Breaking!!

Storm closing and cancellation.

Newly painted roof!

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Old Fashioned Picnic is a Resounding Success!

Kent Island Heritage Society Members and their Guests enjoyed beautiful weather at The Kirwan House and Farm Sunday, September 25, 2022, 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.  

There was plenty of homemade food, homemade ice cream, great company, old friends and new faces, hayrides, rock painting, feed the chickens, a Kirwan House Tour, guess the weight of the pumpkin contest, music by Monique and Mike Thomas, invocation by Doug Bishop, and guess the gadget contest!  Thankfully the rain held off and we were able to have a great picnic, the first in 4 years!  See you next year!

We Want Need You!

As we celebrate the success of our wonderful Kent Island Day in May, the fascinating presentation in June on our Underground Railroad Network to Freedom site here on Kent Island, and the opening of Historic Sites for “First Saturdays”, one fact is glaringly apparent. We have too few good folks doing too many good things in support of our mission. We are in reasonably good shape financially, but we need more direct personal involvement from our members.

Read More Here

The 2022 Kent Island Heritage Society Scholarship

Each year The Kent Island Heritage Society offers a one-year scholarship to a graduating senior from Kent Island High School who plans to attend college. To be eligible, the applicant must have a 3.0 GPA or higher and have performed community service. This year the scholarship was awarded to Noah Wigglesworth.  As part of his winning essay he wrote, “It is essential to work to preserve our beautiful community simply because those in the future should be able to experience what we have today.”  Congratulations Noah!   Noah is attending the University of Maryland to study Aerospace Engineering.  You can read his essay in our latest newsletter HERE.

Kent Island Stoopley-Gibson Manor and the Henry Massey Escape Site

The Kent Island Heritage Society hosted a presentation on the history of the Stoopley-Gibson Manor property on today’s Gibson’s Grant and its designation as a site on the National Park Service (NPS) Network to Freedom Underground Railroad Trail on June 14, 2002 at the Historic Christ Church in Stevensville.

KIHS member Andrew Costello detailed the history of the Stoopley- Gibson property (also known as White’s Heritage) from its land grant of 150 acres to John Gibson and Henry Stoop in 1656 through today’s Gibson’s Grant.

He was joined by Matthew LaRoche from the University of Maryland whose research resulted in the National Park Service designation of the enslaved Henry Massey Escape Site at Stoopley-Gibson Manor.

There are two presentations you can view:

PowerPoint with Audio and Picture-in-Picture.

Full-length Video with opening and closing remarks and a brief question and answer session with the presenters.

Kent Island Day 2022 was a resounding success!

Thanks to our sponsors, the community, vendors and exhibitors, and most of all our hard working volunteers Kent Island Day 2022 will go down in history as one of the best!  After two years of cancellations due to the Covid-19 pandemic everyone was eager to return to normalcy and it showed with large crowds, fantastic musical entertainment, great food, wonderful history and heritage exhibits, and a wide range of vendors and exhibitors to capture the attention of the whole family.  In spite of the record heat everyone enjoyed a day focused on history and heritage of Kent Island which was established in 1631.

Thanks to our sponsors:

William Claiborne Level:  Kent Island American legion #278

Isle of Kent Level:  I Love Kent Island

Donor:  Robert W Timms, Sr

Patrons:  Please select the link below to see the huge list of Kent Island Day 2022 patrons - there are many!  Thank you to everyone that supports our vision to discover, identify, restore, and preserve the heritage of Kent Island!

Vendors and Exhibitors: Thank you, thank you, thank you!  Without your support Kent Island Day 2022 would not have been the overwhelming success that it was!

The iconic celebration of heritage, life, and culture of Kent Island, sponsored and organized by the Kent Island Heritage Society, takes place annually on the third Saturday in May. The celebration itself is part of Kent Island’s history. It was established in 1977 by State Proclamation signed by Lt. Gov. Blair Lee. Kent Island Day takes place in Historic Stevensville featuring vendors and artisans, kids' activities, local food, entertainment, historic displays, artifacts, reenactors, and open historic sites. It also features a large parade through town. It is a family event that attracts over 2,000 visitors for the daylong activities.

For more information click HERE

Due to Covid our annual induction of officers and new board members occured telephonically.  See our latest NEWSLETTERS for updated information.