne resident who brought the railroads twenty miles south to the bay at a town which would then bare his name.  We see the graves of his offspring in this picture as their names are still clearly marked. 

If you thought we were out of South-Eastern MD, I’m afraid you have a few more days of waiting.  However, I can assure you that the historical intrigue is worth the wait.   Why, because of a family that is buried in the cemetery outside of this church in Princess Anne.  Any guesses?

As for the church itself, there is a bit of interesting history here too.  The historical marker outside the building reads

I always like it when a business (especially a restaurant) announces their purpose by erecting a giant plastic replica of it.  In this case, we know that this restaurant, Side St. Seafood in Crisfield, is likely to serve you crabs.   I would have really loved it if the was a green shaded crab somewhere closer to the dock to denote a company that catches live crabs.   I guess some folks aren’t as creative as others. 

There are plenty more examples of this sort of thing that I can post. I’m thinking you: Pig on top of Andy Nelson’s barbeque.

Walking though Princess Anne, I was struck by the appearance of this building.  It is hard to say exactly what is so special about it as the colors and the archetecture are unique and eye catching.  I took this picture and did some research when I got home.  That is when I learned that this house was built by the “lumber baron” of Princess Anne, Charles H. Hayman, who owned both the lumber concern and the local hardware store.   While I did not get to enjoy it myself, it seems that the inside is the most impressive part of the home as it is decked out in fine woods.  

Here’s a view of the action at the softshell crab festival in Crisfield.  You are seeing the later half of the assembly line.  In the back the crabs are fried, and in the front you can see the white bread that will await those crabs when they come out of the fryer.  Then, there’s a person to take your money and give you a sandwich. 

Princess Anne (a town found on the way south to Crisfield on rt. 13) contains one of the oldest, if not the absolute oldest continuously operating Police stations in the state.  Built in 1857, the building has been recently restored and will continue to operate as a full service police station.    The grey stones which lent the building its nickname “Grey Eagle” make up 3 foot thick walls. 

This is a picture from the county dock in Crisfield, in Somerset County.  Located on the south-eastern end of the bay, Crisfield was home to the softshell crab festival this past weekend and it remained a popular destination even with the overcast and occasionally rainy weather.  Out to the distance on the water you can see James Island State Park.