  B Isl Location within Maryland  B Isl B Isl (the United States) | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Chesapeake Bay |
| Coordinates | 38°10′36″N 76°03′08″W / 38.17667°N 76.05222°W |
| Administration | |
United States | |
| State | Maryland |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 |
Bloodsworth Island is an island in the Chesapeake Bay. It lies in southern Dorchester County, Maryland.[1] Historic research suggests that sites discovered in an archaeological investigation of the northern third of the island were associated with families who worked in the nineteenth-century Chesapeake Bay oystering industry, with settlements dating as far back as 1672.[2] In 1799 the entire island became the property of Robert Bloodsworth, Sr., but the island did not become known as Bloodsworth Island until about 1850. The island was inhabited by Bloodsworth descendants until 1918, when the last residents moved to the mainland. Bloodsworth grave sites still exist on the island in a small cemetery at the northern end of the island. The island was purchased by Albanus Phillips on behalf of the Phillips Packing Company of Cambridge, Maryland. The company operated small crabbing ventures on the island. In 1923 the island became the Bloodsworth Island Game Preserve.[3]