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The Chesapeake Bay (/ ˈtʃɛsəpiːk / CHESS-ə-peek) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and the state of Delaware.
Sep 25, 2024 · News •. Chesapeake Bay, largest inlet in the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the eastern United States. Created by the submergence of the lower courses of the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, it is 193 miles (311 km) long and 3 to 25 miles (5 to 40 km) wide. The southern part of the bay is bordered by Virginia and its northern part by Maryland.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
This marked a grim chapter in the Bay’s history, as thousands of Africans were forcibly brought to work on tobacco plantations. As you can see, the Chesapeake Bay’s transition into the Colonial era was more than just a shift in time—it was a transformative period that reshaped the region’s societal structure, culture, and economy.
Discover the maritime history of the Chesapeake. Explore the culture of the Indigenous inhabitants who named the Bay “Chesapeake,” why the first English explorers in North America placed their settlements along the Bay’s shores, and how this region later became linked with a new nation’s fight for independence, subsequent growth, and fracture and reunification at
Shipwrecks. Look back at the way people lived, worked and traveled on the Bay by uncovering the details of historic sunken ships. The Chesapeake region has been around for a very long time. Many tend to begin its history with the establishment of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. But the story of the Bay began millions of years before that.
Bay History. The Chesapeake Bay has its beginnings in the ancient Susquehanna River valley. More than 18,000 years ago, geologists believe, the Susquehanna flowed directly into the Atlantic Ocean, with the valley surrounding it meandering through the continental shelves. As glaciers began to shrink, sea level began to rise, and the waters of ...
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From American Indian settlements throughout the Bay watershed and European invasion of the region to the War of 1812 and the Bay’s role in founding slavery in Hampton, VA, there are many stories to explore and discover in the Chesapeake Bay. Explore the Chesapeake’s history and heritage at museums and sites below.
