Item #: SCP-8636
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: SCP-8636 has no physical containment target. Foundation response is limited to Protocol 8636-Shoreline: Passive monitoring of local news, church bulletins, county historical society newsletters, and social media within 20km of the Chesapeake shoreline for public reference to "Piscataquah." Subjects who attempt to make SCP-8636 public in a way likely to attract outside attention are to be administered standard Class A amnestics regarding the specific claim only. Belief in Piscataquah's prior or current existence tends to recur within 6–18 months regardless of amnestic use. This is not currently treated as a containment failure.
Description: SCP-8636 is a belief, held by an estimated 8,000–14,000 residents of Maryland communities bordering the Chesapeake Bay, that a US state named "Piscataquah" formerly occupied or currently occupies most of the space filled by the Bay. Belief incidence and conviction strength both scale with proximity to the shoreline. Subjects living within 1km of the water test at near-total incidence; incidence falls off sharply past approximately 20km inland, and no cases have been confirmed west of the fall line.
In approximately 30% of documented cases, subjects identify Piscataquah's governor by name as Corwin Tristan Halsey. In reality, Halsey is a Maryland resident (b. 1949, Anne Arundel Co.) and a perennial local candidate, having run unsuccessfully for county council, county sheriff, and state legislature a combined eleven times since 1994, most recently in 2022. Halsey is locally known, to the modest extent he is known at all, for platform positions described in press coverage as fringe and authoritarian in character, including proposals for suspension of local elections during declared "states of disorder" and expanded warrantless search authority for county sheriffs. He has never held elected office at any level.
When presented with direct documentary evidence against Piscataquah's existence subjects do not typically argue the evidence. In 74% of documented disclosure attempts, subjects instead deny that they had ever made the original claim. Recordings and contemporaneous notes of the original statement do not alter this response and are, in several cases, treated by the subject as fabricated or edited.
Addendum 8636-1: Undercover Foundation agent Amirah Mcneil secretly recorded an interaction she had with a 24-year-old Maryland resident affected by SCP-8636, Zoe Hart. A transcript of the interaction between Mcneil and Hart has been provided below.
Mcneil: Hey, Zoe. Actually, can I ask you one more thing?
Hart: Huh? Oh, sure. What else did you want to know?
Mcneil: You know how you said earlier your brother likes to act like he's the King of Piscataquah around the house?
Hart: …yeah?
Mcneil: What… did you mean by that?
Hart: Oh, right. It's like a local saying, when somebody acts like they have more authority than they actually do or really likes to abuse the little amount of authority they have you say they must think they're the King of Piscataquah or something. Makes sense you never heard of it, being new here and all.
Mcneil: That's pretty cool. Where does that saying come from?
Hart: Well, Piscataquah is kinda like the butt of a lot of jokes around these parts. We like making fun of them. And calling someone the King of Piscataquah is funny because Piscataquah is such a tiny place, you know, a little more than six thousand people live there, so being the King of Piscataquah wouldn't really mean anything. That's the joke.
Mcneil: Yeah, I get it. It's got such a unique name too, Piscataquah. I wonder where it comes from.
Hart: Oh, wait, I think I know that actually. The name comes from an Algonquian word that means a branching tidal creek or… something. I dunno, it could also have something to do with waterways elsewhere on the Atlantic coast, like the Piscataqua River. I think it used to be called Piscattaway or Pascataqua before they decided on Piscataquah in 1802.
Mcneil: Wow. How do you know so much about that?
Hart: Well, I was a bit of a history nerd at school and I had a fixation on Piscataquahian history for a while. I used to be a prolific bookworm back then and I guess I still retain some of that knowledge I learned in high school.
Mcneil: What made Piscataquah so interesting to you?
Hart: I don't know. Why do you wanna know?
Mcneil: Just… trying to make conversation. It's been… really fun listening to you so far.
Hart: Oh. Uhh… Okay. I guess what made Piscataquah so interesting to me was them being our tiniest neighbor. And maybe also that they are the smallest state in the US. And also that everyone makes fun of them all the time. I guess a part of me could relate to the Piscataquahians in that way.
Mcneil: I understand. I mean, a state of, what, six thousand people you said? It makes you think how it even became a state, right?
