Solomons Island Favorites

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Favorite thing: The original name of this little island was Bourne's Island. Then in 1740 it was called Somervell's Island and later Sandy Island. My first thought on hearing the present name was that it was somehow connected with the Solomon Islands in the Pacific. Although, ironically, the personnel who trained here in WWII did fight at the Pacific Solomon Islands. Between 1942 and 1945, the population of Solomons increased from 263 to more than 2,600. Over 60,000 troops trained at Solomons during the war.

But no - it was named for 19th century Baltimore businessman Isaac Solomon, who bought land and established a cannery there shortly after the Civil War. He was advertising his canning establishment as "Solomons Island." He leased small lots on the island to many people who paid a yearly rent varying from $9 to $21. In 1870, the community received official recognition when the United States Postal Service opened an office.

Fondest memory: The Calvert Marine Museum is one of the attractions on Solomons Island that we often visit when we are down visiting our parents in Saint Mary's County. All the pictures are from one of those visits

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Favorite thing: In order to get from the boardwalk into the swamp over to the lighthouse, you have to walk along by the small craft building. This 6,000-square foot building, open toward the boat basin, houses nineteen of the small craft in the museum's collections, ranging in size from a dugout canoe to the forty-five-foot draketail Penguin. In addition to photos of the various boats inside, one picture is taken from near the otter tank.

Next to the Small Boat Shed is the Small Craft Guild building. Here a group of boat enthusiasts works on selected weekday and Saturday mornings building, restoring, sailing, and rowing traditional craft indigenous to the region, all under the direction of the museum's boatwright.

Fondest memory: There are also boats in the water, and there is a small dinghy dock where one can come and visit the museum if one is anchored in Back Creek.