During the post-Civil War era, Penny Rhine's great grandfather, John Cockey bought Maple Hall from his in-laws, the Tunis family. It was a working farm, with vegetable gardens, dairy cattle, John, Kate, and their eight children. Most of the children lived out their lives there. A couple of the children left the area, but would visit with friends so often that the Cockey family began charging the friends to stay. When this word got out, more people began traveling to Maple Hall to relax. That is how the farm became a popular country inn along Tilghman Creek in Claiborne, Maryland. The Inn has been run by the same family ever since, and today Rick and Penny Rhine continue that Shore Tradition by remodeling the rooms for a grand re-opening June 2003.
During the 1890's you could stay at Maple Hall for a full week, enjoying three heaping meals each day for a total bill of $5.00 to $7.00! It was advertised as a place to "recover from your ails". "A summer spent at Maple Hall is a summer fraught with every joy."
At that time the inn had several annexes, and would accommodate up to a hundred guests. Overlooking the Miles River and Chesapeake Bay, they offered diversions like swimming, crabbing, tennis, sailing, canoeing, motor boating, dancing, and fishing. They also laid claim that "The Eastern Shore is the home of 'Maryland Cooking' -made famous by fiction-and fact!" You could travel daily from Annapolis to Claiborne by ferry.
Maple Hall sported a pavilion at their pier where dances were held every Saturday night. There was also a sandy beach there at that time, and a diving board from the pier. A "Maple Hall newsletter" of an uncertain date announces the first summer cotillion, "The first big Maple Hall Cotillion is planned for Saturday night, June 30. The new tapes should keep you dancing 'til dawn or almost. A full moon, a soft breeze, and a million stars are on order for that night so dust off your dancing shoes and be on hand to start the Pavilion Cotillion season." By that time, tapes had replaces the pavilion's broken Juke box.
"The Inn continued to grow and a third floor was added in the early1900's," Penny Rhine smiled. "Then in the 1920's they joined an existing summer kitchen to the inn itself. A lady named "Gussie" was the cook. She served old fashioned Eastern Shore Meals at Maple Hall for 35 years. She apprenticed another woman who stayed for over 25 years-up until '67. I remember her. Mary Butler's fried chicken was to die for. She would rather stand over those huge fryers and fry chicken for a hundred people than throw a roast beef in the oven. And the weekend menus through the 1950's and 1960's were set in stone. It was all served family style. On Saturday mornings we had fried eggs, sausage and her wonderful pancakes. Saturday afternoon for lunch you just had to have her unbelievable crab cakes with all the trimmings. On Saturday evenings both family and guests delved into great big rib roasts. Mary was the only cook on that 15 burner gas stove with two big ovens. She had assistants to help her clean up, but she was the only cook in my recollection after the mid 1950's. Then Sunday morning we had giblet stew. It was just delicious, and she made her homemade muffins and scrambled eggs for people who didn't like her stew. You either loved it or hated it, but I have never figured out the spices. It was different than any other. You always had the option of oatmeal at any breakfast. Then Sunday dinner was Mary's fried chicken, stewed tomatoes, and all the trimmings." Mary and her kitchen/dining room staff were mostly from Old Claiborne and McDaniel. They worked there for generations, and were very loyal. Randolph, one of the waiters, later worked for many years at the Annapolis Yacht Club.
Maple Hall grew in popularity from its beginnings. Families spent summers here and would meet other families here year after year for reunions, weddings, and just plain relaxing. The Maple Hall Wharf held not only a pavillion, but it's boards held many a swimmer, crabber, sailor, power boater, and canoeist as they have deep water to accommodate many a vessel. The sandy beach seeped through many a toe as they forgot their woes. A "duck pond" was kept nettle free for swimming all season.
Maple Hall was promoted as a spa to rebuild and restore your health, "The Garden Spot of Maryland." During their reign in the late 1800's and the early 1900's steamers brought guests to the Claiborne Pier where staff members would greet them to transfer their baggage "at low rates". Those who were continuing on to Ocean City hopped aboard a train called "The Ocean City Flyer". That train was fast. It would get you to Ocean City in an hour and a half. You can't drive there that fast even today. From 1900 through 1930 the population of Claiborne, MD grew from 80 to 179. Most residents boarded travelers throughout the tiny village.
Recently, the Rhines received a letter from a long time Maple Hall visitor who reminisced, "I can still hear the raucous chorus of "Oh Cut 'Er Down" as guests arrived and departed at the Claiborne ferry dock.
Oh cut 'er down
Oh cut 'er down
And they hauled it away to the mill
To make a cottage of pine
For that sweetheart of mine
And they cut down the old pine tree.
"I don't remember the origin of the ritual, but it had the significance of a binding custom that seemed to gather everyone a little closer," he mused.
John Cockey's daughters, "Aunt Mary and Aunt Julia" took over the inn during the Great Depression. Julia ran it until her death in 1952 at which time Penny's grandmother, Bessie "Beppie" Trott Wilkinson Cockey took it over. Sam Trott, Beppie's father, was a professional catcher and a scout for the Baltimore Baseball Club. He was one of the few players in the history of baseball who caught right handed and batted left handed.
Julia was five feet tall, but ran the family and ordered her six feet tall brothers around. "Yes, Ma'am," fell from their lips when Julia issued chores.
Beppie's first husband died when their daughter Alice (Penny's mother) was four years old. Eight years later she married Irving Clay Cockey. "My grandmother was a bit of a flapper. She was tiny and wore flapper-like clothes. She loved to party and she loved men. When there was a man around she donned the most wonderful southern accent and did not lift a finger. If there was no man around she could do anything. She was a character and said the most outrageous things."
In the '50's the family sold off 180 acres of farm for $50.00 per acre. Beppie, her daughter Alice and son-in-law Major Bob Cook purchased the remaining eight and a half acres that surround the Inn today.
As a small child Maple Hall was always "home" to Penny especially when they traveled to wherever her father was stationed with the Armed Forces. In 1960 Major Cook retired and Beppie's health was beginning to fail. Bob and Alice Cook moved home permanently and purchased the business from Beppie.
Penny has lived at Maple Hall all but seven years since that time. At the beginning of her first marriage she moved away, but came back in 1974 and has remained here since. She raised her family here along Tilghman Creek in the old homestead and has always dreamed of reactivating the Inn. Her father's death and her mothers age kept the dream in check until in late 2002 Penny and her husband Rick Rhine began to form the dream into reality.
Today, Claiborne still dons a dock. It is a beautiful place to watch the sunset, but is not very well protected for tying boats. There is a tiny Post Office in Claiborne, but the old store is long gone. "Right now this is a very desirable destination. We are far enough away from St. Michaels and the traffic to be off the beaten track, but close enough to get there or Easton and to all the shops and Eastern Shore culture you could need."
Penny and Rick Rhine, with Alice's blessing are remodeling the Inn into 16 rooms with private baths and decks overlooking the water. They sit on Tilghman Creek with the Miles River and the Chesapeake Bay in sight. Visitors can come by boat or car. Deep water slips are available. They are putting in a commercial kitchen. Keep up with their progress at their web site www.maplehall.com. The Rhines are taking reservations for a June opening. By late June they hope to have at least five rooms finished including one that is wheelchair accessible. Come join them under the Maple trees. Catch a few crabs from the dock, kick back on the deck, and learn the art of just plain relaxing.