Chesapeake Bay by Air

Announcer

THE FOLLOWING PROGRAM IS MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY THE MPT NEW INITIATIVE FUND, FOUNDED BY IRENE AND EDWARD H. KAPLAN.

Narrator

SCALLOPS OF SAND. ENDLESS MEANDERS OF MARSH AND TIDAL CREEK. IF THE SHORELINE OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY COULD BE UNRAVELED, IT WOULD STRETCH FROM THE EAST TO WEST COAST AND BACK. THE CHESAPEAKE IS THE COUNTRY'S LARGEST ESTUARY, WHERE SALTWATER MIXES WITH FRESH.

200 MILES LONG, THREE MILES ACROSS AT ITS NARROWEST, NEARLY 30 AT ITS WIDEST. YET FOR HUNDREDS OF SQUARE MILES IT IS KNEE-DEEP. ROMANCE CLINGS TO THE PRIVATE COVES, THE WATERY SUNSETS, THE SMELL IN THE BREEZE. THERE IS, PERHAPS, A TENDENCY TO LONG FOR WHAT HAS BEEN LOST OF ITS HERITAGE.

BUT SOARING ABOVE, WE SEE HOW MUCH OF IT REMAINS, AND THE INCREDIBLE BEAUTY HELD IN ITS EMBRACE. ANYONE WHO HAS EVER HAULED A CATCH FROM ITS DEPTHS, LOAFED THE SMALL TOWNS THAT RING IT, BEHELD THE MARSHES BLAZING IN THE SUN, OR SKIMMED THE SURFACE, KNOWS IT'S MORE THAN JUST A PLACE ON THE MAP. EXPERIENCE THE TREASURED CHESAPEAKE, HER FAMOUS LANDMARKS, NATURAL WONDERS, CITIES, TOWNS, AND PRESERVES THAT STILL LOOK AS GLORIOUS AND UNTOUCHED AS THEY DID A THOUSAND YEARS AGO, ALL FROM AN EXHILARATING VANTAGE POINT. [Captioned by MARYLAND PUBLIC TELEVISION] DAWN OVER THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER, HEADWATERS OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY.

THE CHESAPEAKE IS THE DROWNED VALLEY OF THE SUSQUEHANNA, ENGORGED BY THE MELTING WATERS OF GLACIERS, 10,000 YEARS AGO, AT THE END OF THE LAST ICE AGE. NAMED FOR THE NATIVE SUSQUEHANNOCKS WHO LIVED ALONG THE RIVERBANKS, ITS HEADWATERS BEGIN FAR TO THE NORTH, FLOWING DOWN THROUGH PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW YORK STATE, INTO THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AND OUT TO SEA. CONOWINGO IS NATIVE SUSQUEHANNOCK FOR "AT THE RAPIDS." HERE, AT THOSE RAPIDS, A HYDROELECTRIC PLANT HARNESSES THE SURGING MOMENTUM OF THE RIVER. THE ROCKY BOTTOM AND CANYON-LIKE WALLS OF THE RIVER LITTLE RESEMBLE THE WIDE, PAN-FLAT, MUD-BOTTOMED BAY BROADENING ON THE HORIZON.

JUST BEYOND THE TOWN OF HAVRE DE GRACE, "HARBOR OF GRACE," WHERE HIGHWAY AND RAILROAD SPAN THE WIDENING RIVER, THE CHESAPEAKE BAY IS BORN. A NEW DAY BRINGS A FLURRY OF ACTIVITY, AND THE INEVITABLE FEELING OF POSSIBILITIES UP AND DOWN THE BAY. STANDING MAJESTIC IN MORNING LIGHT, CALVERT CLIFFS DOMINATE THE SOUTHERN MARYLAND SHORELINE FOR 30 MILES. FORMED OVER 15 MILLION YEARS AGO, WHEN SOUTHERN MARYLAND WAS AWASH IN A SHALLOW SEA, THESE CLIFFS TEEM WITH FOSSILS.

