Scientists' Cliffs is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Calvert County Calvert County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 92,783. Its county seat is Prince Frederick. The county's name is derived from the family name of the Barons of Baltimore, the proprietors of t ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, United States. Other names used for the community include Annes Aggravation, Flippos Folly, Pathologists Quagmire. The private community was first established in 1935 as a summer colony for scientists by Flippo and Annie Gravatt. The founders of Scientists' Cliffs chose this land because the population of American Chestnut trees showed a particular resistance to the blight. Original cabins in the area were built from felled American Chestnut trees that died from the

blight Blight refers to a specific symptom affecting plants in response to infection by a pathogenic organism. Description Blight is a rapid and complete chlorosis, browning, then death of plant tissues such as leaves, branches, twigs, or floral org ...

. Although established as a seasonal community, the first year-round resident moved to the community in 1943. In 1986, when residents of Scientists' Cliffs heard that forests and abandoned farms surrounding their homes were up for sale, possibly to developers, they chipped in and bought the land. A tract of 436 wooded acres near the Chesapeake Bay became the "American Chestnut Land Trust." In the years since its founding, ACLT has expanded its land preservation by partnering with the Nature Conservancy and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. By 2019, over 4,000 acres surrounding Scientists' Cliffs have been preserved. The community is accessed by Scientists Cliffs Road and divided into five sub-sections, called "Gates," though it is not a "gated" community. Gates are named Gate A, Gate B, Gate C, Gate D, and Gate E, respectively. The streets in each gate all begin with the corresponding letter of the gate, and are botanically named. For example, Gate A features streets named Aster, Aspen, Azalea, etc., Gate B features streets named Birch, Beech and Bluebell, and so forth. All five gates have direct access to the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...

via a series of paths and wooden boardwalks. Additionally, Gate A features a community center, a residential swimming pool, tennis courts, horseshoe pit, a baseball field, a recycling center, and a private beach referred to as "South Beach". Another feature of Scientists' Cliffs is that a restrictive covenant requires all houses within the community to have a wooden exterior, giving the homes a distinctively rustic look. Recently, however, environmentally neutral cement-based siding such as "Hardie board" has been allowed. The tall

cliffs In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

along the edge of the bay contain one of the world's richest fossil deposits from the Miocene period. The cliffs are part of the

Calvert Formation The Calvert Formation is a geologic formation in Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware. It preserves fossils dating back to the early to middle Miocene epoch of the Neogene period. The formation is a destination for amateur fossil hunters as well as ...

. Carcharodon

megalodon Megalodon (''Otodus megalodon''), meaning "big tooth", is an extinct species of mackerel shark that lived approximately 23 to 3.6 million years ago (Mya), from the Early Miocene to the Pliocene epochs. It was formerly thought to be a membe ...

teeth are found in this area.

References

External links

Community websiteAmerican Chestnut Land Trust website
Unincorporated communities in Calvert County, Maryland Unincorporated communities in Maryland Maryland populated places on the Chesapeake Bay Populated places established in 1935 1935 establishments in Maryland {{CalvertCountyMD-geo-stub