Richardson Maritime Museum Reflects on Being Named Organization of the Year

(CAMBRIDGE, Md) – Dorchester County is honoring the members of their community who are helping to help define the area’s culture.

It’s the Heart of Chesapeake Heritage Area Award.

For the Richardson Maritime Museum, the last couple of years have been an uphill battle. Thursday night, the museum is the 2025 Heart of the Chesapeake Heritage Area’s Organization of the Year.

And they’ve accomplished a lot in the last 12 months.

Museum Executive Director, Debbie Usab tells WMDT, “Our goals for 2025 were to get open, to get something open so that the public can come in and visit it, and to get our education programs running. And, and we’ve been able to meet those goals.”

The Heart of the Chesapeake Awards highlights those who positively impact the culture of Dorchester County.

In the case of the Richardson Maritime Museum, it’s highlighting the history of Dorchester County on the waters of the Chesapeake.

With a big thanks to the volunteers.

“They have been working diligently, like I said, for the past two years, to get these programs up and running and to get our museum open, which opened in October,” says Debbie.

As the maritime museum is honored with organization of the year, they’re turning their attention towards 2026, and what that’s going to entail.

Debbie says, “For 2026, what we want to do is build that educational program and make it even bigger and better. And to include the school system. So our next steps are going to be working with the with to try to reach out to the school system to see if we can’t work with them,”

The Richardson Maritime Museum says that winning this Organization of the Year Award is a big step forward for them, especially as they’re working to obtain more grants. They’re also looking for people to become docents for the museum.