Most of the dreamy Chesapeake towns we enjoy driving through to admire the quaint architecture weren’t always so dreamy. Not so long ago, they were the real estate equivalent of Cinderella holding a mop, not Cinderella at the ball. Most of the Victorians were ramshackle rooming houses. And those Colonials looked more like bedraggled money pits than historic gems. And as for that Main Street, it was pretty much a ghost town.
Easton and Chestertown on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Solomons on the Western Shore. Irvington down on Virginia’s Northern Neck. They’ve all gone from dowdy and affordable to pricey and adorable. These transformations weren’t smooth or easy or quick, but they happened. And, in retrospect, it seems so obvious that they would. So why didn’t we jump on those towns back when the jumping was good?
OK, enough browbeating. Let’s stop looking backward with regret and start looking forward with hope. Out there in Chesapeakeland today are sleepy towns that are going to wake up someday soon looking oh-so-pretty.
Wouldn’t it be sweet to jump while the jumping’s good for once? Wouldn’t it be a grand adventure, rolling up the sleeves and getting to work on helping a new hometown find the way to a prosperous future that’s true to its Chesapeake roots?
We thought so, too. That’s why we called on dozens of realtors, economic development professionals, tourism specialists, and community leaders around the region and asked them all one simple question: Which Chesapeake towns are most likely to be the Cinderella stories of the next few years?
VIENNA, MARYLAND
Where: Dorchester County
Population: 300
In a nutshell: This tiny riverfront town harbors some mighty sweet dreams.
Priceline: Still a bargain, with an average sales price of about $85,000.
Timeline: Five years to stardom—they’re setting the stage.
Not so long ago, itty-bitty Vienna had a faded look about her. The verdict rendered by the 1999 edition of “Maryland: A New Guide to the Old Line State,” was dim: “Vienna sits quietly on the Nanticoke River, slowly losing population” while millions of cars zip past on nearby Route 50 en route to the beaches.
But if we take the brief detour down Route 331 today, we’ll see plenty of reasons why that shouldn’t be. There’s that postcard-pretty scene on Water Street, where the beautiful old frame houses deliver fetching views of the Nanticoke River. And as small as Vienna is, there are houses to suit every taste—simple or sprawling, old or not-so-old. And let’s not forget that Vienna boasts enough history to out-legend towns ten or twenty times its size. Captain John Smith stopped here. The town is named for a Nanticoke chief. The Brits bombed Vienna during the Revolutionary War. The customshouse went up in 1791, and some twenty other buildings date to the late 1700s and early 1800s.
But Vienna doesn’t plan to rest just on its historic laurels. It’s already made some significant strides. In January 2000, there were seventeen houses for sale here; in January 2003, there were only four. Mayor Russ Brinsfield and scores of residents spent much of last year working with experts from the Conservation Fund, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving wilderness land and community open space. They’ve mapped out a future in which growth doesn’t overwhelm the town or its natural environment. They’re looking to add a major residential development, not of the cookie-cutter, cul-de-sac variety, but one integrated into the town’s existing street grid, with houses that complement the town’s architectural flavor. Only a handful of shops operate in town today, but Vienna wants to add a couple more, along with a village “discovery center” substantial enough to draw tourism business.
Best of all, Vienna’s plan calls for ringing the whole town with a broad greenway for walkers and cyclists. The conservation-friendly swath of green will insulate Vienna from sprawl and emphasize its special place in the natural Chesapeake, along a critical watershed and close to the hauntingly beautiful Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. It’s a delicate balance they’re after. “Our aim is to emerge as a model of conservation development for the Chesapeake Bay watershed,” says Mayor Brinsfield. “We want to retain our small-town character while serving as a gateway for recreation and tourism.”
CAMBRIDGE, MARYLAND
Where: Dorchester County
Population: 12,000
In a nutshell: Just because you’ve heard it before doesn’t mean it’s not true: Someday, Cambridge will reclaim the spotlight.
Priceline: Bargains are getting harder to find, with three-bedroom homes in the historic district going for $150,000 to $180,000.
Timeline: Five to ten years to stardom, though it could be even sooner with a little luck and some smart planning moves.
Has Cambridge’s time finally arrived? It never did make any sense, the way this beautiful little city stayed stuck in the doldrums for so long. For starters, Cambridge has all that breathtaking waterfront along a mile-wide stretch of the Choptank River, and much of it is public land set aside for free parks—the one thing that so many other towns in the Chesapeake region lack.
