For nearly forty years, Edmund Cutts, Sr. has designed and built wooden boats by hand in the tiny village of Oxford, Md. The way he thinks about his business, Cutts & Case Shipyard, captures the spirit of one of Maryland’s oldest towns. “What we do is sort of like a throwback,” says the silver-haired Cutts, “but really, it’s a continuation.” He explains that fiberglass nearly wiped out “a whole era” of wooden-boat building. “I decided to keep it going,” he says, sitting in his late-1600s-era wooden home surrounded by boats, both beached and afloat.
Cutts could serve as a living symbol for Oxford. The town seems more interested in preserving its history than catering to the whims of the modern tourist. It’s not that the townspeople (all 739 of them) live in the past. Rather, they understand that their history is their future. “Oxford is about front porches, picket fences, and water views,” says John Lewis, president of the Oxford Museum. “It’s about getting away from it all and getting back to basics.”
Unlike many tourist destinations designed to drain the wallet, Oxford fills the senses and rejuvenates the soul. No T-shirt shops or trendy boutiques line the town’s brick sidewalks. There’s no gourmet grocer, upscale jeweler, or used bookstore. Not even an antique row.
Lush land communes with water at every turn. Stands of masts rise through the trees to create their own leafless forests. Colonial and Victorian homes proudly display when they were built. Birds chatter overhead and salty breezes fill the air. A sleepy seductiveness takes hold.
“It’s a nice town-it’s quiet,” says Chris McKelvy, who owns the Oxford Market & Deli and sells everything from Boddingtons beer to Tastykakes to fishing rods. “There are no stoplights, and you know everybody-just about.”
Oxford sits near the mouth of the scenic Tred Avon River, where it joins the expansive Choptank, and Town Creek nearly bisects the town. In 1694, England deemed Oxford one of two ports for the entire Maryland territory (Annapolis was the other), and this water-bound village witnessed its first boom years. “We didn’t become the Annapolis of the Eastern Shore-and we’re happy about that,” says self-described historian and geographer Randy Collins. He and his wife, Jeri, own Channel Charters and run historical cruises out of Oxford on a locally built Chesapeake Bay workboat. She pilots Satisfaction while Randy details the town’s history, its celebrated citizens, and notable structures.
In the early 1700s, tobacco filled nearby fields while shipbuilders, such as Robert Morris, Sr., set up shop on the water’s edge. The elder Morris died in a boat accident, but his son, Robert Morris, Jr., was a financier of the American Revolution and one of the few to sign the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Articles of Confederation. Another local son, Tench Tilghman, served as the aide-de-camp to George Washington and carried news to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia of Cornwallis’s surrender.
“At the end of the Revolutionary War, Oxford went into recession for a hundred years,” explains Collins, a retired history teacher and lifelong Eastern Shore resident. “England pulled out all the boats and trade. The rebound was because of the commercial seafood industry after the Civil War.”
Oyster harvesting swept the region in the 1870s, and Oxford experienced another heyday with renewed shipbuilding, lumberyards, canneries, and new housing sprouting all over town. The oyster-inspired prosperity was short-lived, with the region’s record catch-eleven million bushels- in 1908. As the oyster supply dwindled, bankrupt businesses closed, and Oxford endured as a quiet watermen’s town.
Collins brings recent history to life on the tour’s final leg, explaining how watermen use boats like Satisfaction to harvest oysters, clams, and crabs. He shows pictures of other workboats in action and even offers tips for eating steamed crabs. “Promise me you’ll never use a mallet,” says the ruddy-faced captain, displaying a picture of a crab. He demonstrates how to gently crack the claw with a knife, saying, “The meat will pop out like a popsicle.”
Lewis, who designs software for a living, is also preserving Oxford electronically. “I’m collecting and digitally storing an in-depth history of Oxford,” he says, explaining that all homes and businesses through the generations will be indexed and searchable so people can take a “virtual tour” of any Oxford property and see the changes over time. Already, he has 5,000 saved images. “It’s brought many parts of the community together,” says Lewis. “We have all become part of preserving the legacy of Oxford.”
Other donated relics of this port town share display cases and bookshelves at the Oxford Museum. Arrowheads sit alongside Ed Parsons’ duck carvings. Ancient ship logs rest a case away from generations-old shoes. Newspaper clippings and historic photos mingle with coins and a lighthouse lamp-all housed in a partially preserved 1950s ice cream shop.
One active vestige of the town’s early days is the Oxford-Bellevue Ferry, which shuttles people across the Tred Avon, leaving them just seven miles from St. Michaels (a twenty-five-mile trip by land). “It’s always been that way,” says Randy Collins. “First they sculled across, then used sails and steam, and now diesel power.” Started in 1683, the year of Oxford’s charter, the Oxford-Bellevue is likely the nation’s oldest privately operated ferry. Captains Tom and Judy Bixler took over the operation this year, and Tom says they’ve had a “fabulous” reception: “People are very supportive of the ferry-always have been.” On a sunny day, he’s all smiles, welcoming people aboard and thanking them for riding. He says The Talbot holds nine cars and makes twenty-five to thirty “short, happy trips” a day.
