Once called Bourne’s Island, Somervell’s Island,  and Sandy Island. According to early records, the island was owned by many individuals until 1865 when the 80 acres was sold to Isaac Solomon. The community received official recognition when the US Postal Service opened an office in 1870. The island quickly became a center for shipbuilding and repairing, seafood harvesting, and the provisioning of sailing vessels engaged in the oystering business. Fifty-one (51) different households and 237 residents were listed in the census of 1880. The Solomons fishing fleet exceeded 500 vessels. Solomons Island was becoming the most important commercial center in Calvert County.

The state had provided a road connecting Solomons and Prince Frederick, the county seat, by 1915. Horse and ox-drawn wagons were the form of transportation by land. Every family owned a boat, using it as we use cars today.  The first automobile arrived in 1910 and the way of life changed with improved roads and new bridges. The telephone arrived in 1899 and electricity in 1928. 

In 1920, the economy began to falter. Watermen were looking elsewhere for living. Solomons began providing recreation to ‘outsiders’ with summer boarding houses and charter boat fishing.  In August of 1933, a storm hit Solomons.  The lower half of the island was submerged, oyster beds and packing houses were destroyed, and the steamboat wharf was torn away.  Many boats were washed away, damaged, lost, destroyed.  Despite the hardships, new wealth came to Solomons when America entered WWII. Navy bases popped up at the mouth of the Patuxent River. Solomons increased its population from 263 to 2600 between the years 1942 and 1945.

The end of the war brought growth and development, changing economic patterns, and improved communication and transportation. It also brought the end to the isolated community that was Solomons. At one time only one bridge connected Solomons with the rest of Maryland, but that too was destroyed by the 1933 storm. A new bridge, the Governor Thomas Johnson Bridge was completed in 1977, and silt and road are know covering the gap between the island and the mainland of Calvert County. Restaurants and gift shops have replaced general stores and grocery stores. State-of-the-art hotels and quaint Bed & Breakfast inns have replaced much of the old landscape. Solomons island today draws many tourist from all over the country.  The island offers many attractions ranging anywhere from fine dining to quaint shops to gorgeous views to water recreation to nightlife -- something for everyone. 

Points of Interest in Solomons:
Calvert Marine Museum
P.O. Box 97
Solomons, MD 20688
410-326-2042

Open Daily 10am - 5pm
Fee Required

Drum Point Lighthouse
 

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