Plus, it’s got navigable Cambridge Creek running right up into the center of downtown. And that downtown just happens to be loaded with potential for developing an irresistible mix of local charm and hip diversity. It’s at the center of the largest contiguous historic district in all of Maryland, one that encompasses not just the business district but the nineteenth-century gems of residential High Street and other neighborhoods as well.
High hopes for revitalization have come and gone before in Cambridge, but things really do seem different this time. That new Hyatt-run Chesapeake Bay Resort located on the other side of Route 50 is the most obvious sign of change. The coming months will be the resort’s first full tourism season, so Cambridge is about to get its first taste of the impact such an attraction can have.
Another, less visible milestone will arrive in April—the end at long last of a four-year overhaul of the town’s zoning plan. Cambridge’s old plan dates back decades, to an era filled with misguided dreams of high-rise condos on the water. This town has had a rather checkered history when it comes to urban planning, admits City Councilman Lee Weldon, “but this new zoning is going to make a big difference.”
Cambridge is big enough to support more cultural, shopping, and culinary options than almost any other town on the Shore. Realizing that potential is the goal behind a recent series of civic initiatives. A newly designated arts and entertainment district promises tax breaks for the kinds of studios, shops, nonprofits, and businesses that bring new life to old neighborhoods. The city also has submitted an application to join the Main Streets program, an innovative strategy that’s had success in boosting other downtown business districts.
Cambridge has just about every kind of neighborhood a home shopper would want—small lots or big, wide streetscapes and charmingly narrow ones, small houses and big mansions. The city has always had great potential, but now Weldon and others believe the stars are finally aligned in Cambridge’s favor. “The construction trucks are really rolling in now,” Weldon says. “So many people are rehabbing in this town. It’s a great thing to see.”
PORT DEPOSIT, MARYLAND
Where: Cecil County
Population: 750
In a nutshell: If you lived in Port Deposit, your house would be on the National Register of Historic Places.
Priceline: Still a bargain, with three-bedroom homes priced between $100,000 and $125,000.
Timeline: Ten years to stardom, depending on what they do with the abandoned Navy base.
You’ve heard of towns boasting that they have only one stoplight? Well, Port Deposit has only one street, basically a one-and-a-half mile stretch of Route 222 that snakes between the Susquehanna River on one side and steep bluffs on the other. In the mid-1990s, it made for a depressing drive. “When I came to town seven years ago, there were ‘For Sale’ signs up from one end to the other,” says Erika Quesenbery, who runs the Paw Paw Museum dedicated to local history.
But then a trickle of newcomers began to arrive, intrigued by the possibilities in those huge old Victorians standing so close to the Susquehanna in a town so convenient to I-95 and all the urban charms of Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Wilmington. The pioneers snapped up some ramshackle rooming houses at bargain-basement prices and commenced ambitious restorations. Slowly but surely, Port Deposit rebounded. This past December, the town’s annual candlelight tour of historic homes featured thirty properties, and “more than half of them were fresh—shown for the first time since they were rehabbed,” Quesenberry says with pride.
Port Deposit began life as a trading post at the top of the Bay. Later, the town gained fame for its granite, which was used to build some gorgeous churches in Baltimore and Philadelphia. Then the Navy opened a boot camp just above town, and Port Deposit became a military town.
The mighty Susquehanna remains Port Deposit’s strongest drawing card. Luxury waterfront condos that went up for sale a few years ago sold out in no time. The boom in ecotourism has been a boost, too; the increasingly popular Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway runs nearby.
A couple of new restaurants are already open; a couple of new B&Bs are on the way. The small Paw Paw Museum is devoted to the town’s diverse history. But that shuttered military base known as the Bainbridge property is still closed, and its uncertain future is the biggest hurdle in Post Deposit’s path. It’s also the reason you’ll see too much barbed wire and weeds on the approach into town. Whatever happens on those 1,250 acres will have a big effect on Port Deposit’s future. The latest proposal—and there have been quite a few that came before and failed to pan out—is for an ambitious, mixed development of residential, office, and hotel properties. If it works, Port Deposit’s rise is a pretty safe bet.
DENTON, MARYLAND
Where: Caroline County
Population: 3,000
In a nutshell: If and when Denton draws some of the attention it deserves, it’ll snowball into success.
Priceline: Still a bargain, with three-bedroom homes on nice streets going for between $125,000 and $150,000.
Timeline: Ten to fifteen years to stardom.
Denton might sit smack dab in the middle of the Delmarva Peninsula, but it hasn’t been in the middle of the action lately. Still, the smart money will eventually find its way to Caroline County’s seat, which is blessed with a historic downtown, a gorgeous courthouse on a hill, and some choice Choptank River waterfront. “We have such a picturesque downtown,” says town manager Terry Fearins. “The view of our courthouse as you come in just gives you a sense right away that this is a real close community.”
