Cobb Island is a small island located at the confluence of the Potomac and Wicomico rivers in southern

Charles County Charles County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 166,617. The county seat is La Plata. The county was named for Charles Calvert (1637–1715), third Baron Baltimore. The ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, United States. It is located approximately south of

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, and is considered to be within the Washington, D.C. MSA. Cobb Island is separated from the mainland by Neale Sound and connected to it by a fixed bridge carrying

Maryland Route 254 Maryland Route 254 (MD 254) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as Cobb Island Road, the state highway runs from Cobb Island, Maryland, Cobb Island north to Maryland Route 257, MD 257 near Rock Point, Maryland, Rock Point ...

. Cobb Island is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP). As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a population of 1,166. The community has a small post office, a volunteer fire department and rescue squad, a

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

church, a large community green space (Fisherman's Field) and a small playground for children. Commercially, there are two seafood restaurants with marinas, a marina with a pizzeria restaurant chain, a small bar and grill, a seasonal coffee shop, art gallery and bakery, and a small market.

History

Name origin and privateer past

The Island was owned in 1642 by James Neal, a privateer (a legal pirate working for the British Empire) who captured Spanish ships bearing treasure to Spain from Central America. Captured Spanish coins were cut into "cobbs" (smaller coins) and distributed to Maryland colonists, which led to the name "Cobb Island".

World's first human voice radio transmission

On December 23, 1900,

Reginald Aubrey Fessenden Reginald Aubrey Fessenden (October 6, 1866 – July 22, 1932) was a Canadian-American electrical engineer and inventor who received hundreds of patents in fields related to radio and sonar between 1891 and 1936 (seven of them after his death). F ...

sent and received the first intelligible speech by electromagnetic waves on a pair of masts high and apart on Cobb Island. Fessenden was using a spark transmitter with a Kintner-Brashear interrupter.

20th century and later

Robert Crain bought Cobb Island and organized the Cobb Island Development Company. In 1922 and 1923, the company constructed roads, a summer resort and a bridge to the island.

Demographics

Cobb Island first appeared as a

census designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in the 2010 U.S. Census.

References

External links

* *
Cobb Island Official FACEBOOK page
*
Census information about Cobb Island, MD 20625
* {{authority control River islands of Maryland Islands of the Potomac River Census-designated places in Charles County, Maryland Landforms of Charles County, Maryland