Historic Houses of Tilghman Island

On Tilghman Island, history is built into the modest frame houses along the main road, the distinctive gables of the island’s “W” houses, and the places that once welcomed fishing parties arriving to spend a day on the Chesapeake. For visitors, these homes offer a glimpse of how a working watermen’s community grew alongside the Bay—and how its architecture adapted to life by the water.

The Lee House: An Island Landmark with a New Life

The best place to begin is the Lee House, at 6031 Tilghman Island Road. Built around 1890–1900, it is a rare surviving example of the local “W-house” form and now serves as the home of the Tilghman Watermen’s Museum. The house takes its name from the Lee family, who lived there until the 1930s. After years of vacancy, the museum purchased it in 2010, restored it, and opened it as its expanded home in 2015.

The “W” is easiest to understand by looking at the front of the house. Its plan is essentially an L, with two two-story sections joined by a projecting entrance bay; the rooflines and gables create the distinctive W shape. Local tradition says the arrangement helped catch breezes from different directions—an appealing, practical feature before air-conditioning. The Lee House is one of 13 W houses identified as having been built on Tilghman Island and in nearby Sherwood between about 1890 and 1900. Seven survive, according to the museum, and only two remain in unmodernized condition.

The house’s story also reflects the island’s changing visitor economy. After the Lee family, the property passed to Leona Garvin Harrison, known locally as “Miss Leona.” She operated The Elms, a popular fishing-party resort on the adjoining property, which used the Lee House as overflow lodging. The Lee House’s role as a boarding house ended in 1971.

Today, the museum gives the building a public purpose that suits its history. Exhibits interpret the island’s maritime life, with watermen’s tools, boat models, historic photographs, and local art. The museum is open on weekends between 10am to 3pm from May through October. It can be visited at other times by making an appointment. Visit their website at tilghmanmuseum.org.

The Elms: A Fishing Camp

The house that became The Elms was originally built on nearby Poplar Island by Charles James Howeth. When that island eroded too much, the house was moved to Tilghman Island in 1893, where it was named for two large elm trees that framed the house. The Howeth family owned the home until 1928. The Elms then became a “fishing camp.” In the era when visitors came to fish with local guides, a successful resort provided rooms, meals, boats, and hospitality woven together. Guests came for fishing and meals as much as for a bed. Stories are still told about hearty dinners, time spent swapping stories, and the social rituals that made a fishing trip a full island experience. That history is a reminder that Tilghman’s heritage includes not only work on the water, but also the community businesses that grew up around it.

The Elms changed hands again this year, and it is currently being restored by the new owners. The exterior can be seen easily from the grounds of the Tilghman Watermen’s Museum.

The Tilghman Island Historic District

The Lee House is not the only surviving example of the island’s unusual house type. One of the remaining W-houses, built around 1890 for buy-boat captain Alex Cooper, at 21524 Chicken Point Road. Others can be found on Tilghman Island Road, Wharf Road and Black Walnut Point Road.

The Tilghman Island Historic District is not a single house or a museum campus. The Talbot County survey describes a broad village district containing homes, a church, cemeteries, public spaces, and a small number of commercial buildings. The historic-district survey records a varied collection of frame houses, with influences that include Greek Revival, Queen Anne, and Dutch Colonial, as well as later forms such as Craftsman, bungalow, Cape Cod, and American Foursquare. Its period of significance runs from about 1830 to 1945, reflecting the years when agriculture, shipbuilding, seafood harvesting and processing, and related businesses shaped the community. That history gives the island’s ordinary-looking houses special meaning: they were part of a place built around the Bay’s work and resources.

As you drive or walk through the village, notice how the homes sit along familiar roads and working-waterfront routes rather than forming a formal district. The architecture is largely vernacular—designed for everyday use, adapted over generations, and set among the rhythms of a small maritime town.
For a compact history-focused stop on Tilghman, start at the Lee House and its museum exhibits, then take in the village’s historic streetscape with the understanding that most houses are private. The reward is not a checklist of open interiors, but a sense of how architecture, fishing, hospitality, and everyday island life fit together. That makes even a short visit a richer way to experience Tilghman Island than simply passing through on the water or on the way to the water.