But you won’t find many trendy shops or fancy galleries here yet. So far, the growth that’s transformed nearby burgs like Easton and Chestertown has been slow to reach Denton, but the town’s leaders are convinced they need to prepare for some serious growth.
As mundane as it sounds, a new wastewater treatment plant was the first step in that direction. Up next is something a little more dramatic: a waterfront development tentatively slated to bring a marina, a wharf, and a restaurant to the eastern bank of the Choptank. Meanwhile, the western bank is home to the Old Harfordtown Maritime Center, which has ambitious plans to become a major destination celebrating the steamboat era and the story of the Chesapeake skipjack fleet.
Denton’s broad, tree-lined residential streets offer a broad mix of housing styles, from sprawling Victorians to smaller homes built in the ’50s and ’60s. The town dates back to the late 1700s, but its houses aren’t nearly so old. That’s thanks in no small part to the Union soldiers who started a big fire while celebrating the Fourth of July in 1863.
During the week, Denton’s downtown bustles with the work of the county government. It’s the kind of town that has 10,000 residents by day but only 3,000 at night. The town has been working to add residential units downtown—above offices or in rehabilitated old buildings—in an effort to provide a spark for downtown nightlife. The town has also seen a spike recently in the number of annexation requests from developers eyeing new residential projects.
Those developers probably see the same assets real estate agents talked about with us: the reasonably priced houses, a downtown with potential, its own stretch of river, and nearby natural attractions—like Martinak State Park and Adkins Arboretum. Plus, it’s the same distance from the Bay Bridge as Easton, and lots of commuters make the daily trek across the Bay Bridge from there.
BERLIN, MARYLAND
Where: Worcester County
Population: 3,500
In a nutshell: Hollywood loves Berlin. Now everybody else is getting the picture.
Priceline: Bargain hunters are already too late, with older three-bedroom homes now exceeding $150,000. Lots of more expensive new houses are on the way.
Timeline: Time’s up! For this Cinderella, the ball is about to begin.
Berlin’s Main Street is one of the prettiest around, with its gentle arc, striking buildings, and turn-of-the-twentieth-century feel. That’s something Hollywood location scouts discovered before the rest of us did, and they plucked the town out of obscurity as settings for Runaway Bride and Tuck Everlasting.
Those movies helped boost Berlin’s tourist trade, but new businesses haven’t changed the town’s tempting combination of convenience and quietude.
“What I love about Berlin,” says Mayor Rex Hailey, “is that you can run over to Ocean City on the Fourth of July and be in the middle of everything going on over there, with the fireworks and the concerts and the beach. Then you come back here in the middle of the afternoon, and everything is just as quiet as can be.”
Hailey may be biased, but he’s not alone on this one. Property values in Berlin have doubled over the last ten years, and they’re not likely to head back down anytime soon.
Two residential developments planned for the outskirts of town will add more than 400 new homes. Another smaller development called Walnut Hill sounds especially promising—its 5.5-acre site is just a block from Main Street, tucked into the former grounds of an old mansion.
The whole top half of Worcester County has become something of a retirement mecca in recent years. It offers the aura of the quiet life within earshot of the ocean and within reach of countless golf courses. The influx of retirees has been a boon to the region’s economy. “All those retirees need services,” Hailey explains, “and that means jobs, and that means we draw younger families, too.”
Against this big-picture backdrop, Berlin has carved out a unique identity for itself. It’s more than just “the movie town.” That’s partly because of the real-world businesses on its Main Street—everything from an old-style hardware store to hip crafts shops to the elegant Atlantic Hotel. And it’s partly because Berlin knows how to let its hair down and have some fun. What else could explain its annual bathtub races and pig races and fiddlers’ convention?
CHESAPEAKE BEACH and NORTH BEACH, MARYLAND
Where: Calvert County
Population: 2,500 in Chesapeake Beach, 2,000 in North Beach
In a nutshell: With so much gorgeous waterfront and old-timey atmosphere, these towns are taking off.
Priceline: Bargain hunters are already too late, with three-bedroom homes priced in the $200,000 to $250,000 range.
Timeline: Time’s up! For these Cinderellas, the ball is about to begin.
All the gems have been uncovered in the geographical triangle formed by Washington, D.C., Annapolis, and Baltimore. One Anne Arundel County real estate agent kept our phone call brief by getting right to the point: “There just aren’t any new Mayberrys out here.” And so seekers are heading south, into Calvert County, where the twin towns of Chesapeake Beach and North Beach are waiting.
