Though the Delmarva Almanac is no longer being published, these videos continue to present valuable and interesting content. Public events and/or reference links mentioned in them were accurate at the time they were produced. There should be no expectation that such information continues to remain valid.
A Lesser Known DuPont Legacy
Louisa d'Andelot Carpenter was a DuPont heiress who made a lesser known legacy to Delaware's cultural heritage.
A Short History of The Rehoboth Art League
Since its founding the Rehoboth Art League has provided a variety of art learning experiences for artists and art enthusiasts.
Absalom Jones & Richard Allen
It is interesting to note how many people from Delmarva have had a profound impact on the early Civil Rights movement.
America’s Love Of Oysters
We'll hear from Charlie Pertocci, an historian and former game warden, who lectures about our seafood heritage and has organized a local seafood festival or two. I asked him to tell me about our seafood heritage here on Delmarva and America's love affair with the oyster.
Annie Jump Cannon
Dover native Annie Jump Cannon was known as the "Census Taker" of the stars.
Assateague Island’s Early Beginnings
Assateague Island is 37 miles long and actually home to three separately managed parks. The story of how it got divvied up goes back a few hundred years.
Charles Chaillé-Long
Princess Anne has an interesting history, I recently came across a character who was born there that has largely been forgotten. Charles Chaillé-Long was a Delmarva native who explored Africa in the late 19th century.
Cheney Clow’s Last Stand
During the Revolutionary War, there was one particular loyalist, or Tory, named Cheney Clow who was credited with sparking the only armed skirmishes of the war to take place in Kent County, Delaware.
Colonial Holiday Meals
Marilyn Buerkle visited Pemberton Hall, an 18th century home in Wicomico County, to learn more about colonial festivities on Delmarva.
Delmarva Heritage Site: The Pocomoke River
The Pocomoke River runs through the heartland of Delmarva and all three of its states. Its headwaters begin in the Great Cypress Swamp of southern Delaware and it travels about forty-five miles south through Maryland and Virginia; through forests, farmland, wide open marshes, and finally empties into the Chesapeake Bay. Its wildlife and its history are equally rich.
Delmarva River & Bay Pilots
Learn about the people responsible for guiding ships through our rivers and bays.
Delmarva Witchtrials
With Halloween just a few days away it is that time of year we indulge in scary stories. Delmarva has many ghostly legends chronicled in books and now by tour guides across the region. We also have a small history of witchcraft.
Delmarva’s Coastal Lifesaving Service
During winter months Delmarva's coastline has seen many stories of storms, shipwrecks, and the surfmen who manned local lifesaving stations and the daring rescues they performed.
Delmarva’s Oldest Living Civil War Veteran
Our story is about was Corp. Isaiah Fassett.
Delmarva’s Railway Heritage
Today commercial cargo trains regularly travel the length of our peninsula. Sadly passenger service no longer exists here. But our railway heritage is not forgotten.
Delmarva’s Whispering Giants
In two of Delmarva’s Beach towns there are large statues honoring the native peoples of this region One is in Bethany Beach and the other is in Ocean City. These are part of a series of statues called the Trail of Whispering Giants.
Delmarva’s World War II Prisoner Of War Camps
As I watch the weekly migration of tourists flocking to our shorelines for vacation I am reminded of some not so willing visitors to our beautiful peninsula. I am not talking about recalcitrant teenagers who would rather do anything than be cooped up in a car or a small hotel room with their loving but annoying family. I am referring to World War II prisoners of war.
Eagles at Blackwater Refuge
Naturalist Jim Rapp will tell us the story of eagles their history and life at Blackwater Refuge near Cambridge, Maryland.
Edmund Scarborough & Ann Toft
This is the story about colonial Delmarva’s power couple Edmund Scarborough and Ann Toft.
FDR’s Labor Day Visit To Delmarva
In 1938 President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited the peninsula and gave a Labor Day speech in Denton, Maryland.
Finding The McCabe Roots - Part I
Genealogy - is becoming more and more popular with television shows and online subscription services like ancestry.com. My father in law, Vernon McCabe, had only a passing interest in history when some family business led him to a lifelong fascination with genealogy.
Finding The McCabe Roots - Part II
This is part two of our interview with Vernon McCabe about the search for his ancestors.
Fire’s Toll On Delmarva’s Towns
Just about every town on Delmarva has had at least one major fire in its history.
First To Ratify The Constitution
On December 7th we celebrated the 228th anniversary of Delaware ratifying the U.S. Constitution. So it seems like a good time to tell a few of the stories associated with that most significant event.
Fishermen By Day - Bootleggers By Night
A documentary short film on Prohibition in Ocean City, Maryland.
Brought back from our archives in honor of the late George Hurley and his wife Suzanne - historians and founders of the Ocean City Lifesaving Station Museum.
Gloria Richardson Dandridge
Meet Cambridge civil rights hero Gloria Richardson Dandridge.
How Misty Made Chincoteague Horses Famous
This is the story behind the beloved children's book Misty of Chincoteague.
Legends of Eastern Shore Pirates
Not all the tales of Delmarva's legendary pirates are true - but they have filled the imaginations of storytellers for centuries.
