Crossing the Narrows

Kent Narrows was once the only crossing point from Kent Island to the Eastern Shore mainland. The earliest crossings were made by Native Americans in log canoes, and colonists crossed the marshy straits by ferry. Ferry links from Annapolis to Kent Island and across Kent Narrows were part of the Great Road system through the colonies by about 1672. An earthen causeway built about 1826 closed the straits and joined the island with the mainland, but in 1876 the causeway was removed to allow boat traffic between Eastern Bay and the Chester River, and a drawbridge replaced it. About 1900, the Queen Anne's Railroad Company built a railroad bridge across the Narrows. In 1952, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge opened, joining the Eastern and Western Shores of the Bay for the first time. In 1956, the last train crossed the Narrows and the rail bridge formally closed. In 1990, the 65-foot-tall Kent Narrows Bridge was completed. Today more than 25 million vehicles cross the Narrows annually.

Kent Narrows, Maryland · United States