Adrian Coulby
Calvert County Marine Museum Oral History Project
These are audio recorded interviews with residents of Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s Counties, Maryland who were connected to the seafood houses of Southern Maryland. Michel and Carrie Kline did this work in 2005 as part of the “Seafood Houses of Southern Maryland Documentation Project” of the Calvert County Marine Museum.
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National Capital Contracting
Adrian Coulby was born in 1933, and spent most of his life in Newburg. His father, Edgar Coulby, owned and operated the Potomac Fishing Oyster Company, an oyster house at Rock Point. As a young boy, Adrian spent a significant amount of time at the oyster house, where he developed a fondness for the bustling environment filled with crab pickers, oyster shuckers, and fishermen. Although his memories of this time are somewhat vague, he recalls helping with tasks such as cleaning the oyster house and interacting with the workers. He also spent time in the company office, often to the annoyance of the secretary, Mary. Despite his young age, Adrian was able to observe the process of unloading oysters from the boats, transporting them into the oyster house, and stockpiling them. His recollections provide a unique perspective on the operations of a mid-20th-century oyster house from the eyes of a child.
Scope and Content Note
The interview with Adrian Coulby, conducted by Carrie Kline on June 9, 2005, at the Calvert Marine Museum, provides a glimpse into the operations of the Potomac Fishing Oyster Company, an oyster house at Rock Point, during the mid-20th century. Coulby, the son of the owner, shares his childhood memories of the oyster house, including the process of unloading and stockpiling oysters, the roles of the workers, and the atmosphere of the place. He also discusses the grading system for oysters, which was based on size, and the packaging process, which involved shucking the oysters into cans, pasteurizing them, packing them in ice, and shipping them out to various markets. Additionally, Coulby briefly touches on the handling of crabs.
subject: Fishery processing plants--Maryland, Southern; Oyster fisheries--Maryland, Southern; Maryland, Southern--History.
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