UPDATED 9/3/08 - new container and a new
location to deal with high tide and high muggle factor. PLEASE be
sure to secure the lid properly and replace as found.
If you’re looking for a place to view a sunset, Tolchester Beach
is the place! After dark, the horizon lights up in a brilliant
display. The cache is only 16 miles from downtown Baltimore, but
over here, you are in another world.
Here is some history about the area:
Maryland Historical
Society |
The original plan was to connect
the
steamship line with a railroad being built across Kent County.
The county railroad was to connect Tolchester with the Smyrna &
Delaware Railroad. Unfortunately the railroad went bankrupt and
never found its way to Tolchester. In the absence of the railroad,
a new plan had to be devised by Ambrewster, Taggart, and Eliason to
utilize the boats, the land and docking facilities in Tolchester
and the docking facilities leased in
Baltimore.
|
The year 1877 saw the opening of an amusement park on ten acres
of land, a somewhat primitive park, under the supervision of
Captain Eliason. The resort included picnic grounds with tables, a
few concessions, a bath house, a hand propelled merry-go-round, and
a hand organ pulled by a goat. Thus was the beginning of the most
popular beach resort along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay,
destined to provide entertainment and fond lifelong memories to
millions of patrons during the next eighty-five years.
Maryland Historical
Society |
The Tolchester Steamboat Company,
incorporated in 1878, ran excursion steamships to Tolchester Beach
from Pier 15 at Light Street in Baltimore. One of the most popular
excursion steamers on the bay was the company's side-wheeler
Louise, acquired in 1882. With a capacity of 2,500 passengers,
Louise is said to have carried 5 million passengers in 40 years of
operation.
|
At times, the Tolchester Steamboat Company operated routes to
Annapolis, and along other Maryland waterways including the
Susquehanna, Sassafras, and Little Choptank Rivers. The
Susquehanna, a screw steamer built in 1898, ran to Betterton, Port
Deposit and Havre de Grace under the direction of Capt. John
Kirwan. The Express, purchased in 1925, was a double-end
side-wheeler with an extra deck to carry automobiles.
The original Tolchester Steamboat Company closed in 1936, and
was taken over by a new company, Tolchester Lines, Inc. In the late
1950s the company was sold and resold, with the Tolchester Beach
excursion service and park lands remaining in operation through the
early 1960s. The land at Tolchester Beach was finally sold for
development in 1962.
Nearby caches of interest:
Better View by hart612
Sassy Cliffside by quetzal0303
STOP!! PAY TOAL by THE DAM TROLLS
Chestertown - Sultana by LowellHouseGang
