Holland Island
Encyclopedia
Holland Island is a marshy, rapidly-eroding
island in the Chesapeake Bay
, in Dorchester County
, Maryland
, west of Salisbury
. The island was once inhabited by "watermen" (commercial fishermen) and farmers, but has since been abandoned. It is located in the Holland Strait, between Bloodsworth Island
and Smith Island
, six miles west of Wenona, Maryland
.
s and 36 bugeye
s, some of which were built on the island.
The wind and tide began to seriously erode the west side of the island, where most of the houses were located, in 1914. This forced the inhabitants to move to the mainland. Many disassembled their houses and other structures and took them to the mainland, predominantly Crisfield
. Attempts to protect the island by building stone walls were unsuccessful. The last family left the island in 1918, when a tropical storm damaged the island's church. A few of the former residents continued living on the island during the fishing season until 1922, when the church was moved to Fairmount, Maryland.
Stephen White, a minister, cared for the island for many years and formed The Holland Island Preservation Foundation. In mid-2010, White sold the island to the Concorde Foundation. In October 2010, the last remaining house on Holland Island, built in 1888, collapsed.
, a lighthouse
originally built to the south of Holland Island in 1889, was dismantled and replaced with an automated light in 1960.
, the return to normal of bulges created by the weight of glaciers elsewhere during the last ice age. This process, combined with rising sea levels, has caused a major loss of land on the island. Like other Chesapeake Bay islands, Holland Island is primarily made up of clay
and silt
, not rock. The western ridge of the island is very exposed to waves in the bay, making it prone to erosion as well. The island's size has been reduced by half, from 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) in 1915 to 80 acre (0.3237488 km²) in 2005.
Most of the remaining land on the island is now marsh, and at high tide the island is underwater. Many birds, including terns, herons, songbirds, and brown pelican
s are found on the island. A survey in 1995 counted 609 nesting pairs in a heron rookery on the island. Huricane Isabel, a tropical storm by the time it reached Maryland in September 2003, destroyed 60 percent of the trees that previously served the rookery.
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
island in the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
, in Dorchester County
Dorchester County, Maryland
Dorchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland on its Eastern Shore. It is bordered by the Choptank River to the north, Talbot County to the northwest, Caroline County to the northeast, Wicomico County to the southeast, Sussex County, Delaware, to the east, and the Chesapeake...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, west of Salisbury
Salisbury, Maryland
-Demographics:Salisbury is the principal city of the Salisbury-Ocean Pines CSA, a Combined Statistical Area that includes the Salisbury metropolitan area and the Ocean Pines micropolitan area , which had a combined population of 176,657 at the 2010 census.As of the census of 2000, there were...
. The island was once inhabited by "watermen" (commercial fishermen) and farmers, but has since been abandoned. It is located in the Holland Strait, between Bloodsworth Island
Bloodsworth Island
Bloodsworth Island is an island in the Chesapeake Bay. It lies in southern Dorchester County, Maryland. For much of the 20th century, it was used as a naval gunnery range. Due to extensive contamination by unexploded ordinance, the island is currently off-limits to the...
and Smith Island
Smith Island, Maryland
Smith Island is a census-designated place in Somerset County, Maryland, United States. It is included in the Salisbury, Maryland Metropolitan Statistical Area....
, six miles west of Wenona, Maryland
Wenona, Maryland
Wenona is an unincorporated community located on Deal Island in Somerset County, Maryland, United States. It is located at the western end of Maryland Route 363, Deal Island Road....
.
History
Holland Island was originally settled in the 1600s, taking its name from early colonist Daniel Holland, the original purchaser of the property from the Dorchester County Sheriff. By 1850, the first community of fishing and farming families developed on the island. By 1910, the island had about 360 residents, making it one of the largest inhabited islands in the Chesapeake Bay. The island community had 70 homes, stores and other buildings. It had its own post office, two-room school with two teachers, a church, baseball team, community center, and a doctor. The islanders supported themselves mainly by dredging for oysters, fishing for shad and crabbing. Their fleet of workboats included 41 skipjacks, 10 schoonerSchooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
s and 36 bugeye
Bugeye
The bugeye is a type of sailboat developed in the Chesapeake Bay for oyster dredging. The predecessor of the skipjack, it was superseded by the latter as oyster harvests dropped.- Origins :...
s, some of which were built on the island.
The wind and tide began to seriously erode the west side of the island, where most of the houses were located, in 1914. This forced the inhabitants to move to the mainland. Many disassembled their houses and other structures and took them to the mainland, predominantly Crisfield
Crisfield, Maryland
Crisfield is a city in Somerset County, Maryland, United States, located on the Tangier Sound, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. The population was 2,723 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Salisbury, Maryland Metropolitan Statistical Area...
. Attempts to protect the island by building stone walls were unsuccessful. The last family left the island in 1918, when a tropical storm damaged the island's church. A few of the former residents continued living on the island during the fishing season until 1922, when the church was moved to Fairmount, Maryland.
Stephen White, a minister, cared for the island for many years and formed The Holland Island Preservation Foundation. In mid-2010, White sold the island to the Concorde Foundation. In October 2010, the last remaining house on Holland Island, built in 1888, collapsed.
Lighthouse
The Holland Island Bar LightHolland Island Bar Light
The Holland Island Bar Light was a screw-pile lighthouse in the Chesapeake Bay which existed from 1889 to 1960. It is remembered for the unexplained death of one of its keepers, and for being "attacked" by United States Navy pilots during a training exercise....
, a lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
originally built to the south of Holland Island in 1889, was dismantled and replaced with an automated light in 1960.
Geology and ecology
The land of the island has been subsiding as a result of post-glacial reboundPost-glacial rebound
Post-glacial rebound is the rise of land masses that were depressed by the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, through a process known as isostasy...
, the return to normal of bulges created by the weight of glaciers elsewhere during the last ice age. This process, combined with rising sea levels, has caused a major loss of land on the island. Like other Chesapeake Bay islands, Holland Island is primarily made up of clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
and silt
Silt
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
, not rock. The western ridge of the island is very exposed to waves in the bay, making it prone to erosion as well. The island's size has been reduced by half, from 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) in 1915 to 80 acre (0.3237488 km²) in 2005.
Most of the remaining land on the island is now marsh, and at high tide the island is underwater. Many birds, including terns, herons, songbirds, and brown pelican
Brown Pelican
The Brown Pelican is the smallest of the eight species of pelican, although it is a large bird in nearly every other regard. It is in length, weighs from and has a wingspan from .-Range and habits:...
s are found on the island. A survey in 1995 counted 609 nesting pairs in a heron rookery on the island. Huricane Isabel, a tropical storm by the time it reached Maryland in September 2003, destroyed 60 percent of the trees that previously served the rookery.
External links
- The Holland Island Preservation Foundation
- Diagram of the effects of Erosion on Holland Island, The disappearing islands of the Chesapeake.