Handsell Plantation House

An eighteenth century plantation house known as Handsell, located on Indiantown Road just north of historic Vienna, will become the new headquarters of the Nanticoke Historic Preservation Alliance, Inc. (NHPA). Handsell stands on the site of the Native American Chicone village, later a trading post and Indian Reservation, which was likely visited by Captain John Smith during his exploration of the Chesapeake and its tributaries.

It is believed that the existing dwelling house was built in the mid 1700's by the Henry Steele family, one of Maryland's most prominent early legislative families. Handsell was the home of many African American slaves whose descendents still inhabit the area. The house suffered a devastating fire in the early 1800's and was rebuilt to its current form, although it has been vacant and left in a serious state of disrepair for decades.

NHPA intends to purchase, study and accurately restore the brick house and make it available for public tours and special educational events in celebration of the Native American, colonial American and African American connections to the area and the Handsell plantation. Handsell can be the educational centerpiece for historic and environmental study of the entire Nanticoke River area by providing a meeting and exhibit place, while at the same time, serving the economic and development needs of the County and region as a magnet for historic tourism. Further up-to-date information can be found at: www.restorehandsell.org

An authentic replica of the Choptank River Lighthouse will become the focal point of the new Cambridge City Marina at Long Wharf. The cottage style lighthouse once stood on the Choptank River between Chlora Point and Castle Haven guiding steamships into Cambridge. The replica lighthouse will serve as the new dockmaster's office for the enlarged marina.

Open to the public, it will also serve as a visitor's center for those entering the city by water. Information on local attractions will be available in the lighthouse as well as displays featuring Dorchester County history. The lighthouse will be built behind Sailwinds Park and moved by barge to its home within the marina. Further information available at: www.choptankriverlighthouse.org