Worcester County Court House

Maryland Historical Society

Worcester County (estimated population 2005 48,750; 2002 43,543) is located on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and is the state’s only seaside county, framed on the east side by the Atlantic Ocean. It is located on the Delmarva Peninsula, which is formed by the state of Delaware and the eastern shores of Maryland and Virginia. It is home to Ocean City, a popular resort destination, as well as Assateague Island National Seashore and State Park. A herd of wild ponies inhabits the barrier islands that form the Assateague Island Parks. These ponies were immortalized in the children’s book Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry.

History and Government
Captain John Smith and Giovanni de Verazanno explored the land that would become Worcester County. Prior to European colonization, the area was home to Native Americans of the Algonquian Nation and included the large village of Askminokonson. Worcester County was officially formed in 1742 after being divided from neighboring Somerset County. The earliest European settlement was the city of Snow Hill, settled in 1642, which sits along the Pocomoke River. The monarchs William and Mary of England named Snow Hill a Royal Port in 1693 and it grew as a shipping and shipbuilding hub. Snow Hill serves as the county seat.

Worcester County has been under the “Code Home Rule” form of government since 1976. Code Home Rule is one of two types of home rule exercised by counties in Maryland. It allows a greater number of local legislative decisions to be made by the county’s board of commissioners instead of by Maryland legislators in Annapolis. The Worcester County board of commissioners is elected by voters for four-year terms, and there is one commissioner for each of the seven districts in the county.

Geography and Climate
Geographically, Worcester County is formed of flatlands and is bordered by the barrier islands of the Atlantic coast. The elevation varies from sea level to 65 feet above sea level. The climate of Worcester County is temperate, with temperatures generally 10 to 15 degrees cooler in the summer and warmer in winter than Baltimore, due to the effects of the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay. The county encompasses 475 square miles, of which only 3 percent are developed.

The barrier islands, which stretch along the coast line and include Ocean City and Assateague Island, geographically protect the mainland from damage by coastal storms. Visitors can experience the ecosystem of an undeveloped barrier island at the Assateague Island National Seashore and State Park. The island’s dunes and beach grass help protect the beaches from erosion. While the wild ponies are the area’s best known animals, the protected areas are also home to white-tailed deer, ghost crabs, piping plovers, great egrets, and the northern diamondback terrapin, Maryland’s state reptile.

Water and wetlands form 30 percent of the county’s area. The Pocomoke River, a tributary of Chesapeake Bay, is one of the deepest North American rivers for its length. The river is home to a vast amount of wildlife, which is protected in the Pocomoke River State Forest and Park. Wildlife includes bald eagles, river otters, box turtles, and cypress trees, the tannins from which give the river its distinctive brown color. The word “Pocomoke” means dark water in the Algonquian language.

Industry
While geography influences economic development, agriculture has been a major industry since the colonial era. Today, poultry is the primary agricultural product. Poultry companies such as Perdue and Tyson are major employers, though today less than 5 percent of the county’s workforce is farmers. Bordered by bays and the Atlantic Ocean, Worcester County has long supported a seafood industry, including the catching of fish, Blue Crabs, and oysters. Today, tourism is the primary economic force, driven by Ocean City’s attractions, including its boardwalk and ten miles of public beaches. During the summer, Ocean City balloons to become the state’s second most populous city after Baltimore.

Cultural Attractions
Numerous small museums are located within Worcester County. The Ocean City Lifesaving Station Museum on the boardwalk interprets the role of the beach patrol in the town’s history as well as other aspects of the resort’s past. Furnace Town Living Heritage Museum features an iron furnace from the early 1800s, and teaches visitors about the village that grew up around the furnace. The Julia A. Purnell Museum in Snow Hill, nicknamed “the attic of Worcester County,” holds a comprehensive collection of Worcester County artifacts as well as the needle art of namesake Julia A. Purnell (1843-1943).

Population and Demographics
Berlin, Ocean City, Pocomoke City, and Snow Hill are Worcester County’s main towns, but less than half the population resides inside an incorporated town. European Americans make up 81.2 percent of the population, with African Americans forming the largest minority group with 16.7 percent.

Notable People
Notable Worcester Countians include War of 1812 naval hero Commodore Stephen Decatur (1779-1820), who distinguished himself in several wars including the Second Barbary War, largely fought against pirates in the Mediterranean. Reverend Dr. Charles Albert Tindley (ca. 1855-1933) was born into slavery in Berlin, Md. and went on to become a preacher and composer. He is known as one of the founding fathers of American Gospel music. Also notable is folk artist and museum cofounder Julia A. Purnell (1843-1943), who is sometimes called the “Grandma Moses of needle art.”

Touart, Paul Baker. Along the Seaboard Side: The Architectural History of Worcester County, Maryland. Snow Hill, Md.: Worcester County, 1994.

Truitt, Reginald V. and Millard G. Les Callette. Worcester County, Maryland’s Arcadia. Snow Hill, Md.: Worcester County Historical Society, 1977.