Maryland Heritage Preservation and Tourism Areas
Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore is a rural region with a wealth of historic, cultural and natural resources that distinguish it from other places in the state and country. The lower shore counties of Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester encompass a vast region stretching from the shorelines of Tangier Sound and Chesapeake Bay to the washed beaches of the Atlantic seaboard.
From earliest time, life on the Lower Eastern Shore has depended on the ocean, the bay and its tributaries and the marshes and land between. Compelling evidence of past peoples and cultures reverberates throughout the various corners of the region. The Manokin, Nanticoke, Pocomoke and Wicomico Rivers and the outer bays connect the past and present, towns with history, and homes with open spaces. The seafood industry and agriculture have long formed the backbone of the lower shore economy and sustained a way of life built on the resources of land and water. A number of factors have adversely affected these traditional industries over the past decade, decreasing the economic base of the area and threatening its rich heritage.
Maryland Heritage Areas
Heritage areas are an approach to revitalization that combines heritage tourism and small business development with preservation, cultural conservation, recreation and education in a strategic effort to enhance a community economic activity.The State of Maryland Heritage Areas Authority oversees a program that provides matching grants to partnerships and private interests to develop management plans to guide public and private investments in the development of cultural tourism opportunities. Once such plans are adopted locally and accepted by the Authority and a locale becomes a Certified Heritage Area, its communities and businesses are eligible for targeted financial and technical assistance from the Authority and other state agencies.
Lower Eastern Shore Heritage Area
The Lower Eastern Shore Heritage Council has taken important steps in building a regional partnership in support of a Lower Eastern Shore Heritage Area. The area has been designated by the state as a Recognized Heritage Area, eligible for state certification.To gain certification by the state and open the door to financial and technical assistance from state agencies, the committee must develop a management plan illustrating how the heritage area will enhance the quality of life on the Lower Eastern Shore. The plan must integrate quality of life issues with economic opportunity.
How You Can Help
The development of this Management Plan emphasizes leadership through
community problem solving and is designed to address many of the issues
facing the rural communities on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland. You
can help lead us into the future by joining the Lower Eastern Shore Heritage Committee or sending a tax deductible contribution to:The Lower Eastern Shore Heritage Council
PO Box 4601 - 212 West Main St, Suite 301C - Salisbury, MD 21801 |
| Home | Heritage | Membership | Meetings | Interest Areas © Copyright 2007 - The Lower Eastern Shore Heritage Council PO Box 4601 - 212 West Main St, Suite 301C - Salisbury, MD 21801 Phone: 410-677-4706 - Fax: 410-677-4707 E-mail: leshc1@aol.com This page is funded by the Rural Development Center at theUniversity of Maryland Eastern Shore through a grant from the Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. |
