Worcester County: Interesting Facts About the County,as given by the State Bureau of Statistics and Information

Worcester County was formed from Somerset County in 1742. Its area is 487 square miles, of which Synepuxent, Chincoteague, Isle of Wight, Assowoman and Newport Bays form about one-quarter part. The whole eastern boundary of the County is the Atlantic Ocean. A narrow strip of beach, ranging from one quarter of a mile to one mile in length, forms the coast and is separated from the mainland by the bays above mentioned. The narrowest part of the water is at Ocean City, Md., a prosperous seaside resort, where it is spanned by a bridge about one quarter of a mile in length. The widest part of the bay is just below Snow Hill, where it is about 8 miles from the east shore of the mainland to the western shore of the beach. Delaware is the northern and Virginia the southern boundary.

The population of the county is now over 21,000, and the assessed valuation of property for the county is $5,769,123, while the tax rate for 1905 was $1.00.

Snow Hill is the county seat, and for the past two or three years has been forging rapidly ahead, due to the growth of its manufacturing industries. Pocomoke is fourteen miles south of Snow Hill, and is connected therewith by the local packet line, also by the boats of the B. C. & A. Railway Company. Berlin, sixteen miles north of Snow Hill and eight miles west of Ocean City, is a the junction of the Delaware, Maryland and Virginia branch of P., B. & W. R. R., and the B. C. & A. Railway.

Thriving villages are Stockton and Girdletree, from each of which are shipped annually about 40,000 barrels of oysters, each of which contains a thriving bank, canning factory, and barrel factory, and also good schools and churches. Other growing villages are Newark, Bishopville, Whaleyville and Showells, each of which contain factories which are adding rapidly to the prosperity of the people.

The steady growth of Ocean City as a summer resort has made an excellent local market for truck, and the farmers on the mainland derive a large revenue therefrom.

The soil of Worcester County varies from a light sand to a heavy clay the majority being a splendid loam with some clay. The proximity of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Stream makes the climate temperate.

There are 1,987 farms in the county, according to the last census. Agriculture is one of the important industries of the county which abounds in the production of small fruits. The principal products of the farms are grain, wheat, and truck.

There are two large and prosperous nurseries in the county, those of J. G. Harrison & Sons, near Berlin and the W. M. Peters & Sons, near Wesley and Ironshire. From a modest beginning a few years ago, they have grown to large proportions and their goods are shipped all over the United States and to many foreign countries.

From the bays of the county are taken quantities of the finest oysters, and the revenue from these add materially to the prosperity of the county. Fish are also plentiful in the bays and the activity of the present Fish Commissioner for the Eastern Shore has done much for the future of the fishing interests throughout the county. At Ocean City deep sea fishing is an extensive industry. The total capital invested in this business amounts to $70,000, employing 125 men, to whom wages are annually paid amounting to $37,500. Besides these, there are a great many individual fishermen, who make their living by that means.

The banks of the county are the First National and the Commercial, at Snow Hill; the Pocomoke National, the Citizen's National and E. G. Polk's Savings Bank at Pocomoke City; the C. B. Taylor Banking Company, the private bank of L. L. Dirickson, Jr., the Exchange Savings Bank, at Berlin; the Stockton Bank, at Stockton, and the George L. Barnes & Company at Girdletree. The individual deposits subject to check, as shown by the last statements, aggregate over $1,450,000.

The Equitable Building and Loan Association of Snow Hill is now building a handsome home in Snow Hill, and will open a banking department soon.

Pocomoke City, Snow Hill and Ocean City have excellent electric light and water works systems. The lines of the Diamond State Telephone Company and the Pocomoke Telephone Company cover the county in every direction, and first-class town and county service is given by both companies, and through the Diamond State Telephone Company first-class long-distance service is also given.

There are five newspapers in the county: the Democratic Messenger at Snow Hill; the LEDGER-ENTERPRISE and Worcester Democrat, at Pocomoke City; the Berlin Herald and the Berlin Advance at Berlin.

The schools rank among the highest in the State. The religious denominations represented by churches are the Presbyterian, Protestant Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal, Methodist Protestant, Southern Methodist, Old School Baptists, the Disciples of Christ, New School Baptist and Roman Catholics. There are 86 white and 20 colored schools in the county. The county Court House is one of the handsomest on the Peninsula and was build around 1895 at a cost of about $35,000. The jail was built at the same time and thoroughly equipped.