Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Choptank. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1905Hurlock sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Choptank.
The story so far
Choptank, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Choptank yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Choptank is an unincorporated town and census-designated place on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, in Caroline County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 129. The town was founded in the 17th century. It is located on the tidal Choptank River, which flows into the Chesapeake Bay. Tradition has it that the name "choptank" was an Anglicization of the Algonquian tshapetank and its namesake tribe. The town is located at the southwestern corner of Caroline County on the northeast bank of the Choptank River, just north of where Hunting Creek enters the river from the east. The Choptank River flows southwest 11 miles (18 km) to the city of Cambridge and 25 miles (4…
Its first post office opened in 1883. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 129 to 126 (-2%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Choptank in 1920
Passages that mention Choptank, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Caroline County, Maryland, from its beginning1920Read the page →
Read the text
y/ 2 Great Choptank Hundred beginning at the mouth of Huntinig Creek and running up said creek to the bridge over James Murray's Mill Dam and fioni thence with the main county road that divides Caroline County from Dorchester County to the North West Fork Bridge and from thence up the said North West Fork Branch to Marshy Hope Bridge and from thence with the main road that leads to Nathaniel Potter's Landing on Great Choptank River and from thence down the said river to the mouth of Hunting Creek.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Caroline County, Maryland, from its beginning1920Read the page →
Read the text
The population of Dorchester County having increased and expanded, it became necessary in 1725 to divide the Great Choptank Parish which included territory now belonging to Caroline. A new parish was formed, known as St. Mary's White Chapel Parish. It included, beside a small part of Dorchester, all of what is now Caroline County, east of the Choptank.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Choptank, 1883 to 1995
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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