Milford’s Shipbuilding Past
During the age of wooden sailing vessels many of Delmarva's deeper creeks and rivers once had shipbuilding operations.
Milton’s Five Governors
Milton bears the distinction of having five United States Governors who once called it home, four serving right here in the state of Delaware.
Mindie Burgoyne & Haunted Delmarva
Meet Mindie Burgoyne a storyteller who tells Delmarva's haunted history.
Norwood’s Trip To The Beach
Have you ever wondered who the first tourist was to enjoy a beach vacation in Ocean City? Henry Norwood may not have been the first - but he probably had one of the worst trips to the beach ever.
Ocean City’s Lady Entrepreneurs
It has long been said that Ocean City's success as a resort can be greatly credited to women entrepreneurs.
Our Crabbing Heritage
Anyone who has ever lived on or visited Delmarva knows about the popularity of blue crabs. People come from all over just to enjoy them served hot from the steamer, as crab cakes, or in some other tasty dish. The story of these crustaceans tells the story of Delmarva.
Rev. Charles A. Tindley
This is the story of one of America's great gospel music composers and a Delmarva native.
Salisbury’s Beginnings
Hear about the early colonial days of Salisbury and Wicomico County.
Shore-Made Pearl Buttons
With all the oysters being harvested along Delmarva's shores it is not surprising to learn that businesses developed which could make use of the remnant shells.
Slavery On Delmarva
Racial conflict continues to be a big part of our public discourse. It is hard to deny that our heritage of state sanctioned slavery is at root of these tensions. This is a brief overview of the history of slavery on Delmarva.
Snow Hill Counterfeiter Tales
This is a story we are updating which began with tales of some interesting historical characters who have been associated with Snow Hill, the county seat of Worcester County.
Somerset County’s Cry Baby Bridge
Mindie Burgoyne tells us a ghost story about Tull's Corner Maryland, in honor of Halloween.
Sophie Kerr Underwood
Every year Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland awards the Sophie Kerr Prize to their graduating senior who is deemed to have the most literary promise. But who was Sophie Kerr?
Tales of Snow Hill
Nestled peacefully on the Pocomoke River, Snow Hill has a storied past. Named for a small town near London, it served as a trade center during the colonial period and was made the seat of government for Worcester County in 1742.
Teackle Mansion
Marilyn Buerkle takes a look at what life was like back then for the woman who lived in one of the Eastern Shore's most celebrated homes.
The Battle Of Kitty Knight
This is the story of Kitty Knight who single handedly defended the home of an elderly neighbor from attacking British forces.
The Chocolate Murders
Artists Jan Crumpley and Taylor Collins at the Parke Green Galleries on State Street by the Green in Dover shared some stories about that neighborhood's local history including a notorious crime that was committed in San Francisco but took a lives here on Delmarva.
The Early Days of Baseball on Delmarva
From the late 1800's on baseball was an obsession on Delmarva.
The Eastern Shore’s Early Free Press
One of the oldest papers still in publication under its original name in the U.S. began in 1841 in Elkton, Maryland.
The Johnson Victrola Museum
Occasional Almanac contributor Marilyn Buerkle takes us to Dover to visit the Johnson Victrola Museum.
The Legacy of Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman became known as the "Moses" of her people because of her work helping her family escape slavery on the Underground Rail Road.
The Legend of Patty Cannon
There is hardly a person who has lived on Delmarva for any length of time who has not heard the tale of Patty Cannon.
The Milford Bard
This story is about John Lofland who is known as the Milford bard, and who was born at the Milford landmark know as the Towers.
The Nassawango Iron Furnace
The Nassawango Iron Furnace rises up in the forest looking ancient and mysterious. It is an historic reminder of the beginnings of the industrial revolution.
The Native Wicomicos
Find out a bit about Delmarva's Native American history.
The Oxford-Bellevue Ferry
The Oxford-Bellevue Ferry was started in 1683 and except for a pause caused by the American Revolution it has been running ever since.
The Transpeninsular Line
The story of the Transpeninsular Line goes back several centuries and it is a somewhat twisted tale in which bad maps led to bad blood.
The Ward Brothers: Singing Barbers
Lem and Steve Ward were not just barbers they were musicians. Hear them sing in their barbershop quartet.
The Wreck of the HMS De Braak
The wreck in Delaware Bay of a sloop of war called the HMS De Braak has inspired tales of treasure more than two centuries.
Thomas Savage - American Dreamer
This is the story of Thomas Savage who was probably the first permanent English settler here on Virginia's Eastern Shore.
Tidbits From Milford’s History
All of Delmarva's towns have interesting histories and Milford, Delaware is no different.
Touring The Rehoboth Beach Museum
The Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer, a time when Delmarva's beach towns are packed with people trying to soak up in a week what natives can enjoy year round. It's a cycle that has repeated for more than a century.
What is in the name of Caroline County?
Most of the history books simply say that Caroline County was named in honor of the wife of the last colonial Governor of Maryland. However there is a much more complicated family drama behind the name - worthy of any soap opera
