The Chesapeake Bay has been around for a longer period of time than people think. Many tend to begin its history with the establishment of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. But, the history of the Bay as we know it began thousands of years before that.
The Chesapeake Bay developed from natural occurrences during the last Ice Age. Around 9000 B.C., melting glaciers filled in the Susquehanna Valley, and about 7000 years later, the Bay assumed its current shape. All along, Native Americans lived in the Bay region, beginning agricultural practices around 1000 B.C.

In 1607, the first permanent New World settlement was established in Virginia on the James River, and a member of the traveling group -- John Smith -- began extensive exploration of the Bay. Most of those original colonists died in the first year, but the New World’s population began to grow as more people and supplies came from England. Over the next 300 years of the Bay's time line, people built homes, farmed, started businesses and participated in a host of other activities that continue to affect the Bay today.

In the mid-20th century, concerned citizens began to take notice of troubling signs: diseases were killing oysters in the Bay and water quality started declining. In the 1970s, Congress passed the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, citizens formed watershed groups and officials banned certain pesticides and toxic chemicals. Actions that would reverse the decline of the Bay were underway.

The broad framework for specific Bay restoration goals was put in place in 1983 with the first Chesapeake Bay Agreement. The agreement formed the Chesapeake Bay Program -- a partnership among Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Chesapeake Bay Commission. Its highest priority -- the restoration of the Bay’s living resources -- remains a strong goal today.