Geddes-Piper House
101 Church Alley

After leaving his 1755 home in Princess Anne, seat of Somerset County on the lower Eastern Shore, William Geddes came to Chestertown, bought land, and served as the King's Custom Collector. He sold this lot to James Moor, who in turn sold it to merchant James Piper, builder of the 1784 Philadelphia-style three and a half story brick house. The rear extension dates to 1834, connecting to the earliest part, a freestanding ca. 1730 building. This was Lot No. 26 of the 1730 Chestertown resurvey -- a lithograph copy from 1830 can be seen in the front parlor.

Much admired by visitors are the 48 Chinese Export Porcelain teapots, considered Maryland Treasures. Portraits and priceless18th-century charts adorn the walls. The second floor includes an 1880s Children's Room, the Fan Collection, two bedrooms, and the director's office.

The basement has three display areas: colonial kitchen, laundry and keeping room, and a hall with cases of Native American artifacts, early iron implements, hanging hay rakes, tools and early lamps.

The formal dining room, winder stair and room above were added at the start of eight decades of Westcott ownership. When that family left, the house had various uses, most of which did not work in its best interest. Until 1998, the attic was further divided by a single-board partition making two servants' rooms under the roof, cooled only by unscreened dormer windows, front and back.

Help arrived in 1958 when savvy Historical Society members purchased it to use as their headquarters. Today three levels of period furnishings are open to visitors; a fourth level houses a research library, and the office of "Stories of the Chesapeake" Heritage Area. The fifth, attic level, is used for storage and a mechanical room.