Talbot’s Tiny Towns Past and Present by James Dawson T i ny tow n s a re sc at tere d a l l around Talbot County. Whatever you choose to call them, whether it be village, hamlet, settlement, community, one-horse town, place or townlet, they are an interesting and unusual part of our history and culture. There used to be lots of them. The heyday of Talbot’s tiny towns was probably 1870 to 1910. Dr. Laurence Claggett lists more than 150 in his illustrated gazetteer of Talbot County From Pot Pie to Hell and Damnation. Most blinked out of existence years ago, but there are still more around than you might think: Barber, Bellevue, Bozman, Br uc e v i l le , Ch ap el, C l a ib or ne , Cordova, Fairbanks, Hambleton, Hinsontown, Ivytown, Longwoods, Mc D a n ie l , Mat t he w s , Ne av it t , Newcomb, Newtown, Royal Oak, Sherwood, Skipton, Tilghman, Tunis Mills, Trappe Landing, Trappe Station, Unionville, Walkertown, Williamsburg, Willey ville, Wittman, Windy Hill and Wye Mills. And, I’m sure I’ve probably missed a few. Note t h at I ’m not i nc lud i ng Easton, St. Michaels, Trappe or
Oxford, as I don’t consider these sprawling metropolises to be tiny towns, as least not by Talbot County standards. Getting an exact count is difficult. Another article could probably speculate whether Stumptown and Williamsburg were two different places adjacent to each other or just two different names for the same place, or if Ivytown (which, to further complicate things, was also called Ivorytown) and Maynadier 97