The Captain Avery Museum preserves a Chesapeake Bay waterfront property first developed in the 1850's and continuously owned by people connected to the water through work, recreation, history, or commitment to the Bay's health. Salem Avery settled here from New England in the 1850's to earn his living from Chesapeake Bay oysters and as captain of a buyboat, reflecting the history of working the water and life as a waterman. Beginning in 1923, the property was transformed into a rustic fishing club for more than 60 years as changes in the 1900's altered the commercial industry and encouraged recreational fishing. The site also includes gardens designed to keep pollutants from entering the Bay by slowing rainwater, spreading it out, and allowing it to soak in.