Smith Island is a collection of three distinct island communities – Tylerton, Rhodes Point, and Ewell, Maryland – on the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

, on the border of

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 ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

territorial waters in the United States. The island is the last inhabited island in Maryland that is not accessible by car (the Virginia portion of the island is not currently inhabited). Most of the islands are eroding due to tidal currents and

sea level rise The sea level has been rising from the end of the last ice age, which was around 20,000 years ago. Between 1901 and 2018, the average sea level rose by , with an increase of per year since the 1970s. This was faster than the sea level had e ...

; a study conducted in 2008 by the DNR reported that Smith Island is expected to completely erode by 2100 if no action is taken. The island's population is approximately 220, down from a peak of about 800. On its Maryland side, Smith Island is 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 ...

(CDP) in Somerset County. It is included in the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

Smith Island lies approximately west of Crisfield, Maryland, across the Tangier Sound portion of the

. The island consists of three communities, namely Ewell, Tylerton, and Rhodes Point, which all sit on the Maryland portion of the island. The Virginia portion is uninhabited, although it once contained many homes of early settlers. Although a portion of this island lies within Virginia, " Smith Island, Virginia" refers to a separate but identically named barrier island off Cape Charles.

Sea level rise

By the 2010s, the island had shrunk, mainly from erosion and rising sea levels. In the last 150 years, Smith Island has lost over of wetlands. The island is projected to be completely eroded by 2100 should the sea level rise by another foot. Preventative measures have been implemented, including a

jetty A jetty is a man-made structure that protrudes from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater (structure), breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French la ...

-building project completed in 2018, and the realignment of waterways through dredging. These restoration efforts will be ongoing for the next 50 years to restore of submerged aquatic vegetation and of wetlands. Moreover, the island is building additional coastal defenses.

Demographics

The Smith Island CDP is located in a small town–area in the central part of the island, spread across the three villages of

Ewell Ewell ( , ) is a town in Surrey, England, south of Centre of London, central London and northeast of Epsom. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, it had a population of 34,872. The majority (73%) was in the NRS social grade, ABC1 ...

, Rhodes Point, and Tylerton, all located in the state of Maryland. The northern part of Smith Island also includes the Martin National Wildlife Refuge. The southernmost portion of the island, consisting of marsh, lies in Accomack County, Virginia. As of the 2010 Census, there were 276 people residing in the Smith Island CDP. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 218 housing units, at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 99.6%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.82%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.27% Native American, and 0.82% from two or more races. 51% of Smith Island's residents were English, 4%

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, 3% Irish, 3% Scottish, and 3% French. There were 167 households, of which 19.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.5% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 4.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.9% were non-families. 29.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18, and the average family size was 2.69. The

median age A population pyramid (age structure diagram) or "age-sex pyramid" is a graphical illustration of the distribution of a population (typically that of a country or region of the world) by age groups and sex; it typically takes the shape of a pyramid ...

was 50 years, with 14.6% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 22.3% from 25 to 44, 34.6% from 45 to 64, and 23.1% who were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 95.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.8 males. The

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...

was $26,324, and the median family income was $29,375. Males had a median income of $26,250, versus $28,750 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

was $25,469. About 14.4% of families and 37.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 26.9% of those under age 18 and 67.9% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Smith Island has no airport and no bridges to the mainland; it can be accessed only by boat. Passenger-only

ferries A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

connect Smith Island at

to Point Lookout, Maryland, and Reedville, Virginia, on the Western shore of the Chesapeake Bay (seasonal), and from Crisfield, Maryland, on its Eastern Shore (year-round). A daily passenger ferry also runs between Crisfield, Maryland, and the smaller island of Tylerton, Maryland. In addition to public ferry services, guided boat tours operate between Crisfield and Smith Island, offering visitors an opportunity to explore the island’s history and culture. Experience Smith Island, a Chesapeake Bay storytelling and heritage tour operator, provides transportation to the island along with guided tours focusing on local traditions, seafood harvesting, and Smith Island cake demonstrations. Few motor vehicles exist on the islands, and these are all in the northern community of

and the connected Rhodes Point. Main modes of transportation for all three communities include golf carts as well as non-motorized transportation.

