Tred Avon River
The Tred Avon River (a corruption of "Third Haven"[1]) is a main tributary of the Choptank River in Talbot County on Maryland's Eastern Shore.
Geography
The headwaters are located approximately 2.5 mi (4 km) southeast of Easton, the county seat. The river flows 4 mi (6.4 km) roughly west past the city, then widens and flows southwest about 8 miles to the mouth near Oxford.[2]
History
With the colonial port of Oxford founded near its mouth between 1666 and 1668, the river served as a major shipping lane in the international tobacco trade until the end of the Revolutionary War, when wheat became the Eastern Shore's main cash crop and Oxford's monopoly on colonial trade ended, which led to an economic downturn.[3] But with the decline in trade came a post-Civil War rise in oyster harvesting, causing a renewed local economic boom lasting until the depletion of oyster beds in the Tred Avon and lower Choptank in the 1920s from overharvesting.[3]
Current Maryland governor Martin O'Malley has recently sought to revive the river's oyster beds through citizen participation, initiating in September 2008, the Marylanders Grow Oysters project, which encourages waterfront property owners to grow oysters from their piers using cages; after and 9- to 12-month growing period, the oysters will then be moved to a protected sanctuary in the Tred Avon.[4]
Referred to as "the Park Avenue of the Eastern Shore,"[5] the Tred Avon is prized for its real estate, and is known as a sailing and fishing destination. The Oxford-Bellevue Ferry, believed to be the oldest privately-operated ferry service in the U.S.,[6] offers shuttle service across the river from April to November.
Trivia
The films Wedding Crashers and Failure to Launch were both filmed in part on the Tred Avon.
See also
References
- ^ Wiencek, Henry. (1989). "Virginia and the capital region." Smithsonian Guide To Historic America. (New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1989.) p.294.
- ^ United States Geological Survey. Reston, VA. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). Entry date 1979-09-12.
- ^ a b "A Landing at Oxford". Retrieved 2008-11-08.
- ^ "Marylander's Grow Oysters". Retrieved 2008-11-08.
- ^ "Unique Homes". Retrieved 2008-11-09.
- ^ "Oxford-Bellevue Ferry". Retrieved 2008-11-08.