Smith Island, Maryland
| Smith Island, Maryland | |
|---|---|
| Census-designated place | |
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Harbor at Ewell
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| Nickname(s): "The Island" | |
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| Coordinates: 37°58′7″N 76°1′22″W / 37.96861°N 76.02278°WCoordinates: 37°58′7″N 76°1′22″W / 37.96861°N 76.02278°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Maryland |
| County | Somerset |
| Area | |
| • Total | 9.2 sq mi (23.8 km2) |
| • Land | 4.5 sq mi (11.5 km2) |
| • Water | 4.7 sq mi (12.2 km2) |
| Elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 364 |
| • Density | 81.7/sq mi (31.6/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| FIPS code | 24-72887 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1852600 |
Smith Island is an island on the Chesapeake Bay, on the border of Maryland and Virginia territorial waters in the United States.
The island is inhabited by one of the region's oldest English-speaking communities, which is known for its relic accent, preserving speech patterns from the original English colonial settlers.
The community is located in a small town-area in the central part of the island, spread across the three inhabited locations of Ewell, Rhodes Point and Tylerton, all located in the state of Maryland. The northern part of Smith Island also includes the Martin National Wildlife Refuge. The southernmost portion of the island consisting of marsh lies in Accomack County, Virginia.
The Island has been shrinking in size for centuries, due to a combination of its low elevation and storm erosion. In the last 150 years, Smith Island has lost over 3,300 acres (13 km2) of wetlands due to erosion and post-glacial subsidence into the Chesapeake Bay. To prevent the island from being lost to erosion, restoration efforts will be ongoing for the next 50 years to restore 1,900 acres (8 km2) of submerged aquatic vegetation and 240 acres (1.0 km2) of wetlands.
Smith Island has no airport and no bridges to the mainland; it can be accessed only by boat. Passenger-only ferries connect Smith Island at Ewell to Point Lookout, Maryland, and Reedville, Virginia, on the Western shore of the Chesapeake Bay (seasonal) and from Crisfield, Maryland on its Eastern Shore (year-round). A daily passenger ferry also runs between Crisfield, Maryland and the smaller island of Tylerton, Maryland.
On its Maryland side, Smith Island is a census-designated place (CDP) in Somerset County, Maryland, United States. It is included in the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area.
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