Behind This Old Shore

This Old Shore’s Kate Livie, with an eel that was promised not to bite. It didn’t.

I'm Kate Livie—an author, public historian, educator, and storyteller specializing in the culture, history, and working landscapes of the Chesapeake Bay. I'm the author of Chesapeake Oysters: The Bay's Foundation and Future, recipient of the Marion Brewington Prize from the Maryland Center for History and Culture. I've served as Director of Education and Associate Curator at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, teach Chesapeake Studies as an adjunct instructor at Washington College, and I’m the current Chair of the Maritime History Committee at the Maryland Center for History and Culture.

Throughout my career, I've been fortunate to tell Chesapeake stories through exhibits, magazines, lectures, classrooms, and books. But over time, I watched many of the regional publications that once celebrated the Chesapeake's culture and communities begin to disappear. As newspapers and magazines folded, there were simply fewer places where the region’s history, traditions, landscapes, and everyday people could be explored with the depth they deserved.

But I never believed interest in those stories had disappeared. I just knew the places where people were discovering them had changed. That's how This Old Shore began.

Last winter when two magazines I contributed to had closed up shop entirely, I decided to it was time to try something new. I wanted to create a new platform for my stories where my audiences were naturally drawn: social media. The goal wasn't to simplify or cheapen the Chesapeake's storytelling, but to make it more accessible. Through short videos, I wanted to tell thoughtful, beautiful, well-researched snippets of history. My aim was to share the region’s past in a way that felt celebratory, engaging, evocative and rooted in a genuine sense of place.

The response was immediate and humbling.

What began as a small storytelling experiment quickly revealed something larger. Thousands of people across the Chesapeake—and far beyond—were hungry for stories that celebrated regional identity, connected the past to the present, and reminded them why this place matters. The growth of This Old Shore wasn't simply the success of a social media account. It reflected a genuine appetite for regional storytelling.

Today, This Old Shore is growing into a broader storytelling platform that meets that audience wherever they choose to engage. Alongside short-form video, the project now includes long-form writing, public speaking, educational programs, field experiences, and partnerships with museums, nonprofits, tourism organizations, and community organizations. Each offers a different way to experience the Chesapeake, but they all share the same purpose: helping people better understand the history, culture, landscapes, and communities that make this region extraordinary.

Thank you for joining us, at This Old Shore.

—Kate