White sails and large vessels once were a familiar sight on the Choptank River. Cambridge was a major base for oyster boats and a coastal port that accommodated ocean-going freighters. As the oysters and the food-packing plants that attracted the freighters have dwindled, so has the water traffic and the fortunes of the Dorchester County seat.
But not for much longer, if Cambridge business and community leaders have their way. After several false starts, they have embarked on transforming the Cambridge waterfront into a festival park and magnet for tourists that should brighten the city's future.
Brighten it in more ways than one. With strong support from Gov. William Donald Schaefer and state agencies, Cambridge has broken ground for what it hopes eventually will be a 31-acre park, entertainment center and exhibition recalling the varied history of the Eastern Shore. The first new building will be a spectacular state-sponsored visitors center, under towering fiberglass sails that will attract the attention of motorists crossing the Choptank on U.S. 50, headed for ocean beaches.
Eventually the $35 million project will rival Baltimore's Inner Harbor with a hotel, marina, waterfront park, festival hall and conference center. Then Cambridge will lay claim to its share of the travel boom that has enriched its neighbors.