Hart: Haha, yeah. I think it started as this cluster of small tobacco and fishing communities between Maryland's Western and Eastern Shores. It acquired a lot of administrative independence over time thanks to its position and petitioned for statehood in 1788 and got admitted to the Union in 1789. So, they're basically a miniature version of Maryland but they hate being told that and we love making fun of them for it.
Mcneil: I've always wondered what living in a place like that would be like. It must be so… so… quiet. And calm.
Hart: Oh yeah, Piscataquah is a notoriously boring place, let me tell you. There's absolutely nothing to do there. They like to brag about their history but all they have to show for it are oysters. Seriously. I feel like ninety per cent of their economy is just oystering, crabbing and building ships. Oysters are so important for them they nearly went to war with us over them, it's real, look up the Oyster Disputes of the 1820s and 30s.
Mcneil: Urgh. Nevermind then. I could never stomach living in a place like that. I hate oysters.
Hart: So do the Piscataquahians apparently, seeing that their population has been declining since the 1870s.
Mcneil: Really? It's a miracle Piscataquah still exists at all then.
Hart: Yeah, they don't call 'em the Unluckiest State for nothing. They've been at war with nature for centuries now. It's just sad. They've always struggled with erosion and maintaining highway connection to the mainland. Did you know the Piscataquah General Assembly has petitioned Congress for shoreline stabilization funds in nearly every session since 1911? It's a massive problem for them, two of their original nine incorporated towns have been abandoned since like, 1930 because of the constant flooding.
Mcneil: Jesus. Those poor people.
Hart: Yeah, you haven't heard? There are still people living Averys Landing whose grandparents can remember having to leave their flooded homes behind with tears in their eyes to move from Cedar Point or New Hopewell to the capital, hoping they can start a new, a better life there.
Mcneil: I'm not from these parts, so it's my first time hearing about this stuff. It's kinda messed up that you still pick on them after they've gone through so many horrible things though, isn't it?
Hart: Nah, they understand. Piscataquah is like Maryland's little brother. We like to mess with them sometimes but we still love 'em and they know that. But I agree, they've gone through so many horrible things that it's admirable that they still exist. Like, at all. You can imagine just how hard the Great Depression hit them on top of everything else. And I don't even have to tell you how unkind the '40s were to them. They've been through many, many other things but that's the one thing the whole nation knows about.
Mcneil: And what's that?
Hart: What's what?
Mcneil: The one thing the whole nation knows about Piscataquah.
Hart: Oh, you know, I'm talking about the Averys Landing strike of 1945 and the riots of '49. That's the part most people know, but there is more to it than that.
Mcneil: Hmmm… I… don't think I've heard of them, actually.
Hart: What? You mean the events of '45 and '49?
Mcneil: Yeah. What happened?
Hart: (pause) You're messing with me.
Mcneil: What?
Hart: There's no way you don't know about the strike of '45. Or at least what happened in 1949. Amirah, that's like the one thing people tend to know about Piscataquah more than anything else! Did you sleep through all of your history classes?
Mcneil: History was… never my strongest suit.
Hart: Well then, you should go read a book or something. I can't tell you about the Bleeding Forties. It's a very divisive issue and I don't wanna mislead you on it because of my biases.
Mcneil: Can you at least try to explain it to me objectively? I'm really curious about it now. I wanna know.
Hart: Look, there was… this strike by watermen and dockworkers in 1945 because of all the wartime price controls or something like that. It was a big deal, it was resolved after the state intervened and the governor of that time stepped down. A guy named Corwin Halsey became governor after that, and he must've been a real piece of crap or something because in 1949 the strikes began again but this time they escalated into violence. And there was also this group called the PPF, I don't exactly know how much they were involved, but I know they were on the striking workers' side and opposed to Halsey.
Mcneil: I see.
Hart: Do you seriously not know anything about the Bleeding Forties?
Mcneil: Nope.
Hart: Wow. I mean, wow. My grandpa used to tell me stories about that time, about how terrifying it was to live in Maryland back then, especially if you lived anywhere close to Piscataquah. He used to tell me how for a while it felt like the only things the people on the news could every say were "Governor Halsey" and "the PPF." He told me how scared he was as a child because he thought armed men from the PPF could break into their house one night and kidnap him and his brothers and his sister. It's… It's just insane to me that you've never heard of any of this in your entire life.
Mcneil: Like I said, history was never my strong suit. You're right, I should just read a book about it or something. Or talk to your grandpa. I don't know, I'm… I'm sorry I brought it up.
