Fifty years ago, Edgemere was the place to settle for those people who wanted to live close to where they worked. At least that's why Elaine Guice and her husband, Jack, moved there in 1950.
Jack worked for the railroad in Sparrows Point, and she taught at Edgemere Elementary School. Although times have changed and Sparrows Point no longer lures the same work force, there's something about the community that makes residents stay.
It's not only the original homeowners or plant workers who never moved, but it's the sons, daughters and grandchildren who seem to carry a desire to return to their roots.
"My son and one daughter and even my grandson - they all have houses on the water and they love it. They came back because a lot of their friends are still here," said Elaine Guice, who also has several friends who have remained in Edgemere through the years. "I go to the senior citizen center, and that's fun because I know just about everyone there. It is just a very friendly and quiet area."
In Edgemere it seems that everyone knows everyone else. "If you want to sell your house in Edgemere, all you have to do is tell your neighbor. You don't have to put it on the market," said Guice, who cautioned against telling your neighbor everything. "You don't talk about anyone here because it might be someone's relative. There are a lot of marriages between the different families."
Craig and Sandy Doyle are an example of that. Both were raised in Edgemere; they knew one another through middle and high schools and their fathers worked at Bethlehem Steel together.
After attending different colleges, the two eventually married and never thought twice about moving back to the community they loved as children and are now raising two children of their own.
"It's not a transient town at all; it's like an Eastern Shore town 20 minutes out of Baltimore," said Sandy Doyle. "My daughter Maureen is a freshman in the same school that I was a freshman in 30 years ago. And in my son Dylan's class, of about 22 students, at least six of the parents I went to school with."
Combine the family atmosphere with some of the best boating in the area and that's the reason the Doyles, who are involved in the local North Point Sailing Association, love their community.
"It's so centrally located, both by boat or car," said Craig Doyle. "It's a great place to have a sail boat. It's all dredged, deep water and ... no bridges."
