Millington, MD

Millington is a Maryland town split between Kent and Queen Anne's counties, with 549 residents in the 2020 census. It sits at the head of navigation on the Chester River, where Cypress Branch and Andover Branch join. That water position shaped the town before highways: mills, mill ponds, grain, timber, and river trade all meet in its history. A recent Cypress Branch project removed an obsolete Cypress Mill dam, reopening more than 35 miles for migratory fish. The town still carries the pattern of a river crossing and mill settlement.

Millington was chartered in 1798; early deeds called the area “head of Chester,” and an 1807 description counted about 40 houses. A railroad reached Kent County in 1872, expanding markets for farm goods. Fire then remade the town in 1904, destroying stores, a hotel, an Episcopal chapel, the railroad depot, warehouses, more than 100 homes, and most businesses. The John Embert Farm, listed on the National Register in 1980, adds a surviving rural landmark. Millington is a Maryland river town where navigation, mills, rail, and floodplain still shape the town plan.