kent County historical society Annual Tea Time House tour
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Chestertown, Maryland 1 to 6 p.m.

www.kentcountyhistory.org

Proudly sponsored for the 38th year by the
Historical Society of Kent County

Visit more than a dozen homes in Chestertown’s historic district named by the National Trust for Historic Preservation® as one of 2007 Dozen Distinctive Destinations®. Ticket holders enjoy a delightful afternoon tea at a historic site.

Tickets
$25 for adults; $12.50 for children 12 and under.
Groups of 25 or more enjoy a
10% discount with advance purchase.

For tickets by mail, send check with
$1.25 postage, payable to:

Historical Society of Kent County
P.O. Box 665 • Chestertown, Maryland 21620
410-778-3499 • director@kentcountyhistory.org

Tea Location

Our Houses

1. Adams House
220 South Water Street
Circa 1900

This home, built around 1900, started as a modest 832 square foot built largely from salvaged materials.  Renovation and an addition has brought the home to 3000 square feet, yet the house maintains it's original appearance of a much smaller home.

The house was designed by its owners for modern living, with an open floor plan and a comtemporary kitchen.  The original pine floors on the second and third levels have been refinished.

2. The James Anderson House
400 Cannon Street
Circa 1773
James Anderson purchased this property from the estate of Elias Ringgold in 1733.  He incorporated the existing structure into a large brick house with an unusual floor plan featuring a central stair passage with two flanking rooms and a separate frome kitchen wing.  James Mouat Anderson inherited the property from his father and it remained in the family until 1866.  At one point it had been turned into a duplex, but the home was recently returned to its single-family status after extensive renovations.


3. The Wroth-Wade House
102 North Water Street
Circa 1900
This home was built in the early 1900s by Thomas C. Wroth.  The current owners are only the third family to live in it.  The home features a wonderful wrap-around front porch and first and second floor bowed sides .  The interior has original oak paneling, arched center hall doorways downstairs and upstairs, and four original oak pocket doors. 

4. Norton-Pritchard
119 High Street
Circa 1876

The Norton-Pritchard residence was built in 1876.  The original building and foundation was constructed in the 1840's, but this burned in 1876.  Using the original foundation, R. K. Pippen built a new home in the post and beam style.  Over time, the building was altered by additions to the back of the house, insertion of a bay window in the dining room and enlargement of the original front porch into an extended veranda.  While retaining the historic quality of the front of the house, the owners have undertaken an extensive renovation of the back of the structure. 

5.Christ United Methodist  Church
Corner at 401 High and Mill Streets
Tracing its history to 1746 and the birth of Methodism in America, this congregation dedicated its present sanctuary in 1888.  The church, Gothic in style but very much in the decorative Victorian sensibility, was divided into two areas by paneled sliding doors:  the Sunday School room on the street side and the ‘audience hall’ in the rear.  Today the doors are kept open and the whole area is used for worship.  The brick church sits on a granite base with serpentine stone trimming at windows and door bays.  The bell tower is 109 feet high topped with a cross surmounted with a suspended gold crown.  There are heavy cornices, curvilinear pews, chancel podiums and railings made of walnut.  In 1888 the organ was the largest on the Delmarva Peninsula.  Benjamin Owens, a Baltimore architect, designed this landmark.  HHKC p. 350. 


6. Geddes-Piper House
101 Church Alley
Circa 1784
The home of the Historical Society of Kent County dates to 1784.  This house, built by James Piper, is three-and-a-half stories and reflects the best of Federal period architecture with side hall and double parlors.  It has been restored to reflect 18th-century elegance and features displays in the basement and the first two levels and a genealogy library for Kent County on the third floor. 

7. The Buck-Chambers House
103 North Water Street
Circa 1735
This home is one of the oldest structures in Chestertown.  It has a "hall-and-parlor" floor plan, typical of the 17th century Chesapeake region.  The home has recently completed a major restoration by Washington College, it's new owners, and renamed the Patrick Henry Fellow's Residence.

8. The Hynson-Ringgold House
Water and Cannon Streets
Circa early1740's
 
This impressive house, the home of Washington College presidents since the 1940s, has been visited by many prominent people, including George Washington, and is the on the National Register of Historic Places.  The original section was built in the early 1740s, and additional sections were added in the 1760s, tripling its footprint.  This home was named for Nathaniel Hynson, Jr., early owner of the lot, and Thomas Ringgold Jr., and was once owned by Judge James Alfred Pearce, whose family includes the U.S. Senator of the same name. 

9. The Widell Residence
105 North Water Street, Unit 3
Circa - Unknown
 
This residence, new on the tour, reflects the owner's passion for Asian art and furniture.  The bed in the main bedroom is actually an 18th centrury opium couch taken from the hull of a Chinese junk.  As you make your way through the kitchen to the porch overlooking the Chester River, note the handmade cabinet knobs made by a local artisan to represent the Japanese character for water.

And two additional houses

Our Tea Location
Tea will be served from 2- 5 p.m.

Emmanuel Episcopal Church
Cross Street facing Fountain Park
On November 9, 1780, a convention of clergy and laymen met here at the call of the incumbent rector, William Smith, D.D., to proclaim the former Church of England in the American Colonies independent of the British crown.  That convention adopted the name Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America.  The first church to occupy this site was completed by 1707; the present building dates from 1772.  The walls of the nave give an idea of the impressive dimensions of the colonial church.  There have been extensive additions made to the 1772 building.  Of special note are the fine memorial tablet in the north wall and the Tiffany window in the south wall. HHKC, K-51, p.201.