I am a Marylander. I know a bit about the minor towns of Maryland, although I admit some smaller ones may have escaped my notice. But I have never heard of Bivalve, Maryland.
The reason I ask is I am looking at minor ports in the Delaware Bay area. On page 442 of Shellenberger’s Cruising the Chesapeake Bay the author mentions the town of Bivalve but does not say which state it is in. I suspect it might be in Delaware.** What do you think?**
The entrance to the Maurice River is located a good seven miles off any normal route you may plan between the C&D Canal and Cape May. The approach takes you over Egg ISland Flats in water seven to twelve feet deep. With a strong wind from anywhere in the southwest quadrant, it will be rough!
The only Maurice River I know of is in New Jersey.
I’ve been there, when I was in school at Salisbury, about 10 miles up the road. It’s not much of a town; there’s really nothing there. It’s just a few houses and a bait shop. There’s a wharf where the locals dock their boats.
Seconding Loach. My mother grew up in Commercial Township (Port Norris, specifically) and grandfather docked his oyster boat in Bivalve along the Maurice River, which led out to the Delaware Bay.
Might I ask how NJ come into the subject matter when discussing the Chessie ? Also, the lower part of the DE Bay won’t have any NJ ports (other than Cape May via the intercoastal waterway and Cape May Harbor), but the DE side of the DE Bay does (picturing Lewes, DE and surrounding areas, esp. south)
I boat in both. Yes, the Maurice River dumps into the DE Bay in NJ.
Also, I live right off the C&D Canal near Port Penn, DE. The Chessie, the Canal and the DE Bay are my stomping grounds.
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That’s pretty neat. My brothers used to work at the Shellpile restaurant, right to the big pile of shells. The “town” of Shellpile itself is basically just a group of 10 or so buildings and one or two roads that are paved with crushed shells. It’s kind of like going back in time to early 1900’s.
I am currently on vacation in Philadelphia, so when I got this wonderful book, I turned to the last (small) section on the Delaware River and Bay. I just wanted to check the book against my own local knowledge. (Great guidebook, by the way.)
I’m in the same county. I sell commercial real estate and in 2009 I sold a house andconvenience store combo in Bivalve, MD. It’s waaay down Nanticoke Road.
I’m from Middlesex County and don’t know that part of the state but when I read the question I remembered the picture of the big shell pile from this article.
I’m not sure where the Bivalve, MD reference comes in. The Maurice River does, indeed, debouch at Bivalve, NJ, just East of Egg Island Flats in New Jersey and North of Cape May, so that part of your quoted text makes sense. I am guessing that Shellenberger simply included a bit of Delaware Bay in a guide to the Chesapeake based on the proximity of the two bays.
