WORCESTER COUNTY, MARYLAND

HISTORICAL CHRONOLOGY

1524, April. Giovanni de Verrazano (1485-1528), Florentine explorer, led French expedition that explored Worcester County coast.

1608, June. Capt. John Smith sailed up Wicomico River to present-day Pocomoke City.

1659. "Seaside War" against Assateagues by Col. Edward Scarborough of Virginia.

1662. Treaty with Assateagues and Nanticoke.

1668. Surveyors marked Maryland-Virginia boundary line using large trees near present-day Pocomoke City.

1678, June 16. Treaty between Maryland and Assateague Emperor Amonugus ordered Assateagues onto five reservations along Pocomoke River.

1684. Presbyterians under Francis Makemie built church at Snow Hill, first in colonies.

1686. Indian reservation laid out at Askiminokonson, largest Indian town in Maryland, near Snow Hill.

1722, Oct. 22. Treaty with Assateagues and Pocomoke.

1742. Treaty with Assateagues.

1742. Worcester County erected from part of Somerset County; named after Mary Arundel, wife of Sir John Somerset, son of Henry Somerset, 1st Marquess of Worcester. Mary Arundel was a sister of Lady Anne Arundell (1615-1649), wife of Cecelius Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore.

1743. First Courthouse completed at Snow Hill.

1777, Feb. 6. Continental Congress, sitting in Baltimore, ordered Baltimore Town Battalion of militia to Eastern Shore, to suppress loyalist activities in Somerset and Worcester Counties.

1779, Jan. 5. Stephen Decatur (1779-1820), U.S. Navy Commodore, born at Sinepuxent.

1812. Snow Hill incorporated.

1830. Nassawango Iron Furnace built by Maryland Iron Company near Snow Hill to make iron from bog ore.

1834, Nov. 24. Fire destroyed Courthouse and much of Snow Hill.

1836. Second Courthouse built at Snow Hill.

1845, Feb. 8. John Walter Smith (1845-1925), Governor of Maryland, born in Snow Hill.

1849. Nassawango Iron Furnace closed.

1861, Oct. 31 - 1862, Feb. William Henry Purnell (1826-1902) of Worcester County organized and commanded Purnell Legion, Union forces, serving on Eastern Shore.

1865, March 21. New Town incorporated (present-day Pocomoke City).

1867. Wicomico County created from parts of Somerset and Worcester counties.

1868. Berlin incorporated.

1875, July 4. Atlantic Hotel opened, first hotel in Ocean City.

1876. Railroad/carriage trestle crossed Sinepuxent Bay at Ocean City.

Charles Albert Tindley poster, Berlin Welcome Cennter, 14 South Main St., Berlin, Maryland, June 2018. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

1878. U.S. Life-Saving Service established at Ocean City.

1880. Ocean City incorporated.

1882-1883. Courthouse underwent renovations.

1894. Third Courthouse completed at Snow Hill.

1899, Oct. 26. William Julius (Judy) Johnson (1899-1989), first African American elected to Baseball Hall of Fame, born in Snow Hill.

Worcester County Courthouse, One West Market St., Snow Hill, Maryland, June 2018. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

1910. Permanent Boardwalk constructed at Ocean City.

1933. Chesapeake-Potomac Hurricane cut inlet at Ocean City.

1956. Assateague State Park established.

1962, March 6-8. Powerful northeaster, known as Ash Wednesday Storm, flooded Ocean City.

Feral horse [Assateague horse], Assateague Island National Park Seashore, Berlin, Maryland, May 2018. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

1971. First high-rise condominium, Ocean City.

2004, March 2. Electronic voting system used during primary elections at polling places and for absentee ballots in all counties and Baltimore City.

Feral horse [Assateague horse], Assateague Island National Park Seashore, Berlin, Maryland, October 2016. Photo by Sarah A. Hanks.

Ocean Downs Casino, Berlin, Maryland, June 2018. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

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