Our Story
A community at the edge of the marsh — and the edge of memory.
Smithville is a hamlet in Dorchester County, Maryland, near Taylors Island and the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. It was founded in the mid-1800s by freed African Americans who built homes, raised families, and worshiped together for generations.
A century ago, nearly one hundred people called Smithville home. Today, only a handful remain. Jobs left. Children moved away. And the marsh — pushed forward by rising seas — has crept ever closer to the church and the cemetery where our ancestors are buried.
But Smithville is not gone. The people of Smithville Road, scattered across the country, are still here. Still family. Still rooted. And we are coming home.
We will do what we have to do to preserve what our ancestors fought so hard for. — Deborah Pugh, Co-founder