Crisfield Historic District

Crisfield is a city in Somerset County, Maryland, United States, located on the Tangier Sound, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. The population was 2,515 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. Crisfield has the distinction of being the southernmost incorporated city in Maryland. The site of today's Crisfield was initially a small fishing village called Annemessex Neck. During European colonization, it was renamed Somers Cove, after Benjamin Summers. When the business potential for seafood was discovered, John W. Crisfield decided to bring the Pennsylvania Railroad to Crisfield, and the quiet fishing town grew. Crisfield is now known as the "Seafood Capital of the World". The city's success was so great that the train soot and oyster shells prompted the extension of the city's land into the marshes. City residents often claim that the downtown area is literally built atop oyster shells. Crisfield began to slip into decline along with the declining health of the Chesapeake Bay, prompting a "strategic revitalization plan" to address the city's future needs. Currently, Crisfield is largely a tourist destination. It hosts many annual events and festivals, the most prominent of which is the National Hard Crab Derby. Crisfield is also a major gateway to Smith Island and Tangier Island.

The Capt. Leonard Tawes House is a historic home located at Crisfield, Somerset County, Maryland, United States. It is a frame two story house begun in the second quarter of the 19th century and extensively altered in the Late Victorian mode through the rest of the century. Also on the property is a garage, a storage shed, a stilted frame dairy, and a gable-roofed frame privy. The Capt. Leonard Tawes House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

Somers Cove Marina is a marina owned by the state of Maryland and governed by a seven-member Commission. It is located in Crisfield, Somerset County. 37°58.6 N, 75°51.9 W The perfect marina for boating, sailing and fishing on the Chesapeake Bay and the Tangier and Pocomoke Sounds. Home to charter boats, head boats, bait & tackle, and stainless steel fish-cleaning stations. This 515 slip marina offers access to many of Somerset County's finest attractions.

Crisfield Academy and High School (commonly abbreviated to CAHS), also once known as simply Crisfield High School (CHS), is a public high school in the city of Crisfield in Somerset County, Maryland, United States. It is located in the Somerset County Public Schools district and handles five grades: 8th and 9th grade are handled in an "academy" section of the school, while grades 10 through 12 are handled as high school. The school is on North Somerset Avenue, between the intersections of Potomac Street and Mercury Lane, and is close to Maryland Route 413. It has the distinction of being the southernmost high school in the state of Maryland. Crisfield High School was established in 1908 as the first public school in lower Somerset County, succeeding the old Crisfield Academy. It has moved numerous times since then, going through expansions, several arsons, and desegregation of schools through its lifetime. For the past fifty years, the county school system has been attempting to consolidate schools, but this has been largely resisted, even though the enrollment for the school has been steadily decreasing over the years. The school has sports teams for basketball, baseball, softball, field hockey, soccer, and indoor/outdoor track & field. Its high school band, which participates in concerts and parades, is affectionately known as the Pride of Somerset. Also, in the 2003-2004 school year, an AJROTC was added to the school's various extracurricular activities.

The J. Tawes Historical Museum is located on the Somers Cove Marina, Crisfield, Maryland, United States. The museum focuses on the history of the Lower Shore region, including the local people, towns and industry. The museum also features a photograph exhibit about the 1938 Maryland crab pickers strike.

The Ward Brothers' House and Shop is a historic home located at Crisfield, Somerset County, Maryland, United States. It consists of a two-story, two-bay, one-room plan frame dwelling built around 1880, and the brothers' barber shop, a composite building composed of individual structures grouped together behind a long false front. The brothers Lemuel T. Ward, Jr. (1896–1985) and Steve Ward (1895–1976) are recognized as the fathers of the modern movement in decorative wildlife, or decoy, carving in America. The Ward Brothers' House and Shop was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. The house was demolished in November 2013.

Nelson Homestead, also known as the Elisha Riggin House, is a historic home located at Crisfield, Somerset County, Maryland. It is a "telescope" style frame house built circa 1836 by Crisfield shipbuilder Elisha Riggin on a 145.5 acre tract of land overlooking Johnson Creek. The Riggins are one of the Colonial families of Maryland who immigrated to the Chesapeake Colonies from Ireland in the mid 17th century and settled along Pocomoke Sound. The three-part wood-frame structure rests on a brick pier foundation and is covered by a series of gable roofs. The main part of the house is a three bay structure with a central door. It is attached to a two bay two story structure with central door and a lower roofline, with a two-bay one-story kitchen wing attached. A large brick chimney rises from the east end of the main block and a smaller stack protrudes through the east end of the kitchen wing. About 95% of the original interior woodwork is intact along with some early paint schemes. The finely crafted house is sheathed in cypress and cedar weatherboards and features late Federal style mantels, doors, chair rails and cupboards. The main room of the house has raised panel wainscoting and over-mantel paneling that survives with an early layer of tiger-maple graining. Also on the property is a small frame outbuilding with a gable roof and a family cemetery. Several other "telescope" style houses remain on the lower Eastern Shore of Maryland, but this house stands out as one of the least altered examples with highly unusual woodwork. Unlike most telescope style houses on the Eastern Shore all three blocks of this one appear to have been built at the same time. Due to construction features, mature cut nails, and some Greek Revival influence in part of the woodwork, it is thought the house was built as late as 1836 with paneling traditions and Federal mantel designs that were common in earlier decades. The Elisha Riggin House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. In 2014 it was included in the top 10 most important endangered historic properties by Preservation Maryland / Endangered Maryland William Nelson and his wife Ellen Riggin, a relative of Elisha Riggin, purchased the property in 1843 and it remained in the Nelson family until the 1966. The current owner, Jennifer Smith of the band Naked Blue is currently working on rescuing the building and re-purposing it as an artist retreat, music education and heritage tourism site.

Janes Island State Park is a public recreation area on Chesapeake Bay lying adjacent to the city of Crisfield in Somerset County, Maryland. The state park features some 30 miles (48 km) of marked water trails through the island's salt marsh leading to isolated pristine beaches. The park is managed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

The Crisfield Armory is a historic National Guard armory located at Crisfield, Somerset County, Maryland, United States. It is two stories tall with a full basement, emulates a Medieval fortification, and was built in 1927. Attached to the rear of this two-story main block is a narrower one-story drill hall. The front features a central section flanked by two, three-story tall towers. The State Seal of Maryland appears in a large square stone panel at the roofline, surmounted by three crenelles with stone caps. It is located within the boundaries of the Crisfield Historic District. The Crisfield Armory was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

Make Peace (or Makepeace) is a historic home located at Crisfield, Somerset County, Maryland, United States. It is a 1+1⁄2-story Flemish bond brick house of the early 18th century. Make Peace was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Hopewell is an unincorporated community in Somerset County, Maryland, United States. It is located at the southern intersection of Maryland routes 413 and 667. St. Peter's Methodist Episcopal Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

The Cullen Homestead Historic District encompasses a cluster of properties associated with the Cullen family in rural Somerset County, Maryland, United States. Located in the center of Hopewell, just northeast of Crisfield, the district has three main features. The first is, known as the Cullen Homestead, is a c. 1820 Federal style wood frame dwelling. The building has retained much of its interior period woodwork, despite being added to and altered over the years, and has retained its original board sheathing under modern aluminum siding. The second house in the district is a later 19th century house built by Jacob Hoke Cullen in 1880. The oldest part of the house is a T-shaped portion, which was roughly mirrored by a later addition around 1910, giving the house its present H shape. This house has also retained interior and some exterior finish work. The third element of the district is the family cemetery. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.