Perhaps “waiting” isn’t the right word, considering the circumstances. Construction on a seventy-two-room Victorian inn is underway in Chesapeake Beach, with another hotel on the way in North Beach. Also in the works are several new residential developments, community park projects, and a rail-to-trail conversion. Most of the streets and civic landscaping have been redone recently. Once-shabby restaurants and bars are sprucing themselves up for a classier clientele. Come springtime, scaffolding will again be a common sight in the beaches as newcomers and old residents alike embark on rehabs and expansions of the smallish housing stock that’s the result of the area’s unique history.
Both towns were born as vacation destinations for beach-happy passengers aboard steamboats from Baltimore and trains from Washington. At the turn of the twentieth century, the towns boasted boardwalks and ferris wheels and casinos and dance pavilions. Vacation cottages here were as popular then as Ocean City condos are now. But the advent of the automobile and the building of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge left the beaches in limbo by the 1960s.
North Beach Mayor Mark Frazer laments the way his town developed a reputation for “bikers, babes, bars, and brawls.” “Changing an image like that isn’t done easily or quickly,” Frazer says. “But the transformation is finally done.”
Both beaches now have their eye on waterfront projects. In Chesapeake Beach, it’s an upscale eight-story apartment house on the Bay. North Beach has approved plans for mixed-use development featuring about 100 condominiums, along with retail spaces and the aforementioned hotel—it should be done in five years.
Both Frazer and Chesapeake Beach Mayor Gerald Donovan are eyeing a future that’s in line with the colorful local history celebrated at the quaint Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum. They expect tourism to be back on the rise. Donovan owns the Rod ’n’ Reel Restaurant, which already boasts the Bay’s largest fleet of charter boats.
Frazer is confident that swimmers and sunbathers will be returning, too, not just to loll on the beaches but also to shop and dine in nearby businesses. “Given all the traffic on the Bridge over to Ocean City, we think we can offer folks a much more convenient alternative,” Frazer says. One thing will be different this time around, though: All those old vacation homes will be occupied by year-round residents whose property values just keep heading up.
LEONARDTOWN, MARYLAND
Where: St. Mary’s County
Population: 1,850
In a nutshell: This county seat has it all: an old-time town square, plans for a sparkling new waterfront, and a bustling business district.
Priceline: Bargains are getting harder to land, with three-bedroom homes averaging $150,000.
Timeline: Five to ten years to stardom–they’re setting the stage.
Leonardtown’s luck is finally changing. One of Maryland’s oldest towns, this county seat has seen its share of troubles in recent decades. A residential boom down the road near the Lexington Park Naval Air Station drove the retail market out of town. The Route 5 bypass kept thousands of cars out of downtown. Not so long ago, the poor business district had nearly as many vacancies as occupancies.
But the first hints of renewal have arrived. In Leonardtown’s case, they take the form of a snappy new French restaurant, Café des Artistes, and a hip new sandwich shop, Nook and Monks. Suddenly, the town is thinking big—as in a combination resort, golf course, and residential development planned for 400 acres on Breton Bay, and as in a planned environmental park on 5.5 acres complete with a kayak/canoe trail through some prime birding territory. Today, houses in town average $150,000, a mix of older frame jobs and more modern numbers.
Leonardtown has one of the last genuine town squares in Maryland, and the town is definitely learning how to use it in style. This past December, a crowd of 6,000 gathered for the civic tree lighting. Thousands more showed up last summer for the town’s “Beach Party,” complete with 30 tons of sand. This is also the home of the prestigious U.S. National Oyster Shucking Championships every October.
It’s doubtful the town’s founders ever envisioned such civic bashes. The tricentennial of Leonardtown’s 1708 founding is fast approaching. Residents and visitors alike can catch up on all those centuries at the Old Jail Museum. Right in front of the museum is a cannon brought to Maryland aboard the Ark, of the Ark and the Dove fame.
So a strong foundation is in place. Now, it’s a matter of retrofitting that foundation to work in the twenty-first-century. “Once all these projects get done, we’ll be on another level here in Leonardtown,” promises Laschelle Miller, the town’s administrator.
URBANNA, VIRGINIA
Where: Virginia’s Middle Peninsula, Middlesex County
Population: 565
In a nutshell: This Rappahannock town has always had a load of lovely Victorians. Now, a revamped waterfront is on the way.
Priceline: Better jump fast if you want to get in while the jumping’s good.
Timeline: Five years to stardom, with a little luck.
