Crisfield is a town in Somerset County, Maryland, United States, located on the shores of Tangier Sound, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. The population at the 2010 census was 2,726 . It is included in the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware statistical area. Crisfield is the southernmost town in the state of Maryland.
The site of today’s Crisfield was originally a small fishing village called Annemessex Neck. During European colonization it was renamed Somers Cove in honor of Benjamin Summers. When the business potential in seafood was discovered, John W. Crisfield decided to run the Pennsylvania Railroad in Crisfield, and the quiet fishing town grew.
Crisfield is now known as the “Seafood Capital of the World.” The town’s success was so great that train soot and oyster shells caused the area to become a swamp. Residents often claim that the downtown area is literally built on oyster shells.