Hart: My grandpa also used to say our history textbooks are all full of shit.
Mcneil: I'm sorry?
Hart: He used to say schools didn't tell us the truth, he said the protests happening in Piscataquah at that time were much, much bigger and much more violent than what was being told to us. And I think he was right. I mean, we were never told how many people died or how many were injured, we were only told those things happened and that was it. And my grandpa, my grandpa's voice used to shake whenever he talked about the PPF and you could almost taste the venom in his words in your mouth whenever he mentioned Halsey's name.
Mcneil: I guess you have to have lived in that era to truly understand what happened. (pause) Say, Zoe, who did you say the governor of Piscataquah was in 1949?
Hart: I just told you, it was Halsey. Corwin T. Halsey.
Mcneil: Right. And who's the governor of Piscataquah now?
Hart: Some guy named Corwin Halsey. I think. It was him the last time I checked.
Mcneil: And this is a different Corwin Halsey, right?
Hart: Obviously, that's — (pause) Hold on, no.
Mcneil: I mean, a man can't be governor for over seventy years. It has to be a different Corwin Halsey.
Hart: No, that's not his name. It's… It's Aldous Ferry. Yeah. He's the current governor. But no, he was the governor before Halsey, he can't be —
Mcneil: It's fine if you don't know.
Hart: I do know, it's just… Where did this even come from? What does this even have anything to do with what we were talking about?
Mcneil: I don't know. I just got curious.
Hart: Yeah, yeah. You and your curiosity. Look, I'd like to stay and chat but I have to leave now. You should just type your question into google or something, my memory's a little messed up right now.
Mcneil: That's fine. Take care.
Hart: Yeah, you too.
Addendum 8636-2: Following is an excerpt from an interview with Corwin Tristan Halsey conducted on 10/01/2023.
Dr. Amrani: So, you've never heard of a place called Piscataquah?
Halsey: I haven't. I don't think I could even spell it correctly if you asked me to.
Amrani: And do the years 1945 or 1949 have any significance for you?
Halsey: I was born in 1949. What's the point of this?
Amrani: And you've also never heard of a place called Averys Landing, I assume?
Halsey: I…
Amrani: Hello? Have you or have you not heard of a place called Averys Landing, Mr. Halsey?
Halsey: When I go to sleep or doze off I sometimes have this nightmare in which I can still hear all the screaming and shouting outside.
Amrani: What? What nightmares?
Halsey: It's been so long since it started happening that I don't even get scared anymore. But I still don't understand. In the dream I'm in my office, looking at the windows, and the curtains are closed, so I can't see what's outside. But I can hear them, hundreds, maybe thousands all chanting my name at the same time. I can't tell if the voices are angry or happy, but they're calling to me. I want to open the curtains, to see what's outside but my body just won't move out of the chair I'm sitting in. Something beyond the curtains is glowing very brightly, so I avert my eyes and look at the plaque sitting on my desk. It says Governor. Governor Halsey. But it can't be. I'm not a serious politician, never have been. I'm an actor, I act. And I can feel myself sweating, I can feel my clothes getting drenched and everything feels so warm for some reason. And then I wake up.
Amrani: What does this have to do with Averys Landing?
Halsey: I don't know. I've never been there.
Amrani: So you know where it is?
Halsey: No. I assumed you did.
Amrani: Are you alright, Mr. Halsey?
Halsey: I don't think I am. And I think I'm done with this interview. I'm tired of you making stuff up and asking me if I know anything about them. I'm done.
Amrani: Well, that's it then. It was nice talking to you.
Halsey: And by the way, tell Edgar I'm sorry, despite everything.
Amrani: Who's Edgar?
Halsey: You don't work for Edgar? Nevermind then. Nevermind.
Addendum 8636-3: Corwin Tristan Halsey was shot and killed in front of his house on 17 January 2023 by 31-year-old Owen Hunt. Halsey was 74 years old at the time of his death. The police later stated Hunt was under the influence of prolintanone at the time of the crime. A notebook with a thick, black cover was found in Hunt's possession immediately after the murder. Every page other than the final page of this notebook were filled with nothing but repetitions of the sentence: "Corwin Halsey is a commie bastard." The final page of the notebook has been given the designation Document-8636-005.
Owen Hunt is currently classified by the SCP Foundation as D-7794 and has denied being the author of Document-8636-005.