Natural Highways

The Chesapeake Bay and its many tributaries have served as natural highways since the beginning of civilization. As villages and settlements gradually developed along the shorelines, the waterways became the primary means of transportation and commerce for this region. For centuries, vessels ranging from simple dugout canoes to shallops, steamboats, and international tankers traveled these waters. Beginning in the 1800's, Piney Point became a steamboat destination on the Potomac River, bringing market goods and passengers to this popular summer resort community. Local watermen used the natural bounty of these waters to ship harvests of fish and shellfish from the Potomac to distant markets. Today, a local company still uses the last deepwater channel off the tip of Piney Point to transport fuel and asphalt products from international tankers to a nearby storage facility.

Piney Point, Maryland · United States