Hiding in plain sight in the heart of Cambridge is the Richardson Maritime Museum, one of Dorchester County's gems. Even local residents frequently walk by the classic brick building on the corner of High and Locust Streets and assume it is a bank.

Since it spent almost all of the first hundred years of its existence in just that capacity, that assumption is well founded. However, passersby are missing a treat if they don't take time to stop in and see what the former bank now holds.

Walk into the Museum and step back into the rich history of Dorchester County's influence on Chesapeake Bay traditional wooden sailing vessels. Bordering the Bay, bounded by broad rivers and laced with countless waterways, the County has been home to hundreds of boatyards since its early settlement.

The vessels created beside these waters range from crabbing skiffs and dovetails to clipper ships and schooners. Their designs sometimes went on to affect the course of history, as in the War of 1812, when privateers that were built on Cambridge Creek were highly prized by both sides for their speed and maneuverability.