CBMM - Exhibit - Exploring the Chesapeake--Mapping the Bay
Exploring the Chesapeake--Mapping the Bay, a new exhibition opening Saturday, May 19 at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Md., will look at the different ways the Chesapeake Bay has been portrayed over time through mapping and charting. The exhibition is generously sponsored by Ellen and Norm Plummer and the Maryland State Arts Council, and continues in CBMM’s Steamboat Building through March 17, 2019.
The exhibition will view changes in maps over time as an expression of what people were seeking in the Chesapeake—for natural resources, for safe passage, or for commercial opportunities. The exploration begins with European exploration in the 16th century, and continues with the growth of settlement in the region in the 17th and 18th centuries. Scientific surveying methods brought improved accuracy in the 19th century, and special purpose maps showing railroads or tourist routes and destinations proliferated in the 20th century. More recent decades have introduced satellite imagery, geographic information systems, and Google maps, which continue to change how we view and understand the Chesapeake Bay region.