Eastport has once again declared war on Annapolis, and this time the battlefield is pavement instead of water. The 2026 Eastport-Annapolis Tug of War is set for noon on Saturday, Nov. 7, with both sides lining up on Second Street between the harbor and Severn Avenue rather than squaring off across Spa Creek.
The move isn't new — it's the second straight year the rivalry has been forced onto dry land. According to Eye On Annapolis, construction at City Dock means both teams will pull from Second Street this year, a shift the Maritime Republic of Eastport reportedly believes gives Annapolis an unfair edge by putting the contest on the sloped Eastport street. Normally, the Eastport side gathers along Second Street while the Annapolis team assembles at Susan Campbell Park near City Dock, with the two sides separated by the creek itself.
That City Dock work isn't some minor sidewalk patch. It's part of an $88 million resiliency and revitalization project expected to take three years, and as Chesapeake Bay Magazine put it, the beloved Tug of War across Spa Creek will instead take place on land, on the Eastport side. Last year's event, the 27th annual “Slaughter Across the Water,” was already held entirely on Second Street in Eastport for the same reason, with organizers swapping the massive rope that usually spans the creek for a smaller one and a small pool standing in for the water, according to the Capital Gazette.
Seven Heats, a Free Crowd and a T-Shirt for Tuggers
This year's matchup is planned to run seven heats, pitting teams representing firefighters, police supporters, military-themed groups, bars, schools, community groups, women and athletes against one another, per the same Eye On Annapolis report. It's a format that echoes 2025, when the Capital Gazette's photo coverage showed seven heats deciding the champions, including Eastport Elementary versus the Annapolis PTA, Eastport's 4th Street bars against an Annapolis bar team, and the Annapolis Navy tugging against the Eastport Army.
Spectators can watch for free, and organizers are accepting same-day registration for anyone who wants to grab a rope, with registration including an event T-shirt. The Maritime Republic of Eastport is also looking for volunteers to help run the day, which includes music, food, drinks, vendors and the kind of good-natured trash talk that has defined the rivalry for years.
A Rivalry Born Over a Closed Bridge
The tradition traces back to a Spa Creek Bridge closure that cut Eastport off from the rest of Annapolis, prompting residents to jokingly declare independence. Sources disagree on exactly when it started: the Maritime Republic of Eastport itself says the Tug of War was conceived in 1997, while a 2025 Eye On Annapolis account places the origin in 1998, when the bridge's temporary closure led Eastport residents to jokingly secede. Either way, the movement reportedly began in a local pub, and that first Tug of War saw Eastport win two of three contests. The bridge eventually reopened, but the mock war never stopped — Eastport has kept up its annual declaration ever since, complete with its own flag, government, navy, militia, currency, passports and national anthem, all under the motto “We like it this way.”
The event, also known as Slaughter Across the Water, bills itself as the world's longest international tug of war over water, and the Maritime Republic of Eastport separately describes it as the only international Tug competition over water in the world. Tallies of the overall series vary by source: Patti Slaughter told WMAR-2 News that the event had been held 23 times, with Annapolis winning 15 and Eastport seven, while a 2018 Capital Gazette report put Eastport ahead 13-7 at the time. Eye On Annapolis reported that Eastport beat Annapolis 4-3 in 2025, snapping a three-year losing streak and reclaiming the overall title.
Money for Local Causes, Though the Total Is Disputed
Beyond the spectacle, the Tug of War functions as a fundraiser. The Maritime Republic of Eastport, a registered 501(c)(3), says all funds raised by the Tug and its other events go to charitable organizations in the Annapolis area, supporting programs serving residents there. Exactly how much that adds up to depends on who's counting: the organization's own site says more than $500,000 has been raised to date, while a 2018 Capital Gazette report cited about $750,000 in proceeds from Eastport events up to that point. No independently audited current total was available for 2026.
In 2018, the competition looked a little different logistically, with each side fielding seven teams of 33 tuggers per round and a 1,700-foot rope long enough to stretch across Spa Creek — a far cry from this year's land-bound Second Street face-off. Whatever the final tally on Nov. 7, the rivalry's organizers have made clear they intend to keep tugging, construction or not.
