Stories of Bellevue, MD

Bellevue is a historically Black village on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, dating back to the late 1800s. The village's location along the Tred Avon River made it an ideal destination for seafood packing plants, where residents worked as crab pickers, oyster shuckers, and clam shuckers. The opening of W.H. Valliant Packing Co. (1899-1946), a seafood packing plant, created new job opportunities, which caused the Bellevue community to grow. In 1945, the W.A. Turner and Sons Packing Co. was established, followed by the Bellevue Seafood Co. in 1964. Both companies were owned and operated by members of the Turner family and were two of three total African American-owned seafood packing houses on the Eastern Shore.

Bellevue was a community that lived off the land as much as the water; like many rural communities, families helped to sustain themselves through gardening and raising livestock, while also enjoying the natural resources around them by hunting and using native plants. Like most Black communities, the cornerstone of Bellevue is the church. Residents have been gathering at St. Luke’s United Methodist church since its relocation to Bellevue in the early 1900s. Other staples of the community included the Star of Bellevue Masonic Lodge/Gardiner Store, Knights of Pythias Lodge, and the Bellevue School/Community Center. While these businesses have closed, the church still remains.

An exercise in the study of cultural landscapes, the  Black Life in Bellevue field school  documented the architecture of several historic homes in the village of Bellevue.

During its four-week 2022 season, the field school “Black Life in Bellevue: Documenting African American Cultural Landscapes Along the Chesapeake Bay” measured and photographed three houses in the inventory and one that was not yet surveyed. In its 2023 season, the field school surveyed three more houses from the inventory and two unsurveyed houses. While learning documentation methods advocated by the Vernacular Architecture Forum, students created measured field notes of floor plans, produced architectural photographs, searched deeds, and took oral histories in order to build stories of Black life in Bellevue that center on place and spaces.

A creative non-fiction story by Tiffany Grantham, author and field school participant.

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As years passed, people started to leave Bellevue for more “exciting” destinations with more occupational, educational, and entertainment opportunities. While many residents moved away during the late 1900s, some individuals have returned to their roots to protect, advocate, and stand up for the community of Bellevue against the imminent threat of gentrification. The return of residents has helped the community become more aware of its legacy of Black history, folklore, and community in Bellevue. Although it has gone through trials and tribulations, the  Bellevue community  maintains its sense of home, built on family and community.

Today in Bellevue, there are no seafood packing plants, no stores, and no watermen. In fact, only one Black waterman remains in all of Talbot County. Gentrification is a current threat due to the million-dollar waterfront properties being built across from St. Luke’s church, blocking the view of the Tred Avon River for most of the existing homes.

The field school and its community partners have collected histories of Bellevue through oral testimonies, architectural documentation, and archival research.

All of these stories will be displayed in the new  Bellevue Passage Museum , a community developed and led initiative. The museum's mission will encourage Bellevue residents and visitors to explore Bellevue’s rich history.

While there is still work to be done, the community is working diligently and passionately to make sure that Bellevue’s history is never erased.