Cornelius Tanner's farm on Kent Island was part of land first surveyed in 1699 for John and Valentine Carter and called "Copartnership," and research suggests the current house replaced an older one. Similar to other small-scale farms on Kent Island and the Eastern Shore mainland, it was managed by tenants or owners who cultivated grains, vegetables, fruit, and hay. By the 1840s, farmers began growing crops for sale in cities, and better roads and railroads, including the line that ran through this property, helped move produce more quickly. Tanner sold land to the Queen Anne's Railroad Company for $300 in 1901, and the farm once contained 93 acres. In the late 1800s farming expanded and Kent Island's population grew, but by the early 1900s booming factory jobs in cities such as Baltimore and Washington drew people west for better pay. After the Chesapeake Bay Bridge was completed in 1952, commuting became more affordable and patterns shifted again. The farm was later reduced when Route 50-301 cut through it in 1952 and Tanner's heirs sold much of the property, including the area now occupied by Western Tire and Auto and the Shell Station, and in the late 1990s the Route 18 bypass divided it again. Remnants of the Tanner family farmhouse and sheds from the 1800s survive nearby.