From the water, another Oxford mainstay is clearly visible, the mustard-and-white Robert Morris Inn. Dating from 1710, the Inn has been used as a private residence, a town meeting place, a boarding house, a World War I convalescent home, and a general store. It was turned into an inn in the 1940s. Current owners, the Gibson family, have welcomed overnight guests since 1971. “I never get tired of this town,” says Wendy Gibson. Her husband, Ken, agrees, “You can travel across the U.S., but you won’t find many villages like Oxford.” The family still serves the same lush, all-lump crab cakes that author James Michener rated the best on the Eastern Shore and now also run the romantic Sandaway Lodge less than a block away on two waterfront acres.
For those looking for something to do, a handful of shops beckon browsers along Morris Street. The Oxford Mews, reminiscent of an old general store, carries an eclectic mix of books, hats, soap, and food that owner Sylvia Vinnicombe calls “necessities, gifts, and non-essentials.” A few doors down, Americana Antiques sells centuries-old furnishings, many with their original papers, and historic wood-carved carousel horses. Across the street, C’s of Oxford offers quality consignment and collectibles, ranging from a 1950s dinette set to crystal vases and candlesticks.
A few blocks south, Pope’s Treasures sells local artwork, nautical gifts, and more. It’s on the ground floor of the Oxford Inn, an eleven-room bed and breakfast with harbor views. Other historic overnight options include: 1876 House, a Victorian B&B furnished in period antiques; The Nichols House, with a private cottage and Victorian garden; and The Combsberry, a restored English Country mansion dating to 1730.
After exploring Oxford, it’s hard to leave. “I fell in love with the dang place the minute I came here,” says Cutts, the wooden boat designer, who moved to Oxford with his wife, Maggie, thirty-eight years ago. “We hardly ever leave. I love it here, and I like what we do. I can’t ask for much more than that.”
Karen-Lee Ryan, a freelance writer in Washington, D.C., spent her childhood in a small, waterbound village on Boston’s South Shore.
Locals’ Guide to Oxford
Breaking for lunch
The counter at the Oxford Market & Deli is always hopping, especially around noon. “We feed pretty much everyone in town for lunch,” says owner Chris McKelvy. “We have a daily special Monday through Friday.” 203 S. Morris St., 410-226-0015.
Where to watch a regatta
Families regularly gather at the waterfront Town Park to ride on the swings and watch sailboats. John Lewis, Oxford Museum president, aptly describes it as “a little visit to Mayberry.” Shouldered against the Tred Avon River, Town Park is on Morris St. between Market and High Streets.
Doesn’t look like much from the outside
A favorite local restaurant, Latitude 38 serves creative and ever-changing American bistro fare in a refurbished gas station and garage. “It’s the only gas pump in Oxford-we can’t take it out,” says co-owner Wendy Palmer. 26342 Oxford Rd., 410-226-5303.
Where to buy fruits and vegetables
Stop into Eason’s Produce, a farm stand on Oxford Road at the edge of town. Closed on Sundays.
Best place for an evening stroll
The Strand: Idyllically situated on the waterfront, this end-of-the-town road is a romantic spot for walking hand in hand.
A few words of advice
“Don’t get a ticket coming into town,” says longtime resident Wendy Gibson. Others echo the sentiment frequently, noting that the speed limit drops to twenty-five miles an hour on the approach to town.
Contacts
Cutts & Case Shipyard
306 Tilghman St.
410-226-5416
Oxford Market & Deli
203 S. Morris St.
410-226-0015
Channel Charters
Corner of N. Morris St. and The Strand
410-228-1645 or 410-330-3506
http://www.channelcharters.com
Oxford Museum
100 N. Morris St.
410-226-0191
Oxford-Bellevue Ferry
Corner of N. Morris St. and The Strand
410-745-9023
http://www.oxfordferry.com
Robert Morris Inn and Sandaway Lodge
314 N. Morris St.
410-226-5111
http://www.oxfordferry.com
The Oxford Mews
105 S. Morris St.
410-820-8222
Americana Antiques
111 S. Morris St.
410-226-5677
http://www.americanaantiques.net
C’s of Oxford
104 B. S. Morris St.
410-226-0551
Pope’s Treasures
506 S. Morris St.
410-226-5220
Oxford Inn
506 S. Morris St.
410-226-5220
1876 House
110 N. Morris St.
410-226-5496
The Nichols House
217 S. Morris St.
410-226-5799
The Combsberry
4837 Evergreen Rd.
410-226-5353
