Dorchester County is the largest county on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The county has over 1,700 miles of shoreline and is nearly surrounded by the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Given Dorchester's water-based identity, the county is a prime destination for boaters and paddlers who enjoy exploring its many waterways and vast salt marshes.

Native Americans lived in what is now Dorchester County thousands of years before the first European explorers and settlers. One of the first of these was William Claiborne, exploring the Chesapeake Bay for Virginia. However a few years later Dorchester County was included as part of Lord Baltimore's grant from King Charles I - though it was originally known as Dorset, in honor of Lord Baltimore's friend Sir Edward Sackville, the 4th Earl of Dorset. The precise date or origin is not know but we know the county was in existance as of February 16, 1668.

A number of famous people have called Dorchester County home, with perhaps the two best known being Harriet Tubman, and Annie Oakley, the famed sharpshooter.

Dorchester County is easily accessible by way of U.S. Route 50 from Baltimore and Washington D.C. The County is further accessible by way of U.S. Route 13 from the New England states, New York, Philadelphia, and areas to the south. The area is also served by the Dorchester County Airport and the Salisbury-Wicomico County Airport, a USAir site.

Dorchester County enjoys some of the country's finest seafood, most challenging wildfowl hunting opportunities, and breath-taking natural areas. Blackwater Wildlife Refuge offers excellent opportunities to observe wildlife in their natural habitat.

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Learn more about what to do in Dorchester County(www.tourdorchester.org)