SOUTH OF THE CLIFFS, HOMES WITH WATER'S VIEW BASK IN THE SUN. WE ARE DRAWN TO PLACES LIKE SOLOMONS ISLAND, WHERE LAND MEETS THE GREAT ESTUARY. THE CALVERT MARINE MUSEUM, HOME OF THE DRUM POINT LIGHTHOUSE, SYMBOLIZES A ONCE-BOOMING FISHING VILLAGE. WITH FLEETS OF SCHOONERS AND SLOOPS CENTERED 'ROUND THE HAULING AND SHUCKING OF OYSTER THAT HAS BECOME A POPULAR POINT OF DEPARTURE FOR THOSE IN SEARCH OF ADVENTURE AND FAVORABLE WINDS.

TRANQUILITY SEEMS TO DEFINE LIFE ON THE BAY, BUT APPEARANCES DECEIVE. EVERY DAY, NATURE'S RHYTHMS AND HUMAN RITUALS PLAY OUT. SMITH ISLAND IS LOCATED 12 MILES OUT IN THE BAY. HER QUINTESSENTIAL FISHING VILLAGES CLING TO THE FEW PATCHES OF GROUND ABOVE SEA LEVEL.

COME SUNRISE ON ANY GIVEN MORNING, THE TOWNS OF TYLERTON, EWELL, AND RHODES POINT ARE DESERTED. EVERYONE IS OUT CRABBING. SMITH ISLAND FISHERMEN, A FIERCELY INDEPENDENT BREED, HEED THE CALL OF THE WATER AND CHART THE VERY SAME COURSES OF THEIR FORBEARERS, DOING WHAT 13 GENERATIONS BEFORE HAVE DONE SINCE THE FIRST SETTLEMENT AT JAMESTOWN IN 1607. FOR HARD-WORKING WATERMEN, THE BAY HAS ALWAYS HELD THE PROMISE OF PLENTIFUL REWARDS.

POUND NETS JUT FROM THE SHORE LIKE ARROWS POINTING TOWARDS A BOUNTIFUL CATCH. WATERMEN CAN STILL EARN A LIVING BY FISHING, CRABBING, AND OYSTERING... BUT IT IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY CHALLENGING. DREDGERS, POUND NETTERS, PURSE NETTERS, HAND TONGERS, CRABBERS...FISHERMEN OF ALL KINDS CASTING THEIR FORTUNES IN CHESAPEAKE WATERS.

HOLDS HEAVY WITH THE HARVEST; ROCKFISH, BLUEFISH, CRABS, OYSTERS, WHATEVER THE DAY'S CATCH, RETURN HOME......TO TOWNS LIKE CRISFIELD, ROCK HALL, CHESTERTOWN, SOLOMONS, TILGHMAN, AND SCORES OF OTHERS. THERE ARE REASONS WHY THESE PLACES WERE SETTLED LONG AGO. PROXIMITY TO THE BAY MEANT, OF COURSE, PLEASANT LIVING, BUT ALSO FRUITFUL LABOR, AND SUSTENANCE. DEEP AND SAFE HARBOR.

UPRIVER, AND PROTECTED, YET CONNECTED BY NAVIGABLE WATERWAYS, ENABLING VITAL TRADE. ON THE BANKS OF THE CHESTER RIVER, CHESTERTOWN WAS A THRIVING PORT OF ENTRY FOR EARLY MARYLAND SETTLERS, AND BOOMTOWN OF COLONIAL COMMERCE. GEORGE WASHINGTON GAVE CHESTERTOWN HIS STAMP OF APPROVAL WITH THE FOUNDING OF WASHINGTON COLLEGE IN 1782. FIRST COLLEGE ESTABLISHED IN THE NEW NATION.

LOCALS WHO LIVE BY THE WATER'S SIDE CAN HARDLY CONCEIVE OF ANY OTHER PLACE TO BE. BALTIMORE, CITY ON THE BAY, BROAD SHOULDERED, BLUE COLLAR, OFFBEAT, IDIOSYNCRATIC, PORT OF ENTRY, CULTURAL CENTER. HOME OF THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER. LOCUST POINT; THE FIRST PORT OF BALTIMORE, TOBACCO SHIPPING OUT, SUGAR FROM THE CARIBBEAN SHIPPING IN.

