Crisfield is a city in Somerset County, Maryland, United States, located on the Tangier Sound, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay.

The site of today's Crisfield was initially a small fishing village called Annemessex Neck.

City residents often claim that the downtown area is literally built atop oyster shells.

[5] On February 10, 1663, Benjamin Summers, a settler from Yorkshire or Hertfordshire, England, arrived from Northampton County, Virginia to claim his headright.

[8] In 1854, a survey of the Chesapeake Bay revealed that the area was a lucrative fishing location, with extensive oyster beds around Somers Cove.

The railroad bolstered the economy of the new city and Crisfield prospered greatly, as did other towns and settlements along its route, such as Marion Station to the north.

Around the turn of the 20th century, businessmen would buy plots of land at the southwest edge of the city and discard the shells and soot into the salt marshes.

James Reed, an African American native to North Carolina was lynched by a mob of whites in Crisfield, Maryland on July 28, 1907.

It began on March 29 at the Crisfield Opera House and quickly spread to the downtown area, completely destroying it and causing over $1 million in damages.

As large businesses in the United States grew, they passed the shrinking Crisfield by until the late 20th century.

[19] As one of the southern points on the Delmarva Peninsula and one very close to the Chesapeake Bay, the city is extremely flat, with the elevation never rising above 3 feet (0.91 m).

Ongoing local concerns about flooding and the impact of sea level rise were featured in The Washington Post in October 2013.

[20] Crisfield is the southernmost city in the state of Maryland; the point farthest south is geographically located at Ape Hole.

[4] The second largest employer in the city is the Sherwin-Williams plant (formerly Rubberset company), which manufactures paintbrushes and roller covers.

Most of the labor force in Crisfield works outside of the city and elsewhere on the peninsula—the largest seafood employer in Somerset County is located nearby in Hopewell.

The 3-day tournament features cash prizes for different fishing categories, and nightly block-parties at Side Street Restaurant.

The event, which began in 1976, is named for the former governor born in Crisfield, and attracts many politicians from across the state each year.

Crisfield's largest event is the annual National Hard Crab Derby & Fair, held every Labor Day weekend, which began in 1947.

The Crab Bowl turns the Somers Cove Marina into fairgrounds with rides, concerts, vendor stands, and fireworks.

It offers fishing, swimming beaches, picnicking, camping, a playground, and has about thirty miles of water trails which can be accessed by canoe.

The county dock, located one block west at the end of Broad Street, is largely used for freight, and was rehabilitated in the mid-2000s.

The proposed site for a Western Shore landing has ranged from Point Lookout State Park in Maryland[46] to Reedville in Northumberland County, Virginia.

[47] Proponents state that a high-speed ferry link will reduce travel times to adjacent points on the western shore by as much as two and a half hours[46][47] as the Bay Bridges are far from one another, spurring tourism and economic growth on both sides.

Broadway Avenue, running parallel to Main Street one block south, was once a major business center in the city as well, fronted by many businesses and churches and passed directly through the city's marina; however, it no longer reaches the marina, and a large number of the stores and warehouses along it have closed.

There is also a proposal to convert the abandoned Crisfield Secondary Branch alongside MD 413 to a Crisfield–Westover Rail Trail.

Both routes travel along Somerset Avenue and MD 413, and Cove Street, and stop at McCready Memorial Hospital.

Crisfield possesses three water towers and a public sewer system; both provide municipal services as far north as Plantation Road in Hopewell.

[3] The main electrical provider in the city is Delmarva Power, owned by Exelon, and a large substation is located north of town.

McCready Hospital is located on the Annemessex River, and is flanked by the Alice Byrd Tawes Nursing Home, which was built in 1968 and was replaced by a new four-story building in 2010.

[52] Samantha Reilly, a character on Melrose Place, portrayed by Brooke Langton, is from Crisfield, Maryland