Native American settlement and colonial era Neavitt and its surrounding region has been inhabited by humans since the arrival of the
Paleo-Indians over 11,000 years ago.
Paw Paw Cove Site, a Paleo-Indian archaeological site on nearby
Tilghman Island discovered in 1979, has produced artifacts including fluted points and tools dating between 11,500 and 10,500 years before present. The
Choptank, an
Algonquian-speaking people, inhabited the Choptank River system prior to the establishment of the
Province of Maryland by
England in 1632. The English colonial government moved all tribes, including the Choptank, onto
reservations by the end of the 17th century, and by the mid-18th century most of the Eastern Shore's Native American population had left due to encroachment by colonists. The first colonial land grant in present-day Neavitt was acquired by Ralph Elston Sr., an
English Quaker, in 1661. Elston eventually expanded his "Long Point" parcel, which originally consisted of 50 acres at the end of the Neavitt peninsula between Harris and Broad Creeks, in 1673 to include 180 additional acres of Long Neck. The Balls, also Quakers, were an
Anglo-Irish family that had migrated to Maryland from
Dungannon,
County Tyrone in April 1686. A
wharf off of the Long Point estate was used to transport
tobacco to the nearby port of
Oxford, which Thomas had helped establish in 1694. The Ball family expanded their landholdings in Talbot County throughout the 18th century, and eventually became involved in
shipbuilding, for which they used
enslaved labor and
indentured servants. They worshipped and participated in Talbot County's Quaker society at the
Third Haven Meeting House in
Easton. In 1799, Rachel Ball and her husband William Shield put Long Point up for sale, ultimately selling it to Joseph Harrison in 1803.
Early development Inhabitants of surrounding areas began congregating in the Broad Creek Neck section of Neavitt peninsula in the early 19th century, and by 1858 a schoolhouse was established. The Neavitt family participated in the establishment of the growing community's organizations and services during this period, including the Neavitt United Methodist Church, which was originally founded by Edward Neavitt in 1856 as "Chatham Chapel". Henry C. Neavitt, who also ran a grocery store across from the church's cemetery, served as its first postmaster in 1862. Neavitt's school eventually burned down in 1941 and was not rebuilt. to deliver supplies from Maryland's Western Shore and pick up Neavitt's produce, wheat, and seafood. From the late 19th century until 1931, the BC&A provided rail service between
Claibourne and
Ocean City; it also controlled a series of steamboat lines. Neavitt's economy began shifting towards greater residential development to attract vacationers and retirees. This was facilitated by the completion of the
Chesapeake Bay Bridge in 1952, which drastically reduced commute times from the Washington and Baltimore metropolitan areas. In anticipation of this, Long Point Farm was subdivided into the Elston Shores subdivision by the Balazs in 1951, which consisted of 21 10-acre lots. Part of the Neavitt family's Middle Point Farm property was also converted into the Neavitt Manor subdivision in 1966. The
United States Postal Service considered permanently shuttering Neavitt's post office in 2006, but eventually changed course after several community organizations raised more than $125,000 to build a new post office in the Neavitt Community Park. This had instigated concern among residents regarding potential development following the completion of the sewer and any threat that would present to the area's rural character. The community retains numerous buildings from the 19th and early 20th centuries, including homes featuring simplified
Queen Anne,
Greek Revival,
Colonial Revival,
Gothic Revival, and
American Craftsman ornamentation. Many are
vernacular structures built in the
I-house,
bungalow, and
Cape Cod layouts. After years of declining membership, the Neavitt United Methodist Church closed in 2023, concluding over 160 years in the community. ==Geography==