Though small, the town of Rock Hall and surrounding areas tell a rich and colorful history. Nowhere is this truer than on and around the properties known today as Haven Harbour on Swan Creek.
The 1877 Illustrated Atlas of Kent and Queen Anne’s Counties, Maryland (above) indicates that the property owner of the lands around Swan Creek and “Hynson’s Haven,” including present day Haven Harbour, belonged to a Captain Samuel E. Coleman. The schooners
Bonita
and
Sarah Elizabeth
, owned by Coleman, are assumed to have been moored or berthed in Hynson’s Haven just off the present Haven Harbour Marina basin.
At the time, the Chester River Steamship Company was still landing and departing from nearby Grays Inn, finding it difficult to compete with the new operations of the Enterprise Steamer Company at Rock Hall Harbor. The decision was made by the Chester River Steamship Company to purchase property just outside of Rock Hall at a wharf on the entrance to Swan Creek. In 1887, the steamship
Gratitude
made her way to this landing, with the area and road quickly adopting her name.
What is Rock Hall Avenue today was then Gratitude Road. Although primitive and narrow, this thoroughfare became one of the most important, utilized and traveled in the area, hosting significant passenger, livestock, seafood and agriculture traffic.
Horses, mules, wagons and carriages carried people and product to and from the wharf at Gratitude. It is recorded that the original road from Gratitude had a slight incline at approximately a half-mile towards Rock Hall where the Inn at Haven Harbour’s Pilot House stands today. The horses and mules were known to have stopped here to rest while underload, often relieving themselves of their “biscuits.” The area soon took the name of Biscuit Hill.
In approximately 1898, Captain Joshua Thomas, a waterman, and his wife Ella acquired the Captain Coleman properties that included portions of today's marina and inn facilities.
With the first automobiles arriving to Kent County in 1900 and subsequent improvements that were made to Gratitude Road and others, the steamship and ferry systems slowly lost their attractiveness and viability. The
Gratitude
would service Rock Hall until 1914, leaving only the
B.S. Ford
to continue narrowing operations until her last departure in December 1923.
The importance of the seafood, agricultural, boat building and transportation industries remained dominate in Rock Hall throughout the early decades of the 20th century. Soon, the processing of food goods and manufacturing of clothing added to the town’s flourishing economy.
In 1955, Thomas B. and Mabel L. Elbourn purchased the property that is Haven Harbour today. Gardens, pastures and dwellings sprung up on parcels along both sides of the road. Among the buildings constructed included the front, barn-shaped portion of the current Haven Harbour Marina store and office, with its original use serving as a workshop for the Elbourns. The current Waterman’s Museum, right next door, was constructed for a family member. There, a bulkhead and pier extended out into "The Haven" where family vessels, including the buyboats
P.J. Elbourn
and
Chester
, were berthed.
In the early 1970s, a wood artisan and sculptor from Delaware by the name of Jacquin “Jack” Smolens was attracted to Rock Hall. Leaving the city behind, he moved his family and trade and began to set up activity in the Elbourn workshop. Soon, his enterprise became a center for photographers, metalworkers, stonemasons, woodcarvers, painters and musicians. He purchased a 99-ton barge from the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in hopes of starting a seafood café and arts center for Rock Hall, but the venture never fully took off.
It was around this time that the property changed hands once again to the Weinman family. The Weinmans developed the property as the Y&W Yacht Basin. Docks were constructed, slips put up for rent and maritime metal fabrication services offered. The buyboats
P.J. Elbourn
and
Chester
, out of service and laid to rest in a cove near the road, were removed. This marked the property’s official start as a modern commercial maritime facility.
In 1983, Russell and Joyce Helveston purchased the marina from the Weinman family. The Helvestons would go on to make improvements, including the installation of a pool, customer lounge and snack bar.
After several visits during the 1980s, a Mr. William Brawner of Washington, D.C. gained particular interest in Rock Hall and Kent County. Among other properties offered for sale, Mr. Brawner purchased the marina under the name “Port of Rock Hall” in 1986. Over the ensuing years, the marina would become known as Haven Harbour and to this day remains a Brawner family-owned and operated business – now joining the former Sailing Emporium as Haven Harbour South.
The investment, development, restoration and philanthropy of the Brawner family and staff of Haven Harbour have had a significant and lasting impact on Rock Hall and its people. The award-winning marina lies on historically rich grounds and waters, just as beautiful today as they were then.
Article and sourced research concerning the history of Haven Harbour, Swan Creek and Rock Hall was conducted by local resident and Rock Hall Museum Board member Robin Wood Kurowski. Featured photo courtesy of the 1877 Illustrated Atlas of Kent and Queen Anne's Counties, Maryland.