Urbanna has quite a few claims to fame. Laid out in 1680, it’s one of the country’s first planned communities. It served as an important port in colonial Virginia. It saw action during both the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. In more recent years, though, nothing has brought Urbanna quite as much recognition as the annual oyster festival held there every November.
The guess here is that festival regulars may find themselves doing a few surprised doubletakes in the years ahead.
Wait, they’ll ask, isn’t that the old Upton Point Marina? With help from a number of grants, the city bought the marina and is transforming it into a state-of-the-art facility with a new pump-out station and a completely rebuilt section for overnighters. According to town administrator Jim Sapione, it’ll be the only municipal marina between Virginia Beach and the state line.
Hey, they’ll ask, is something different about the streetscape here? Yes, those are new sidewalks you’ll be walking on this year and new streetlights you’ll be walking under. And yes, that’s fresh landscaping all around.
What’s going on at that junky old warehouse? they’ll ask. The Old Tobacco Warehouse was never really a warehouse—it was more of a barter station where seventeenth-century growers cut deals with British factors. It’s believed to be one of only two such facilities left standing in the country. Inside will soon be the Urbanna visitors center, complete with exhibits telling the whole historical story of the local tobacco trade.
Old Victorians line the routes into downtown, which is quaint and modest, with just a handful of shops and a couple of restaurants. Like most everyplace in the Chesapeake, housing prices here vary widely depending on location and whether there’s waterfront attached.
While there are a lot of sweet towns on Virginia’s Middle Peninsula and the Northern Neck, two factors help set Urbanna apart. First, it’s got a public sewer system. Then there is Urbanna’s proximity to Richmond— it’s on the outer edge of the commuting zone, which should really give a boost to its residential market. Telecom-muters also will be happy to hear that the town is now wired for high-speed Internet access. “This town, it’s got it all,” boasts Sapione. “And it’s in the jelling stage right now.”
KINSALE, VIRGINIA
Where: Virginia’s Northern Neck, Westmoreland County
Population: 500
In a nutshell: About to celebrate its tricentennial, this place is as authentic as the Chesapeake region gets.
Priceline: Still a bargain, with prices for a three-bedroom home in the village center ranging between $90,000 and $125,000.
Timeline: Who knows? Kinsale might never hit the real estate stratosphere, but it’ll do just fine for itself—it always has.
Little Kinsale doesn’t have any monumental civic improvements in the works, unless you count the fact that the Kinsale Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the town’s history, bought an old downtown ice cream parlor and plans to jack it up and move it a few feet back from the road. “Every once in a while, one of those wide trucks will hit our parlor when they round the corner,” complains Foundation head Martha Scott. “This’ll put an end to that, we hope.”
Nor does Kinsale have any new residential developments on the way. Sure, a new house will go up now and again on the Kinsale Creek waterfront, but the village proper has only about forty families. The Kinsale Foundation recently filed an application with the state to get those streets on the state’s historic register.
The “come-here” phenomenon—the effect an influx of newcomers has on a small town—seems ever-present in the Chesapeake these days. Kinsale is one place that isn’t really worrying about it yet. “There are a few come-heres in the village, but very, very few,” Scott says. “Most of the people in Kinsale, their families have been here for generations.” What Kinsale does have is a lot of “come-back-heres,” folks who left for a while in their younger years and then returned because they couldn’t bear to be away from the place.
It’s easy to see why. The scenery along Kinsale Creek can be breathtaking, and the boating access to the Potomac is quick and easy. Three centuries make for a lot of history—this is the oldest town along the Potomac on the Virginia side. It was an important seaport in the seventeenth century. The British burned the town during the War of 1812. It’s done duty as a lumber center and a canning center as well.
The tiny downtown has its charms. Look for the Kinsale Museum on the village green. You’ll probably find Scott there, regaling tourists and locals alike with stories from the town’s past. There’s an old general store nearby that’s been around since the heyday of the steamboats. One thing newcomers might be surprised to discover in Kinsale is just how good the eating can be. Downtown recently took on a spicy flavor with the opening of Cajun Girl. And the Good Eats Café out on Cople Highway is a sensation on the Neck.
But fancy food isn’t what’s going to bring people to a place like Kinsale. Folks who come here are going to have to like the real Chesapeake and deal without some of the conveniences that come with full-bore gentrification. “All these people here,” Scott says, “they have a desire to keep this village as pure as possible.” That may not sound like a selling point for everyone, but we’re betting that it’s enough to make sure Kinsale, too, finds a way to thrive.
Jim Duffy is a Baltimore-based freelance writer.
