DORCHESTER COUNTY
MARYLAND
SPOCOTT
Sitting on Gary's Creek ,
six miles west of Cambridge on the Cambridge to Hudson Road
right near the
intersection with Garden of Edwn Road, is Spotcott, a mid 1600's
home
and once a community, a
well known site of Dorchester County.
`It has a view of the
Little Choptank River and the Spotcott Windmill. James Michner
called it one of his
favorite places on the Chesapeake.
A Lord Baltimore grant
gave the tract to Stephen Gary around 1662 for his service in
British military during
King Charles II time on the throne.
Gary emigrated from
Cornwall England in 1650 to St. Mary's and acquired a
substattial holding of
Dorchest land. Gary was one of the first county commissioners
upon it forming in 1669.
Where did Spotcott get
it's name is still a question , however, it is thought to be a
misspelling of the maiden
name of Garys wife, Specott.
The 4th great
grandson of Stephen Gary , owner George Radcliffe, Jr., tels
that his
great grandfather, John
Anthony LeCcompt Radcliffe, purchased Spocott in 1849,
made it a successful
shipbuilding business site which last until the Civill War, after
which it came to be a farm
operation.
Vegetable's and fruits were
grow on it's soils, then there was cotton , cows, pigs, and
chickensm seafood from the
surounding waters made Spotcltt self sustained .
A most significant person
in Spotcliff history is George Lovic Pierce Radcliffe, born
1877 he worked the farm
and earned a PHD in history , spent his life reworking the
estate grounds, preserving
it's buildings and recording it's history. He was also Marylands
Secretary of State and did
three terms in the senate.
In 1888 a blizzard
destroyed the windmill built in 1850 and in 1971 it was
reconstructed
in 1974 .
SpoCOTTcott was put under
the Maryland Enviromental Trust and has been successfully
preserved.
Abstract: “ Theres This
Place called Spocott” by Kathi Fergison, in the August 1st
2018 issue of The Guide.
Submit to Facebook page of Dorchester Maryland.
Harrison H 08/09/18 for
www.delmarhistory.blogspot.com
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