Chesapeake Bay's Holland Island lost to erosion (Washington, years, battle)

[delusianne]

"The century-old house was the last structure left on Holland Island, an abandoned watermen's community. Waves had eroded so much land that, at high tide, the house seemed to sit directly on the waves.

"For the past 15 years, a former minister named Stephen White had been trying to hold back the water, protecting the house's foundations with timbers and rocks and sandbags."

Losing battle against the bay - washingtonpost.com

Images of the last house on Holland Island and the clay islands in Chesapeake Bay in a slideshow.

Chesapeake's Holland island lost to erosion - washingtonpost.com

[John Walmsley]

delusianne,

Thanks for posting this interesting story. It highlights the struggle to hold this national treasure against the depredations of man and seemingly encroaching nature.

[slowlane]

Smith Island and Tangier Island nearby, are still very much inhabited by fishing families. Excursion boats regularly bring day visitors there. You can listen to Smith Islanders' quaint speech accents on "You Tube" - and it was also one of the places visited and described in the classic travel book "Blue Highways". Its grade-school is the smallest one in Maryland.

[CelticViking]

Interesting...I am from Dorchester County, and was born in a very rural area called Hoopers Island, more so in a small little area called Hoopersville, so this hits home for me.