Category Archives: Crisfield

Old Ailsey’s Light – Crisfield

 

Old Ailsey's Light in Crisfield - Janes Island
Janes Island view of the marsh from the campground.

Old Ailsey’s Light is a legend about a light seen over the uninhabited Janes Island in Crisfield – Somerset County, Maryland near Flatcap Marsh.

From time to time, campers at Janes Island State Park in Crisfield will report seeing a strange light hovering above the salt marsh across Daugherty Creek Canal. Unlike swamp gas, it moves in a convulsive manner—hovering and then shooting one horizontal direction before burning out. And some reports state that the light is accompanied by the sound of a high-pitched moan—like a cat or woman wailing. The light isn’t reported to be white like a comet or a meteor. It’s orange like a fireball. Some people say that the light is nothing more than swamp gas being released from the marsh, but swamp gas doesn’t dart around. It bubbles up and then dissipates into the atmosphere. Continue reading Old Ailsey’s Light – Crisfield

Corbin Library in Crisfield is also a Mausoleum

Llilyan Corbin
Lilyan Stratten Corbin

The Corbin Library in Crisfield is the only library in America that also serves as a mausoleum. It is named for Lilly Ann Corbin, born in Crisfield in 1882 who was farmed out to relatives as a teenager because her parents couldn’t support her. And at age fifteen Lilly had saved enough money from cleaning houses to buy a one-way train ticket to New York City. She dreamed of being an actress. Today, her remains are in an urn that is housed in this small community library in rural Somerset County, MD.

When you check out a book at the Lilyan Stratton Corbin Library, look up to the right and you’ll see the large urn set into a niche carved that has been carved into the wall. Below that niche is a plaque honoring Lilyan Stratton Corbin. And across the room a portrait of a woman with brown hair and soft brown eyes hangs on the wall. The woman in the portrait is believed to be Lilyan Corbin. Continue reading Corbin Library in Crisfield is also a Mausoleum