Windward Key  Homeowners Association

HISTORY

Chesapeake Beach was established as a resort community at the end of the Chesapeake Beach Railway, a short line railroad from Washington, DC. It was the site of many slot machines in the early twentieth century (despite efforts to prohibit them) as part of the "Little Nevada" area of southern Maryland. Between steamer ships from Baltimore and trains from Washington, the weekend population of Chesapeake Beach reached into the 10,000s during the 1920s, until economic depression, and a bad hotel fire, brought an end to the railroad. The construction of the Bay Bridge to the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the 1950s enabled many of the visitors who used to spend their summers in Chesapeake Beach to now spend their time in Ocean City, Maryland instead. A museum at the old railroad station still exists today in Chesapeake Beach with many historic photos and an old passenger car from the railroad. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. In the new millennium a boardwalk and pier, and a new condominium development have risen in Chesapeake Beach. There is also a recreational water park with water slides, a newly opened resort spa hotel, and a seafood restaurant right on the bay. The Herrington Harbour (Rose Haven) marina resort, which was voted by Marina Dock Age magazine as the best marina in the United States, is a few miles north.

Chesapeake Beach is also host to the United States Naval Research Laboratory Chesapeake Bay Detachment that experiments with various military radar systems and fire suppression technology. Perched atop the sandstone cliffs along the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay the lab is able to use their radars against a variety of surface and air targets in the Bay. Nearby Naval Air Station Patuxent River has several aircraft that assist in the Research lab's mission.

According to the 2010 census, there were 5,753 people, 2,134 households, and 1,520 families residing in the town. There were 2,134 households of which 43.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.4% were married couples living together, 15.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 28.8% were non-families. 21.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.15. The median age in the town was 36.2 years. 28.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 29.6% were from 25 to 44; 27.7% were from 45 to 64; and 7.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 48.1% male and 51.9% female.

To learn about your new Town, (yes it is an incorporated town and not a city … many locals will correct you if you call Chesapeake Beach a city) we encourage you to visit the Town website. On the website you will find useful information concerning the Town including, contacts, local businesses, upcoming activities and events, and utilities.