CITY OF NEIGHBORHOODS; FELLS POINT, FEDERAL HILL, BOLTON HILL, CHERRY HILL, CANTON. OUTSIDE BALTIMORE, WHERE THE PATAPSCO RIVER MEETS THE BAY, SPARROWS POINT. A ONCE-SPRAWLING COMPLEX OF STEELMAKING AND SHIPBUILDING. IN THE MID-1950s, THE LARGEST STEEL MILL IN THE WORLD.

PRODUCING STEEL FOR THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE, AND CABLES FOR THE GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE. THE CHESAPEAKE DRAWS LIFE FROM THE RIVERS THAT FEED IT. MORE THAN 150 RIVERS FLOW INTO THIS IMMENSE TRANSITION ZONE FROM FRESH TO SALTWATER. ONLY THE COLUMBIA AND THE MISSISSIPPI SEND MORE WATER OUT TO SEA.

FROM THE NORTH COMES THE SUSQUEHANNA, SASSAFRAS, CHESTER AND ELK. FROM THE EAST; WICOMICO, CHOPTANK, NANTICOKE, POCOMOKE. AND THE WEST; THE PATAPSCO, POTOMAC, PATUXENT AND YORK, THE RAPPAHANNOCK, THE JAMES. THESE ARE THE RIVERS OF COLONIAL HISTORY, ALIVE WITH FISH, FOWL, AND CRUSTACEAN.

IN SPRINGTIME, PULSATING WITH FISH MOVING UPSTREAM FROM SALTWATER TO SPAWN. FEW PLACES ANYWHERE ON THE BAY ARE AS HAUNTING, AND STRIKING, AS THE BLACKWATER NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE. SWIRLING GEOMETRY, JAGGED, IRREGULAR, GREEN-GOLD MARSHSCAPE, ETCHED IN SHARP RELIEF AGAINST BRACKISH WATERS. ADMIRING THE SMOOTH REFLECTIONS IN THE BOWS AND GUTS, IT'S EASY TO OVERLOOK, THAT DOWN BELOW, THE BLACKWATER IS ALIVE WITH BIRDS, ANIMALS, INSECTS AND FISH.

THE BLACKWATER IS A CHIEF WINTERING AREA ALONG THE ATLANTIC FLYWAY. IN THE FALL, THESE LANDS BECOME A SPECTACLE OF CANADA GEESE, SNOW GEESE, TUNDRA SWAN, DUCKS. IN WINTER, THE BALD EAGLE NESTS. AS A NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, THE BLACKWATER SYMBOLIZES THE COMMITMENT TO PRESERVE THE IRREPLACEABLE LANDSCAPES WE TREASURE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS.

THE VOYAGES OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH CHARTING THE CHESAPEAKE WATERWAYS ARE LEGENDARY. HAVING ESTABLISHED THE ENGLISH SETTLEMENT AT JAMESTOWN, JOHN SMITH'S CHESAPEAKE ADVENTURES OPENED HIS EYES TO A NEW WORLD OF LUSH FORESTS, WATER TEEMING WITH LIFE, NATIVE AMERICANS LIVING ALONG THE BANKS. HIS MAPS AND WRITINGS OF "THIS VERY GOODLY BAY" STRONGLY INFLUENCED EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT OF THE REGION. SETTLED ON HIGH GROUND ABOVE A PEACEFUL TIDEWATER BAY, HISTORIC ST.