History and language

The island was charted by John Smith.

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

settlers arrived on the island in the 17th century, coming from

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, as well as Dorset, England, via Virginia. The island's population peaked in the early 1900s, at 800. Smith Island is inhabited by one of the region's oldest English-speaking communities, known for its relic accent, which preserves many speech patterns from the original English colonial settlers. The local dialect is like the

dialects A dialect is a variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standardized varieties as well as vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardized varieties, such as those used in developing countries or iso ...

of the

West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, including

. The dialect contains some relict features indicative of its origins.''Do You Speak American?'' by Robert MacNeil, William Cran, Robert McCrum. Pages 34–35. Random House, Inc., 2005 The dialect is like the Ocracoke Brogue, sometimes referred to as the ''Outer Banks Brogue''. However, it even more closely resembles the unique accent on the nearby Tangier Island, Virginia. The 1940 Maryland guide described a series of economic conflicts that characterized relationships between the inhabitants of Smith Island, the inhabitants of nearby Tangier Island, and agencies of the Federal government in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For example, although 23,000 acres of rich oyster beds had been ceded from Maryland to Virginia in 1877, The '' Island Belle'', a former passenger ferry to the islands, was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1979. After

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as Superstorm Sandy) was an extremely large and devastating tropical cyclone which ravaged the Caribbean and the coastal Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in late ...

in 2012, the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development offered buyouts to landowners, most of whom refused the offer.

Smith Island cake

Smith Island traditions include a region-specific

cuisine A cuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, List of cooking techniques, techniques and Dish (food), dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region. Regional food preparation techniques, ...

, its most famous dish being the Smith Island cake, somewhat resembling the

Prinzregententorte Prinzregententorte () is a Bavarian torte consisting of at least six, usually seven, thin layers of sponge cake interlaid with chocolate buttercream. The exterior is covered in a dark chocolate glaze. Prinzregententorte is very popular in Bavari ...

, with eight to fifteen thin layers alternating with cooked chocolate frosting. Beginning in the 1800s, Smith Islanders would send these cakes with the watermen on the autumn oyster harvest. The bakers began using fudge instead of

buttercream Buttercream, also referred to as butter icing (food), icing or butter frosting, is used for either filling (cooking), filling, coating or cake decorating, decorating cakes. The main ingredients are butter and some type of sugar. Buttercream is ...

frostings, as cakes frosted with fudge lasted much longer than cakes with other types of frosting. Scratch recipes typically involve evaporated milk, while recipes based on commercial cake mixes add

condensed milk Condensed milk is Milk#Cow, cow's milk from which water has been removed (roughly 60% of it). It is most often found with sugar added, in the form of sweetened condensed milk, to the extent that the terms "condensed milk" and "sweetened condensed m ...

. The most common recipes yield yellow cake with chocolate frosting, but other flavor variations include coconut, fig, strawberry, lemon, and orange. Smith Island cake is baked for any occasion, a dessert that needs no holiday. Smith Island cake is also baked as the feature prize for a local fundraising tradition called a cake walk, which is a game played like musical chairs where donated cakes serve as the prize. Great attention is paid to the perfection of the pencil-thin layers that form the distinctive cake. Before each round, the prize Smith Island cake at stake is cut in half and shown to the players, who pay to participate in the game. A poorly stacked Smith Island cake may not attract many players and, as a result, not raise as much money as a more perfectly executed cake. Smith Island cake became the officially designated state dessert of Maryland on April 24, 2008.Smith Island Cake Now Maryland's Official Dessert
from NewsChannel 8 1:38 pm Thu April 24, 2008 – Annapolis, Md. Accessed online April 26, 2008

References

External links

Official website

''60 Minutes'' segment about Smith Island
(December 1, 2024) {{authority control Crabbing communities in Maryland Fishing communities in Maryland Census-designated places in Somerset County, Maryland Census-designated places in Maryland Cornish-American history English-American culture in Maryland Maryland islands of the Chesapeake Bay Salisbury metropolitan area Welsh-American culture in Maryland Maryland populated places on the Chesapeake Bay Landforms of Somerset County, Maryland Islands of Accomack County, Virginia Virginia islands of the Chesapeake Bay Maryland cuisine