Scientists' Cliffs is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Calvert County,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, United States. Other names used for the community include Annes Aggravation, Flippos Folly, Pathologists Quagmire. The private community was first established in 1935 as a summer colony for scientists by Flippo and Annie Gravatt. The founders of Scientists' Cliffs chose this land because the population of American Chestnut trees showed a particular resistance to the blight. Original cabins in the area were built from felled American Chestnut trees that died from the

blight Blight is a specific symptom affecting plants in response to infection by a pathogenic organism. Description Blight is a rapid and complete chlorosis, browning, then death of plant tissues such as leaves, branches, twigs, or floral organs. A ...

. Although established as a seasonal community, the first year-round resident moved to the community in 1943. In 1986, when residents of Scientists' Cliffs heard that forests and abandoned farms surrounding their homes were up for sale, possibly to developers, they chipped in and bought the land. A tract of 436 wooded acres near the Chesapeake Bay became the "American Chestnut Land Trust." In the years since its founding, ACLT has expanded its land preservation by partnering with the Nature Conservancy and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. By 2019, over 4,000 acres surrounding Scientists' Cliffs have been preserved. The community is accessed by Scientists Cliffs Road and divided into five sub-sections, called "Gates," though it is not a "gated" community. Gates are named Gate A, Gate B, Gate C, Gate D, and Gate E, respectively. The streets in each gate all begin with the corresponding letter of the gate, and are botanically named. For example, Gate A features streets named Aster, Aspen, Azalea, etc., Gate B features streets named Birch, Beech and Bluebell, and so forth. All five gates have direct access to the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

via a series of paths and wooden boardwalks. Additionally, Gate A features a community center, a residential

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

, tennis courts, horseshoe pit, a baseball field, a recycling center, and a private beach referred to as "South Beach". Another feature of Scientists' Cliffs is that a

restrictive covenant A covenant, in its most general and covenant (historical), historical sense, is a solemn promise to engage in or refrain from a specified action. Under historical English common law, a covenant was distinguished from an ordinary contract by the ...

requires all houses within the community to have a wooden exterior, giving the homes a distinctively rustic look. Recently, however, environmentally neutral cement-based siding such as "Hardie board" has been allowed. The tall cliffs along the edge of the bay contain one of the world's richest fossil deposits from the Miocene period. The cliffs are part of the Calvert Formation. Carcharodon

megalodon ''Otodus megalodon'' ( ; meaning "big tooth"), Common name, commonly known as megalodon, is an extinction, extinct species of giant mackerel shark that lived approximately 23 to 3.6 million years ago (Mya), from the Early Miocene to the Earl ...

teeth are found in this area.

References

External links

Community websiteAmerican Chestnut Land Trust website
Unincorporated communities in Calvert County, Maryland Unincorporated communities in Maryland Maryland populated places on the Chesapeake Bay Populated places established in 1935 1935 establishments in Maryland {{CalvertCountyMD-geo-stub