MARY'S CITY. FIRST SETTLEMENT AND NEW CAPITAL OF THE FLEDGLING MARYLAND COLONY. OUTLINES AND FORMS SPEAK

OF A ONCE BUSTLING CITY

THE JESUIT CHURCH, COURTHOUSE, AND SMALL TOBACCO AND CORN PLANTATIONS. REMINDERS OF MARYLAND'S VERY FIRST YEARS, WHEN MEN AND WOMEN TOOK A DARING RISK; HEWING A NEW LIFE FROM A NEW LAND. FROM THE FOUNDING OF THE COLONY, UNTIL TODAY, AGRICULTURE HAS SUSTAINED THE LOCAL ECONOMY. THE FARM FIELDS OF CHESAPEAKE COUNTRY ARE RICH, FERTILE, AND PAINT THE LANDSCAPE WITH STRIKING HUES.

TOBACCO, SWEET CORN, MELONS, SOYBEAN, SOAK UP THE DENSE NUTRIENTS IN THE SOIL PRODUCING ABUNDANT YIELDS. THE LINEAR VIEWS FROM THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH, OF WATER, MARSH OR SIMPLE FIELD OF HAY, ACQUIRE SHAPE, FORM, PERSPECTIVE, RISING INTO THE AIR. TILGHMAN ISLAND TYPIFIES THE MEETING PLACE BETWEEN FARMLAND AND WATERSHED, COMMON ON THE EASTERN SHORE. FISHING BOATS, FOR PLEASURE AND WORK, LINE UP.

A STONE'S THROW FROM FARM FIELDS THAT STRETCH OUT TO ISLAND'S END. IN THE WINTER, FORAGING GROUNDS FOR CANADA GEESE. A WORLD APART...BLISSFULLY SO. TIDES; INEXORABLE AND NEVER ENDING.

WAVES; RHYTHMIC, POUNDING. CURRENTS; SALTWATER MOVING UP THE BAY, FRESHWATER MOVING DOWN. VIOLENT WIND, TROPICAL STORM, HURRICANE, ALL KEEP THE CHESAPEAKE SHORELINE IN TENUOUS EBB AND FLOW. HOLLAND ISLAND, NESTING HOME FOR HUNDREDS OF BROWN PELICANS, WAS ONCE A THRIVING COMMUNITY.

HUNDREDS OF RESIDENTS, A GENERAL STORE, SCHOOL, CHURCH, AND A FLEET OF SCHOONERS AND SKIPJACKS. BUT THE CHESAPEAKE ENCROACHES ALMOST AT WILL. DECADES OF EROSION FROM WIND AND TIDE, AND THE RAVAGES OF HURRICANE ISABEL IN 2003, THE ISLAND SLIPS INTO MEMORY. SHARPS ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE STANDS NEAR THE ENTRANCE TO THE CHOPTANK RIVER, WARNING SEAFARERS OF THE SHOALS OFF POPLAR ISLAND.

THE TOWERING, CAST IRON, CONCRETE-FILLED HULK PROVED NO MATCH FOR THE MIGHTY FORCE OF WINTER ICE THAT THRUST SHARPS ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE INTO A PRECARIOUS 20-DEGREE LIST. PRIME REAL ESTATE HIGH ATOP THE CLIFFS AT CALVERT COUNTY COMES WITH SPECTACULAR VIEWS. BUT THESE EDGES, WHERE LAND AND WATER MEET, ARE ON THE MOVE. EVERY NOW AND THEN, ERODING EARTH TUMBLES DOWN TO THE SHORE.

THE CLIFF TOP IS RECEDING. BREAKWATERS AND RIPRAP SLOW, BUT CANNOT STOP THE PROCESS. THE FORCES OF NATURE ARE CONTINUALLY AT WORK, SHIFTING THE SHORELINE, RESHAPING ISLANDS, CREEKS, RIVULETS, MARSHES. A LONG-TERM, BARELY PERCEPTIBLE TRANSFORMATION.

WE, IN TURN, HAVE LEFT OUR OWN INDELIBLE HUMAN IMPRINTS ON THE LANDSCAPE. LINEAR PATTERNS SLICED INTO MARSH, REMINISCENT OF ENGLAND'S MYSTERIOUS CROP CIRCLES, OR A CHILD'S STICK FIGURES, ARE THE REMAINS OF THE 1950s, WHEN THESE MARSHLANDS WERE THE SITE FOR CHEMICAL TESTING. IN 1942, THE NAVY DESIGNATED BLOODSWORTH ISLAND AN IMPACT ZONE FOR NAVAL BOMBARDMENT. BY 1967, AN ESTIMATED 230,000 ROUNDS WERE FIRED AT THE ISLAND FROM SURFACE SHIPS.

UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE REMAINS. THE ISLAND IS OFF-LIMITS AND CAN ONLY BE VIEWED FROM THE AIR. ON THE UPPER BAY, AN ISLAND, AND A RESTORATION SUCCESS STORY, LITERALLY TAKE SHAPE. HART-MILLER ISLAND WAS HEADED FOR TOTAL SUBMERSION, BUT EXTENSIVE DREDGING OF THE BALTIMORE HARBOR PRODUCES THE PERFECT BY-PRODUCT.

THE DREDGINGS ARE PUMPED ONTO PERIMETER DIKES, RAISING THE ISLAND'S ELEVATIONS, AND THE HOPES FOR ITS FUTURE. TODAY, THIS LITTLE KNOWN GEM IS A MARYLAND STATE PARK, ACCESSIBLE ONLY BY BOAT, WITH BEACHES, MUDFLATS, AND VITAL HABITAT FOR SHOREBIRDS AND WATERFOWL. STRAIGHTPILE, SCREWPILE, CAST IRON, OR BRICK...BEACONS OF LIGHT. BLACKISTONE ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE, UP THE POTOMAC AND WITHIN VIEW OF ST.

CLEMENT'S ISLAND, WHERE THE MARYLAND COLONY BEGAN. DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, THE BRITISH CONTROLLED THE ISLAND, BLOCKADING THE POTOMAC PASSAGEWAY. IN THE CIVIL WAR, CONFEDERATES DESTROYED THE LANTERN AND LENS TO PREVENT IT AIDING THE UNION FORCES. AT ONE TIME, 74 LIGHTHOUSES ILLUMINATED CHESAPEAKE WATERS, WARNING SAILORS, STEAMERS, AND FISHING FLEETS AWAY FROM TREACHEROUS CURRENTS, SHOALS, SHALLOWS.

AT THE VERY TIP OF SOUTHERN MARYLAND, DOWN WHERE THE POTOMAC EMPTIES INTO THE BAY, POINT LOOKOUT LIGHTHOUSE STANDS. THIS SPIT OF LAND WAS THE SITE OF AN INFAMOUS CIVIL WAR PRISON, WHERE 4,000 CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS PERISHED AND WHOSE REMAINS WERE INTERRED HERE. MORE THAN 30 LIGHTHOUSES STILL STAND IN THE CHESAPEAKE. SOME RETIRED AS RELICS OF A PAST AGE.

OTHERS STILL SHINE FORTH AS IMPORTANT AIDS TO NAVIGATION. PERHAPS MOST EMBLEMATIC OF THEM ALL, UNDOUBTEDLY THE MOST PHOTOGRAPHED, THOMAS POINT LIGHTHOUSE WARNS SHIPS OF A SANDBAR EXTENDING OUT FROM SHORE NEAR THE SAILING MECCA OF ANNAPOLIS. BRAVE THOMAS POINT LIGHT SOMEHOW SURVIVED THE ASSAULT OF 23 FOOT WAVES CRASHING UPON IT FROM TROPICAL STORM AGNES IN 1972. EMINENTLY NAVIGABLE, THE BAY HAS ALWAYS BEEN A SUPERHIGHWAY; FREIGHTERS, STEAMERS, TUGS AND TOWS.

WATER IS A WAY OF COMMERCE AND MEANS OF TRANSPORT. THE CHESAPEAKE BAY SKIPJACK, ICONIC IN FORM, SYMBOL OF THE BAY'S BOAT BUILDING HERITAGE. SKIPJACK NATHAN OF DORCHESTER IS AN EXQUISITE EXAMPLE OF THE FORM. BUILT AS A LIGHT, INEXPENSIVE CRAFT FOR OYSTER DREDGING THE SHALLOWS, HUNDREDS OF SKIPJACKS ONCE THRIVED HERE.

