About us
The legal name of Chesapeake Crossroads Heritage Area is Chesapeake Crossroads, Inc. Our organization was previously known as the Four Rivers Heritage Area. We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, and one of Maryland’s 13 certified heritage areas. We create and support products and activities that leverage economic development through preservation and heritage tourism.
Chesapeake Crossroads, one of Maryland’s state heritage areas, is an established heritage tourism destination on the Chesapeake Bay’s western shore. Framed by the Chesapeake Bay on the east and now including new areas of the northern and western parts of Anne Arundel County, Chesapeake Crossroads reflects Maryland’s rich historic, cultural, and natural legacy.
A 501 c 3 nonprofit organization, Chesapeake Crossroads is also a partnership among the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, Anne Arundel County, the City of Annapolis, the Town of Highland Beach, and heritage-related organizations and businesses. Our mission is to protect and strengthen the natural, historic, and cultural resources of the heritage area, to nurture their discovery through educational and recreational experiences for visitors and residents, and to promote the region’s rich legacy. As an economic development tool, Chesapeake Crossroads develops and supports activities and projects that enhance heritage tourism, a growing segment of the tourism industry.
We are proud to be part of the Maryland Heritage Areas Coalition. Maryland’s Heritage Areas are locally-designated and State-certified regions where public and private partners make commitments to preserving historical, cultural and natural resources for sustainable economic development through heritage tourism. At the local level, Heritage Areas focus community attention on often under-appreciated aspects of history, living culture, and distinctive natural areas, thus fostering a stronger sense of pride in the places where Marylanders live and work.
Board and Coordinating Council
Timothy Leahy, Chair
Linnell Bowen, Vice Chair
Diane Nowak-Waring, APR, Treasurer (Acting)
Jean Russo, Ph.D.,Secretary
Christine Dunham
Eric Elston, Ed.D.
Lily Openshaw
Heather Skipper
Donna Anderson
Chesapeake Arts Center
Donald Bailey
Small Organizations Group
Karen Theimer Brown
Historic Annapolis
Honorable Gavin Buckley
Mayor, City of Annapolis
Jackie Coleman
Maryland Hall
Jane Cox
Anne Arundel County Planning & Zoning
Lynda Davis
Northern Arundel Cultural Preservation Society
Patricia Delgado, Ph.D.
Jug Bay Sanctuary
Heather Ersts
Visit Annapolis and Anne Arundel County
Erik Evans
Downtown Annapolis Partnership
Dianne Feeney
Hancock’s Resolution
Lynne Forsman
Annapolis Green
Janice Hayes-Williams
Anne Arundel County
Anson Hines, Ph.D.
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
Jake Iverson
Watermark
Chanel Johnson
Banneker-Douglass Museum
Sarah Knebel
Scenic Rivers Land Trust
Linda Páez
Goshen Farm Preservation Society
William Rowel
City of Annapolis
Emily Oland Squires
Maryland State Archives
Marcie Taylor-Thoma, Ph.D.
Education Committee
Dorothy Whitman
Galesville Heritage Society
Laura Wood
Conservation Representative
Board materials can be found here (password protected).
Meet Our Staff
Carol A. Benson, Ph. D., Executive Director
Dr. Carol Benson is Executive Director of the Chesapeake Crossroads Heritage Area, formerly known as Four Rivers Heritage Area, a position she has held since 2008. She is a heritage professional whose past positions have included Classical art historian, museum curator, university lecturer, and non-profit administrator. She was an Executive Board member of Visit Annapolis and Anne Arundel County from 2013 to 2019, and served on the Advisory Council of the Star-Spangled National Historic Trail. Prior to coming to the heritage area, she was Deputy Director for Special Projects at Maryland Humanities, and Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial Fellow at the Walters Art Museum. She has a Ph.D. in Classical Greek Art History from Princeton University.
Operating and program assistance from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority (MHAA) comes in the form of Management Grants, capped at $100,000 annually. These funds must be fully matched at the local level (cash or in-kind). Each year, Chesapeake Crossroads requests support from the City of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County for these required matching funds.
Chesapeake Crossraods is the only entity through which heritage-related nonprofit organizations and municipalities within its borders are eligible for matching Maryland Heritage Areas Authority (MHAA) grants and low interest business loans. Since certification, Chesapeake Crossroads has brought more than $7.4 million in matched program and project grants, including one low interest loan to a heritage tourism business, resulting in total leverage of $25 million for heritage organizations and projects.
MHAA is an independent unit within the Executive branch of State government, and is administered by the Maryland Historical Trust, an agency of the Maryland Department of Planning. Funding (up to $6 million each year) comes out of Program Open Space funds.
READ THE MHAA ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT STUDY (2018) here: MHAA Economic Impact Snapshot Final.pdf
Entities within the Heritage Area are also eligible to apply for Maryland Heritage Areas Authority grants through ALTSCHA, including both capital and non-capital matching grants for projects and small business loans. Capital projects in the Heritage Area funded through the MHAA grant program include:
- Renovation of restrooms in Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts (FY11)
- Restoration and rehabilitation of the historic Charles Carroll House (FY10, FY14)
- Emergency grant for roof replacement at Captain Avery Museum (FY13)
- Restoration and rehabilitation of the historic gardens (FY06) and repair and painting of damaged exterior wood (FY09) at the Williams Paca House
- Preservation and renovation of historic McNasby’s Oyster Packing Co. Building at Annapolis Maritime Museum (FY08)
- Restoration of the Southgate Memorial Fountain in Annapolis (FY08)
- Expansion of the Visitors Center on West Street (FY06, FY07)
The Heritage Area operates a mini-grant program each year from an annual mini-grant fund of at least $20,000. Mini-grants are awarded up to $5,000 (must be fully matched) to deserving heritage area partner organizations, local governments, and other heritage-related entities. Some projects funded through the mini-grant program include:
- An updated, expanded walking tour of Eastport (Annapolis Maritime Museum)
- Development of a historic kayak tour of Spa Creek (AMM with ACT), and of the Rhode River (ACT with SERC)
- A virtual reconstruction of the Rumney and Long, a historic ship ca. 1747, in 3D for exhibit at Historic London Town (ACT)
- A cellphone tour for “Annapolis: Centuries of Community” exhibit (Banneker-Douglass Museum)
- The Passport to Discovery, a children’s activity booklet (Chesapeake Children’s Museum)
- A one-day Black History Month seminar (HAF, BDM, and Bates Legacy Center)
- “I Dig Galesville Roots,” a multi-generational African-American history and genealogy project (Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation with the Galesville Community Center Organization)
- The preservation of Francis Scott Key’s Last Will and Testament (St. John’s College)
- South County Audiotour CD, “Roots & Tides” with accompanying brochure – 2003, reprinted 2011
- “Landings: A Boater’s Guide” – July 2006
- “Explorer’s Guide” with folded map – Map, October 2006; Guide, February 2007
- “Explore, Experience, Discover Four Rivers” brochure – January 2009, reprinted 2013 and 2019
Our Sponsors & Partners
