Port of Cambridge
Cruising and Travel

In 2009, the Port of Cambridge celebrated its 325th anniversary. With a wealth of maritime and colonial history, the Port of Cambridge's brick paved streets of the historic district take visitors back in time. The arts and shopping district offers wonderful galleries and unique shops. Located on the Chesapeake peninsula, the Port of Cambridge offers many great seafood restaurants and a variety of ethnic cuisines.

The Port of Cambridge has a humid subtropical climate with hot humid summers and cool to mild winters. Temperatures range from an average high of 30°C (86°F) in July and August to an average low of -1.7°C (29°F) in December. Precipitation is heaviest from January through April and in October, and the Port of Cambridge gets about 4.5 inches of snowfall each year, mostly in January and February.

The Port of Cambridge's Choptank River Fishing Piers State Park is just outside of town. Actually what remains of an old bridge, the piers offer great fishing from the piers. Catches include perch, catfish, striped bass, and sea trout. The part also contains walking paths along Bolinbroke Creek and the Choptank River.

One of the most popular tourist destinations in the Port of Cambridge is the Harriet Tubman Museum. Dedicated to the famous African-American Underground Railroad "conductor" and abolitionist, visitors should call in advance even though the published hours are 10am to 3pm from Tuesday through Friday and noon to 4pm on Saturday. On your visit, you will learn about the life and accomplishments of this strong woman who improved the lives of many oppressed people. The Museum staff also give tours in and around the Port of Cambridge where Harriet Tubman lived and worked.

For a suggested donation of $3, visitors can enter the Richardson Maritime Museum in the heart of the Port of Cambridge. Open Saturday from 10am until 4pm and on Wednesday and Sunday from 1pm until 4pm, the museum occupies a beautiful brick building that was for its first century a bank. The museum explores the influence of the traditional wooden sailing vessels Port of Cambridge on Chesapeake Bay culture and development, including the War of 1812. Many boatyards have operated in the Port of Cambridge since it was first settled, and the vessels produced included crabbing skiffs, slipper ships, schooners, and skipjacks. Appointments can be made to visit the museum during off hours.

The Ruark Boatworks is affiliated with the Richardson Maritime Museum in the Port of Cambridge, but it is not a museum. It is an active boatworks that creates wooden boats and models. Visitors can watch as well as participate in model building. The boatworks is open on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9am until 2pm, and a docent is on duty Saturdays from 1pm until 4pm. Suggested donations of $3 are appreciated.

Volunteers of the Port of Cambridge's non-profit Dorchester Skipjack Committee built, own, operate, and maintain the Nathan of Dorchester, one of the few skipjack vessels remaining on Maryland's Eastern Shore. These unique wooden commercial sailing vessels were used for more than a century to dredge Chesapeake Bay oysters.

While there were once about 800 of these skipjacks, only about 20 of the original boats survive. The Nathan of Dorchester was launched in 1994, and it will probably be the last skipjack built as a sailing dredge boat. Visitors can board the skipjack at its home Port of Cambridge or on one of the ports that it visits on the Chesapeake Bay.

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