TRUE TO FORM, SKIPJACK NATHAN CUTS THROUGH THE CHOPTANK RIVER ALMOST WITHOUT EFFORT. THE SCHOONER SULTANA IS AN EXACT REPLICA OF COLONIAL MERCHANT VESSELS THAT ONCE PATROLLED THE NORTH AMERICAN COAST, BUT NOW SERVES AS A CLASSROOM ON THE WATER. ANNAPOLIS, CELEBRATED AS THE SAILING CAPITAL OF AMERICA. STATE CAPITAL OF MARYLAND.

GENERAL WASHINGTON RESIGNED HIS COMMAND OF THE CONTINENTAL ARMY HERE, WHEN ANNAPOLIS WAS THE TEMPORARY CAPITAL OF THE UNITED STATES. HIGH ON A HILL, THE MARYLAND STATE HOUSE IS THE OLDEST LEGISLATIVE BUILDING IN CONTINUOUS USE IN THE NATION. WATERFRONT STREETS ARE STEEPED IN COLONIAL HISTORY. SAFE HARBOR AND LAUNCH POINT FOR RECREATIONAL VESSELS OF ALL KINDS.

PROUD HOME OF THE UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY. HERE, ABOARD SAILBOATS, IN THE CLASSROOM, AND ON ATHLETIC FIELDS, IN "FOUR YEARS BY THE BAY," THE MIDSHIPMEN IDEALS OF DUTY, HONOR AND LOYALTY TAKE SHAPE. COMPLETED IN 1952, THE FIRST OF TOWERING TWIN SPANS OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY BRIDGE ENABLED EASY MIGRATION TO THE EASTERN SHORE. SO, WE "GETAWAY" TO PLACES QUAINT, PICTURESQUE, LIKE HISTORIC ST.

MICHAELS ON THE MILES RIVER. THE CHESAPEAKE BAY MARITIME MUSEUM AND HOOPER STRAIGHT LIGHTHOUSE MARK LAND WHERE ONCE THERE WERE SEAFOOD PACKING HOUSES, DOCKS AND WORKBOATS. IT'S A PLACE WHERE A SEAFARING PAST MEETS THE SAILORS... AND PLEASURE BOATERS OF THE PRESENT.

THE BACK BAYS OF ST. MICHAELS, SCULPTED WITH PROTECTED COVES AND EASY WATER ACCESS, ARE FASHIONABLE GETAWAY SPOTS. HIGHWAY 50 AND THE CHOPTANK RIVER FISHING PIER LEAD THE WAY INTO CAMBRIDGE, ONE OF THE OLDEST CITIES IN MARYLAND. LIKE ANY OTHER WATERFRONT TOWN, LIFE IN CAMBRIDGE IS MEASURED NOT BY HOW MUCH OR HOW FAST, BUT THE TIDES, THE WIND AND THE WAVES.

THE SUN RETREATS TO THE WESTERN HORIZON, CASTING LONG SHADOWS OVER THE NANTICOKE. A RIVER SYSTEM OF SERENE SPLENDOR. INDIVIDUAL, CURVACEOUS, MEANDERING. FOR A LONG TIME, THE NANTICOKE REMAINED UNDEVELOPED, ITS SHORELINES THICK WITH FOREST, ITS WATERS ONE OF THE MOST PRODUCTIVE FOR FISHERMEN AND POUND NETTERS.

A PLACE THAT INSPIRES HOPE THAT CHESAPEAKE COUNTRY WILL ALWAYS LOOK JUST AS IT DOES TODAY.

Announcer

A DVD AND BLU-RAY OF THIS PROGRAM ARE AVAILABLE BY CALLING 1-800-873-6154 OR ONLINE AT CHESAPEAKEBAYBYAIR.ORG. THIS PROGRAM WAS MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY THE MPT NEW INIATIVE FUND, FOUNDED BY IRENE AND EDWARD H. KAPLAN.