A small town located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in Somerset County, Crisfield's history dates back to 1663 when it was part of a tract surveyed by John Roach and Benjamin Somers. Crisfield (pop 2000 2,723) was first named Annemessex Neck for the Annemessex Indians who lived near the river bearing that name. Later it was called Somers Cove. The town's current name is for John W. Crisfield, a congressmen and investor who founded the Eastern Shore Railroad after the Civil War. This railroad provided jobs to large numbers of unemployed Union army veterans.

John Crisfield

Maryland Historical Society

Until the 1860s the town was a sleepy hamlet of oystermen, fisher folk, and farmers. But it was soon awakened from its slumber by the oyster boom in Tangier Sound - home to a mother lode of oysters which were greatly desired by a growing post-Civil War American populace. When the railroad came to the village, John Crisfield attended the celebration. According to local lore, Crisfield slipped on the dock and fell into the water, thus christening the town with his name.

Before long Crisfield became a sprawling oyster center and its reputation as a tough frontier-style town spread far and wide. In its heyday Crisfield processed millions of barrels of oysters and became a major blue crab harvesting center. It also slaughtered and cooked thousands of marsh terrapin, the prized delicacy of Maryland. The ice plants that chill-packed seafood spurred the development of electrification of Crisfield. In the late nineteenth century Crisfield was known for its industrious work force - and its brothels.

Scribner's Magazine in the 1880s described Crisfield as "a raw oyster town built on a vast bed of oysters." The town of Crisfield was involved in many controversies involving the kidnapping of European immigrants to work as slaves on oyster dredge boats.

Under the leadership of the Tawes family, Crisfield became an important regional banking center. Its most prominent citizen Millard Tawes served as governor of Maryland from 1959 to 1967.

In the twentieth century Crisfield became a popular center for sports fishermen, boaters, and waterfowl decoy carvers. Commercial oystering and crabbing have disappeared from the town almost completely.

Wennersten, John R. The Oyster Wars of Chesapeake Bay. Centreville, Md.: Tidewater Publishers, 1980.