The Chester River is a major tributary of 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 / ...

on the Delmarva Peninsula. It is about long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed April 1, 2011 and its watershed encompasses , which includes of land. Thus the total watershed area is 20% water. It forms the border between Kent County and

Queen Anne's County Queen Anne's County is located on the Eastern Shore of the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 49,874. Its county seat and most populous municipality is Centreville. The census-designated place of Stevensvill ...

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 t ...

, with its headwaters extending into

New Castle County New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex). As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware, with nearly 60% of the ...

and Kent County,

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent ...

. Chestertown, the seat of Maryland's Kent County, is located on its north shore. It is located south of the Sassafras River and north of

Eastern Bay The Eastern Bay is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay located between Queen Anne's County, Maryland and Talbot County, Maryland on the Eastern Shore. Its main tributaries include the Miles River and the Wye River. It is located south of the Ches ...

, and is connected with Eastern Bay through

Kent Narrows The Kent Narrows, also known as Kent Island Narrows and to local residents simply as the Narrows, is a waterway that connects the Chester River with the Eastern Bay and also separates Kent Island from the Delmarva Peninsula. It runs through the ...

. The Chester River begins at Millington, Maryland, where Cypress Branch and Andover Branch join together. It ends at the

in a very wide mouth between Love Point on

Kent Island Kent Island is the largest island in the Chesapeake Bay and a historic place in Maryland. To the east, a narrow channel known as the Kent Narrows barely separates the island from the Delmarva Peninsula, and on the other side, the island is sep ...

, and Swan Point, near Gratitude, Maryland. Cypress Branch rises in southwestern

, and Andover Branch, with its tributary, Sewell Branch, rises in northwestern Kent County,

. Millington is the head of navigation. Sewell Branch and Andover Branch join in a private impoundage of approximately about two miles (3 km) above joining with Cypress Branch and then becoming the Chester River. Its main tributaries are Langford Creek and Morgan Creek on the north side and the Corsica River and Southeast Creek on the south side. There are also several small creeks on the northern shore, including Church Creek, Grays Inn Creek, Shippen Creek, Jarrett Creek, Browns Creek, Broad Creek, Dam Creek, Morgan Creek, Radcliffe Creek, and Mills Branch. On the southern shore the small creeks include Queenstown Creek, Tilghman Creek, Reed Creek, Grove Creek, Hambleton Creek, Rosin Creek, Foreman Branch and Unicorn Branch.

History

Local lore has it that in 1774, colonists boarded a British ship anchored in the Chester River at Chester Town, also called New Town on Chester, and threw its load of tea overboard, mimicking the

Boston Tea Party The Boston Tea Party was an American political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 16, 1773. The target was the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, which allowed the British East India Company to sell t ...

and its act of defiance against King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. This came to be known as the

Chestertown Tea Party The Chestertown Tea Party was a protest against British excise duties which, according to local legend, took place in May 1774 in Chestertown, Maryland as a response to the British Tea Act. Chestertown tradition holds that, following the example ...

. While primary source documents show that Chestertown residents did have at least one meeting to discuss the presence of tea aboard the locally owned merchantman ''Geddes'', and later the residents sent food to aid the blockaded Bostonians, contemporaneous source material has yet to be found.

References

*United States Geological Survey. 7.5 minute series topographic quadrangles.
Chesapeake Bay Program Watershed Profile
Lower Chester River
Chesapeake Bay Program Watershed Profile
Middle Chester River
Chesapeake Bay Program Watershed Profile
Upper Chester River

External links

Chester River Association

Maryland DNR's Surf Your Watershed
: Lower Chester River
Maryland DNR's Surf Your Watershed
: Middle Chester River
Maryland DNR's Surf Your Watershed
: Upper Chester River {{Coord, 39, 2, 1.87, N, 76, 11, 43.21, W, type:river_scale:100000_region:US-MD, display=title Tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay Rivers of Maryland Rivers of Kent County, Maryland Rivers of Queen Anne's County, Maryland