With funding from Preservation Maryland, the Kent Conservation and Preservation Alliance has prepared and released a report and interactive map about the Eastern Shore county’s historic rural landscape.
In 2016, Preservation Maryland named the Kent Conservation and Preservation Alliance a Six-to-Fix project partners and dedicated financial, technical, and advocacy-focused resources in support of the Alliance’s vision for the preservation of the county. We are pleased to have been part of the substantial work undertaken by the Alliance including this latest Cultural Landscape Report.
The 132-page report was completed by Barton Ross & Partners, Robert McGinnis Landscape Architects, Washington College, and the Center for Environment and Society. The comprehensive document includes historical and contemporary maps highlighting important features of the landscape and historical resources.
Analysis throughout the report focuses on what is anecdotally known to be true – that the landscape of Kent County holds both physical and cultural significance to the rural character of the county and the Eastern Shore. That is not to say that this report is not an important planning and documentation exercise, because as stated in the report, “Kent County’s agricultural and maritime landscapes represented one of the largest surviving combined land and water surface areas associated with early settlement and historical development of Maryland’s Eastern Shore.”
The report’s clear conclusion about the unique character and lasting integrity of Kent County should serve as a call to action to preserve the county’s cultural landscape.
Historic image of Still Pond, Maryland. Photo from Maryland Historical Trust.
In order to share the research, maps, and analysis of the report, the Alliance has made the report available as a downloadable PDF. They also teamed up with the Washington College GIS (Geographical Information Systems) Lab to built out an interactive map exploring some of the major themes and stories about Kent County’s development history.
On the horizon, the Alliance hopes to share the importance of the Kent County landscape through a documentary on Maryland Public Television. The forthcoming special is based on the research partially conducted through the Cultural Landscape Report and funded in part by the Maryland Heritage Area’s Authority.
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