For as long as people have lived near the water, they have built boats. On Chesapeake Bay, which the Tilghman Watermen’s Museum reports has seen 13,000 years of human habitation, boats have been an integral part of everyday life.
Tilghman Island, on the Bay’s eastern shore, became host in the 19th century to people who made their living in the oyster industry — as harvesters, shipwrights, blacksmiths and seafood shippers.
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Today the island is an eclectic blend of traditional and modern life. This article from Soundings about artist Neal Hughes features his oil painting of the Rebecca T. Ruark, built in 1886 and said to be the oldest working skipjack on the bay.
