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Hotel Specials

Salisbury, Maryland boasts affordable accommodations, quaint bed and breakfasts and unique attractions that will make your visit to Wicomico County one to remember! Below you'll find lodging information for hotels offering special rates for readers of our Visitors E-mail Newsletter

Country Inn & Suites
By Carlson
Spring is here. Jump into Country Inn & Suites by Carlson with Powerhouse Gym. You will receive a 3 day pass to Powerhouse and your choice of room (subject to availability). Just ask for the Power Package at 410-742-2688 or book online at www.countryinns.com.

Sleep Inn
Spring Fever! Call us at 410-572-5516 for a weekend away from home. Let us know if it is a special event and our staff will work their magic.

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Wicomico Festivals

5th Annual Pork in the Park BBQ Festival

Poodle Club of America Annual Specialty Breed Dog Show

Participants from all over the United States and several different foreign countries will be converging on the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center for the 76th National Specialty Dog Show to be held on April 21- 25th.

This event, being held in Salisbury again this year, brings over 6,000 people into our area for the week long event. There will be special events, seminars and testing throughout the week. Below you will find a schedule of events.

If you love poodles or are just interested in seeing how a national competition works make plans to visit us during the event!

For more information log onto the Poodle Club of America website at poodleclubofamerica.org.

Wicomico County's 'Old' Courthouse
by Sylvia Bradley

Almost in the exact middle of "downtown" Salisbury are the buildings in which the business of being county seat of Wicomico County is conducted. Of these, on the corner of Main and Division, sits the original courthouse built to serve the brand new county created in the aftermath of the Civil War. In fact, this structure, still in use for County business, reflects the confused and heated state of politics following the "War Between the States."

When the war began in 1861 the Governor and legislative leaders sympathetic to the Union managed to prevent the state from seceding, despite the fact that slavery was legal and fairly widespread in Southern Maryland and Eastern Shore Counties. Sympathy for the Confederacy was so strong in the lower Eastern Shore that Union troops were stationed in Salisbury during most of the War, especially guarding the railroad terminus that had just reached the town in 1860.

Many sentiments remained opposed to the Union and while the War raged, in 1864 state Democrat leaders forced the calling of a Convention to write a new State Constitution designed to end slavery and strip Republicans of political power. Little wonder that at the end of the War a new movement led to the calling of another Constitutional Convention which produced yet another state constitution in 1867. In addition to affirming the state's end of slavery and establishing free public education at the elementary level, the new Constitution also called for the creation of a new Maryland county - Wicomico. Salisbury was to be the county seat and sat in the middle of the territory which took land from both Somerset and Worcester Counties.

The chief north-south road through the city was called "Division" Street because it had been the dividing line between Somerset and Worcester Counties. Residents of the town to the west of the street had had to go to Princess Anne for any legal business, while those to the east had to travel to Snow Hill. Obviously, residents of the town loved the idea of a new government base in their own city.

There had been some opposition to this, however, even in what was to be the new county. One of the chief arguments was monetary - who was going to build the buildings and finance the bureaucracy and infrastructure a new county would call for? A local leader in the pro-county fight, Col. William J. Leonard, promised to set the example by donating from his own money for these needs. Still, in the years immediately after creation of the new county and county seat little was done to begin construction of a court house and jail. Leonard did come forth with $1,000 in 1871, but there is little evidence few, if any, others did so. Even the location of the new building was unsettled. Make- shift facilities served the courts and legal offices until 1875.

Some real efforts to build a courthouse were begun at that point. The County Commissioners passed legislation to buy a site for court house and jail. The choice was the "old Hotel property," otherwise known as the old Byrd Tavern site (also as Tracy's Hotel or Peninsular Hotel owned by John and Ann Tracy). The property sat between Division St. and Thomas Humphrey's Mill Pond (which later disappeared in 1909 when the dam broke). The land cost $7,000. Ironically, local legend had it that the Byrd Tavern, which was to be torn down to make way for the courthouse, was formerly the site of the slave market in town. Another story was that it had been the telegraph communications center during the Civil War handling messages between Washington and the North. Still, not a brick was laid.

In 1878, eleven years after the creation of the County, the legislature authorized construction and a contract was awarded to a Baltimore firm for $24,400. The county also had earlier been authorized to levy $40,000 in taxes for the new building but it had never done that. So once more some affluent citizens came forward with offers of loans to get started, but talk, as they say, is cheap. Only Col. Wm. J. Leonard once more actually produced cash - $5,000. When that was spent the contractors stopped work! Finally, County officials borrowed money from a Milford, Delaware bank to complete the court house. The next year the jail was built, though it is not certain whether this was done with borrowed funds or taxes. An extensive addition and interior alterations were made in 1905 and again in1936, but the exterior was unchanged.

Visitors can't miss the building today. Its Victorian Gothic style is in great contrast to other newer government buildings beside and behind it, and it still is the visual focus of downtown Salisbury. It was built of dark red brick with narrow dark mortar joints above a granite basement. Black brick panels set in saw- tooth pattern gave it a decorative effect. On the front of the building, on the west end, the two corners are marked with towers. The northern town is topped with a square bell cote and the south tower with a weathervane. This "Old Courthouse" remains a very tangible link with Salisbury in its adolescence.

Spend a Weekend in April Antiquing!
Wicomico County has plenty of antique stores to keep you busy.

Planning A Visit to Wicomico County?

Gearing Up for the 2008 Wicomico County Visitors Guide!

The 2008 Visitor's Guide has been sent to print. This year's guide highlights some of Salisbury's most exciting attractions, hotels and restaurants. 2008 guides will be available by mid-March.

Call 1-800-332-TOUR to request your guide today.

Don't forget to stop by the Visitors Center while you're in town. The center is conveniently located on Rt. 13 North in Salisbury, and is open seven days a week. Visit www.wicomicotourism.org or call 1-800-332- TOUR.