Hoopers Island

In the early 1600s, Capt. John Smith explored the Chesapeake Bay from Jamestown. On the Eastern Shore of Maryland, he found dozens of small islands, including a chain of three islands that later came to be named Hoopers Island. Fifty years later, when Lord Baltimore allowed permanent settlement on the Eastern Shore, Hoopers Island was quickly settled. Planters came for the island's fertile soil, fresh water, timber, and easy access to the sea. Oysters and crabs were of little interest. Howe...