Elk Neck Peninsula

Elk Neck Peninsula (center) in 2020
Facing south toward the confluence of Elk and Bohemia Rivers, from Elk Neck Peninsula, c. 1898

Elk Neck Peninsula is in Cecil County, Maryland, between the towns of Elkton and North East, Maryland. Native American and colonial travelers often canoed or sailed up the Chesapeake Bay to Elkton, where the Elk River became unnavigable, and then walked or took some form of surface transportation to the Delaware Bay watershed, since this was the shortest surface crossing. Native Americans of the area, including the Nanticoke and Lenni Lenape, hunted and fished, as well as established semi-permanent camps.[citation needed]

Elk Neck State Park includes the southern tip of the peninsula, bounded by the North East River, Elk River, as well as the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland Route 272 ends at the point of the peninsula, with the famous Turkey Point Light.[1] Much of the peninsula's land is legally protected from development, either as part of the state park or as part of Elk Neck State Forest.[2] Deep forests, bluffs, beaches and marshlands are the primary natural features of the park's landscape.

In 1877 during the American Revolutionary War, General Howe landed on the peninsula at Turkey point after capturing New York on his way to launch the Philadelphia campaign.[3][4]

  1. ^ "Elk Neck State Park: The peninsula of dreams | Cecil County Life". www.cecilcountylife.com. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  2. ^ "Elk Neck State Forest". Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  3. ^ "History of the Loyalists: Howe Lands his Army on the Elk River in August, 1777 | Vocabularies of Identity". voi.lib.unb.ca. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  4. ^ "The Philadelphia Campaign: Howe's Arrival at Elk Neck, Head of Elk and Chooch's Bridge: Howe's Arrival at Elk Neck". Solutions To History. 2021-09-06. Retrieved 2024-11-09.