Though closer to Maine than to Florida, surrounding waters give Maryland a mild climate, and it is often considered a South Atlantic State. Bird watchers might call Maryland a Central State—it is a meeting place for birds that commonly live in the North and those that are typical of the South.
Maryland looks like a piece from a jigsaw puzzle. The straight northern border is part of what people call the Mason-Dixon Line. It was drawn to settle a border fight between Maryland and Pennsylvania.
But it is water that makes Maryland special. While other Atlantic states border the sea, Maryland is invaded by it. The state is almost divided in two by an arm of the Atlantic Ocean known as Chesapeake Bay.
The irregular shores of Chesapeake Bay vastly increase Maryland’s shoreline. The importance of Chesapeake Bay can be seen by Maryland’s state symbols. Popular with anglers, the state fish is the striped bass. Maryland is one of two states with an official crustacean. Maryland’s blue crab is commercially the most important crab in eastern North America.
Can you guess what Maryland’s official dog is? Right, the Chesapeake Bay Retriever! Maryland even has an official boat. The graceful, sail-powered Skipjack has long been used to harvest seafood from Chesapeake Bay.
Maryland can be divided into three regions—the Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and Appalachian Mountains. The low, flat Coastal Plain is in turn divided in two. Maryland shares the Delmarva Peninsula—the MAR is for Maryland—with Virginia and Delaware. Marylanders call this region the Eastern Shore. Here, a large barrier island hosts the dunes of Assateague Island National Seashore. It is home to waterfowl and the famous Chincoteague ponies.
The eastern portion of mainland Maryland also belongs to the Coastal Plain. A great port, Baltimore was one of the great cities of the early United States. Our national anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner” was written in 1814 while the British were bombarding Baltimore Harbor.
Farther south, the city of Annapolis also borders Chesapeake Bay. Once the United States’ capital, Annapolis remains Maryland’s state capital. It is also home of the U.S. Naval Academy. Some residents claim that sailboats outnumber people in Annapolis.
West of the Coastal Plain are the foothills of the Appalachians, known as the Piedmont. This is a region of broad, rolling hills.
Bordering West Virginia, rugged western Maryland belongs to the Appalachian Mountains. Here is found Maryland’s highest peak, 3,360-foot Backbone Mountain. It must have been much higher over 200 million years ago when North America collided with Africa and Asia. The titanic collision, which lasted over millions of years, buckled the earth and formed the Appalachians. In Maryland, the Appalachians are today divided into the Blue Ridge, Catoctin, and Allegheny Mountains.
Sediments eroded from mountains collect in valleys nestled between mountains and ridges. Over thousands of years they may evolve into rich soils. The best known of Maryland’s fertile mountain valleys is the Hagerstown, or Antietam, Valley. With some of the most fertile soils in the eastern United States, the Antietam Valley is a noted grain-producer. It is also rich in limestone and very high quality marble, both souvenirs of ancient seas.
An extension of Pennsylvania’s Cumberland Valley, Antietam Valley is separated from Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley by the Potomac River, which flows towards Washington, D.C. During the Civil War, the first Confederate invasion of the North ended with the Battle of Antietam in 1862. Invasions by armies and the sea have enriched the history and culture of Maryland and the United States.
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism - Paperback
