Chestertown’s waterfront just got a lot more interesting, thanks to a new outdoor exhibit created by Echo Hill Outdoor School. Along the dock near the Outdoor School’s floating fleet, a new series of signs, interactive stations and displays tell the story of the Chesapeake’s working waterfronts, vessels, maritime communities and culture.
The exhibit, developed in partnership with Locust Grove Studios, uses the School’s historic vessels to explore the ways the Chesapeake historic environment shaped the region’s people and places.
Eight signs in total tell the stories of skipjack Elsworth, bateau Ric and buyboat Annie D, and detail bygone Black maritime communities like Chestertown’s Scott’s Point. Other signs share the biographies of boatbuilder Stanley Vansant and writer Gilbert Byron, and discuss the history of oystering, steamboats, and more.
An introductory panel provides an overview of the School’s mission and history. Additional “fun facts” provide extra information, and several of the signs are capped with boat silhouettes that provide visitors with a full side view of the historic vessels.
In addition to the exhibit panels, dockside visitors can test their skills of knot tying on an interactive rope display, and an oyster dredge, winch, crane and oyster bushel display suggests the oystering heyday of Elsworth and Annie D.
To ensure maximum accessibility for exhibit visitors, Echo Hill Outdoor School also upgraded the decking on the piers and finger piers where the exhibit is installed. Completed during the first summer of the pandemic when Echo Hill Outdoor School was closed, the work was finished by Outdoor School staff on a volunteer basis.
Currently, the exhibit is fully open to the public, and Chestertown visitors are encouraged to stop by and take in the panels, history, and stories of the Chesapeake’s past. And new panels will soon join the waterfront signage. Associate Director Andrew McCown, who spearheaded the project, is currently working on additional panels for the exhibit that explore the Chester River’s steamboat history and the future of the Chesapeake environment.
To view the new Echo Hill Outdoor School dockside exhibit, visitors can access the interpretive signs at the Chestertown Marina year-round. For directions, or to plan your trip: https://goo.gl/maps/s3N6VvHcg7ZxupXs7
