Homes for Rent in Deal Island, Deal Island

Deal Island was established as an oystering and crabbing community on the Tangier Sound in the 17th century. Today, generational watermen still work on this Somerset County peninsula, home to several marinas, boat launches and one of America’s oldest skipjack fleets. “Most people who live here work on the water because that’s what their families have done for hundreds of years,” says Bob Shores, a lifelong Deal Island local and a volunteer at the Skipjack Heritage Museum. Though flooding is causing Deal Island to slowly sink, a few newcomers still move to the community for its quiet and secluded setting within a protected marshland. “Retirees are the main people who buy houses here,” Shores says. “They want a slow lifestyle, and Deal Island has that. We wake up, watch the sunrise, get on the boat and that’s about it.” Telescope-style houses, bungalows and Queen Annes built between the 1850s and the early 1900s sit along Deal Island’s winding roads. Mid-20th-century ranch-style houses and cottages are also common. Properties on the peninsula’s rocky shoreline often have boat slips or docks. The median single-family home price is around $183,000, which is significantly less than the