Location - Somerset County, Maryland

Somerset County is an area rich in Eastern Shore and Maryland history, boasting more historic buildings and sites per capita than any other county in Maryland. Vividly reflecting the past is a wealth of surviving eighteenth and nineteenth century plantation, farm and town dwellings, churches and agricultural buildings.

Established in 1666 by Cecil Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore, Somerset County was named in honor of his wife's sister, Lady Mary Somerset. As originally conceived, Somerset County stretched from the bayside to the seaside and from the Virginia line to the Nanticoke River, encompassing what is now the three lower Shore counties as well as a part of southern Delaware. Seventy-six years after its original creation, Somerset was divided in half, with the seaboard side established as Worcester County in 1742. Princess Anne, founded in 1733, was declared the new county seat of Somerset in 1744. In 1867 a portion of Somerset and a section of Worcester County were partitioned to create Wicomico County.

The shared history of the three lower Shore counties offers an interesting background for the modern day pilgrim to explore Somerset county with its level fields, extensive marshes and miles of slow moving tidal tributaries emptying into Chesapeake Bay.

Our Towns
Crisfield | Deal Island | Princess Anne | Smith Island

Directions

Directions from the Philadelphia area:
Take I-95 South to Rt. 1 (Toll Road). Follow Rt. 1 South to Dover and exit to Rt. 13 South just south of Dover. Follow Rt. 13 South through the remainder of Delaware and into Maryland. About 20 miles south of the Maryland-Delaware border you will be in Somerset County.

Directions from Baltimore:
Take Rt. 97 South to Rt. 50 East and follow to Salisbury. In Salisbury, take Rt. 13 South and follow to Somerset County.

Directions from Washington DC:
Take Rt. 50 East and follow to Salisbury. In Salisbury, take Rt. 13 South and follow to Somerset County

From Norfolk/Virginia Beach:
Take Rt. 13 North and follow to the Maryland-Virginia border. Once you cross the border, continue to follow Rt. 13 North. Once you cross the Pocomoke River, you are in Somerset County.

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Click here to get up to date maps from Maryland's State Highway adminstration.

CRISFIELD-SOMERSET COUNTY AIRPORT

4784 Jacksonville Road
Crisfield, MD 21817
(410) 968-3062
www.crisfield.com/visitor

SHORE TRANSIT

799 N. Salisbury Boulevard
Salisbury, MD 21804
(443) 260-2300
www.shoretransit.org
Serving main routes in Somerset County.
Seamless connection to 3 lower counties, including Ocean City.
Schedules available locally.

Smith Island is accessible by passenger ferry only. Ferry/freight boats leave from the City Dock at 12:30 pm sharp each day year round, depending on weather conditions. Click here for contact information.