From a pea farm near Turkey Point to a community of more than 300 lots, Chesapeake Isle has been shaped by the neighbors who live here.
Beaver Dam Farm
Before it was Chesapeake Isle, this land was Beaver Dam Farm. It raised peas about a mile from the Turkey Point Lighthouse, and old-timers remembered the overnight horse-and-buggy trip from Elkton, with a halfway stop at Wood’s Store near Hart’s Church. The farm later sold for a rumored $40,000 and became a retreat run by the Salvation Mission House.
Rolling Hills becomes Chesapeake Isle
In the late 1950s, C.A. Firmani of Richardson Park, Delaware bought the farm. He laid out the first section of a development he called Rolling Hills in 1960, selling lots for as little as $10 down and $10 a month. By 1964 the plan covered 336 lots on 177.6 acres, with 26.7 miles of roads and 28.7 acres of recreational land.
In 1965 the development was sold to a group of companies run by Robert M. Brinley, who renamed it Chesapeake Isle.
The Civic Association
Property owners formed the Chesapeake Isle Civic Association in 1966 to protect their investment. Dues were $5 a year. One of its first projects was building the bathhouse at the swimming beach in 1969.
When Mr. Brinley prepared to sell in 1972, the Association moved to gain legal standing. It incorporated in Maryland as a non-profit in 1973, with the purpose “to promote, protect and preserve the common interests of residents and owners of property” in Chesapeake Isle, and adopted revised Bylaws on August 27, 1973. That same year the J.C. Cabot Equity Corporation bought the developer’s holdings, including the community land and roads.
The Association kept building toward the day it would own them, raising dues to $15 in 1974 and $25 in 1978. In 1979 it finally acquired the community land and roads, along with the right to enforce the restrictive covenants.
Milestones
- 1969: about 30 homes; the bathhouse is built at the beach
- 1971: 46 homes, with nearly two-thirds of the lots sold
- 1973: 166 property owners and 53 homes, 26 of them year-round
- 1974: the first Spring Dinner and the first holiday social
- 1975: 67 homes, 32 of them year-round
- 1979: the Association takes over the community land and roads, and the Pavilion is built
- 1980: the State takes over Turkey Point Road (Route 272), a portable pier is added at the launch ramp, the first Year Book is published, and Santa makes his first Christmas Eve visit
- 1981: the Architectural Review Committee is formed and the entrance sign goes up
- 1982–1983: the first Easter Egg Hunt, hay wagon rides to the lighthouse, and the mooring area light goes into service
- 1985: the Elk River erosion project is completed, the mooring puller is built, the Pavilion driveway is paved, the first tractor is bought, and the community celebrates 25 years at a Spring Dinner Dance
Learn more
Read the full History of Chesapeake Isle summary, compiled by the original History Committee, and the Association’s Articles of Incorporation. Research since then has traced the area back to 1654, and new findings appear in the history section of the newsletter.
Charles “Bud” Godby, Chesapeake Isle History Chair, has written a book on the history of the Isle. It’s available on Amazon.