The island was once inhabited by watermen and farmers but has since been abandoned due to sinking of the land's surface associated with isostatic subsidence and sea level rise.

It had its own post office, a two-room school with two teachers, a church, baseball team, community center, and a doctor.

[3][4] In 1914 the wind and tide began to seriously erode the west side of the island, where most of the houses were located.

A few of the former residents continued living on the island during the fishing season until 1922 when the church was moved to Fairmount, Maryland.

[4] The western ridge of the island is very exposed to waves in the bay, making it prone to erosion as well.

Hurricane Isabel, a tropical storm by the time it reached Maryland in September 2003, destroyed 60 percent of the trees that previously served the rookery.