Geddes House (Tunstall Cottage)-Princess Anne Historic District – Princess Anne MD
Posted by: 
Don.Morfe
N 38° 12.306 W 075° 41.688
18S E 439168 N 4228799
Princess Anne has one of the finest collections of Federal and Victorian dwellings and late 19th to early 20th century commercial structures on the Delmarva Peninsula. Most of them have had few alterations. This includes the Geddes House.
Waymark Code: WM16WED
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 10/17/2022
Views: 0
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
“SIGNIFICANCE Princess Anne Somerset County, Maryland, is located fourteen miles south of Salisbury on the Manokin River. This town is historically significant because of its architectural heritage, as the administrative center for the county and as an important regional trading center. Princess Anne has one of the finest collections of Federal and Victorian dwellings and late 19th to early 20th century commercial structures on the Delmarva Peninsula. Most of them have had few alterations. There has been little change due to industry or other development, and the town retains much of its historic character. It has been the governmental center since the county was formed in 1742 and the present courthouse is one of the most architecturally distinguished in the state. Since the beginning, Princess Anne, now with a population about 1500, has remained the important commercial and banking center for the surrounding countryside. During the 18th century, and especially the 19th, this community grew in importance as a shipping point for local farm produce since the Manokin River was navigable as far as the Princess Anne Bridge. As late as 1900, three-masted schooners could still exchange fertilizer and manufactured goods for farm and forest product
Contributing Building:
Geddes House (Tunstall Cottage) 11790 Church Street
Page 5 Nomination Form
Tunstall Cottage on the corner of Broad Street and Church Street (formerly Low Alley), is the earliest existing house in Princess Anne. The cottage was named for Captain John Tunstall who purchased land at the head of the Manokin River from Peter Dent, Clerk of the Somerset Court in 1705. The land was part of the original grant called Beckford received by Edmund Howard in 1697. The house was built on lot number 7 of Princess Anne Town, probably between 1733 and 1750. A customs record from the year 1733 shows the transfer of a house on the south side of the Manokin River and a schooner called Providence by Captain John Tunstall to Samuel Whittingham. The cottage is a typical 1-story town dwelling of the early colonial period on the Eastern Shore and has been restored by its present owner. Facing north, the house is four bays wide, two deep, and has one small central dormer. On each side there is an exterior chimney, the one on the west being free standing above the fireplace level. Separated from the house by at least 1 1/2 feet, it rises well above the peak of the roof. To the rear of the cottage is a small kitchen wing with an attached end chimney. The interior paneling is superb for a house of this size. An enclosed stair with beaded vertical paneling rises through the center of the house between the two main rooms. Another eighteenth century house is now occupied by the Anne Scott Real Estate office. This three-bay, l 1/2-story| frame structure is located on the northwest corner of Somerset Avenue and Broad Street.”
Name of Historic District (as listed on the NRHP): Princess Anne Historic District
Link to nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com page with the Historic District: [Web Link]
Address:
11790 Church Street, Princess Anne MD 21853
How did you determine the building to be a contributing structure?: Narrative found on the internet (Link provided below)
Optional link to narrative or database: [Web Link]
NRHP Historic District Waymark (Optional): Not listed
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