Down the West SidePeople, places, churches, land, family history, and community memory along western Wicomico.Watermen of Wicomico CountyWorking water, boats, fisheries, families, Black watermen, and generations of local knowledge.Luther Franklin MezickAn illustrated biography of the evangelist, gospel singer, composer, temperance lecturer, and political activist.
History collection
Articles and historical material
Source attributions are preserved on the individual pages. Contributed narratives may include family tradition or interpretations that researchers should verify against original records.
Towns and communities
- Down the West Side A richly illustrated, people-centered history of the linked lower West Side communities, their waterways, farms, churches, schools, businesses, Black and white residents, and family stories.
- Wetipquin, Maryland Betty Murrell's short history of Wetipquin, its seventeenth-century land records, river trade, churches, and early families.
- Mardela Springs J. Howard Adkins on the early settlement, medicinal springs, transportation, businesses, and development of Mardela Springs.
- Quantico Elizabeth Phillips Myers' 1938 account of Quantico, its early settlement, transportation routes, churches, trades, and local traditions.
- Salisbury - How It Began Maria Ellegood's 1923 sketch of the beginnings and early development of Salisbury.
- Spring Hill Elizabeth Phillips Myers on Spring Hill Chapel, Old St. Giles, Rockawalkin Presbyterian Church, and the surrounding historic landscape.
- Barren Creek Springs Elizabeth Phillips Myers on Barren Creek Springs, the old post road, local land tracts, medicinal springs, and early community history.
- White Haven An excerpt from John E. Jacob, Jr. on White Haven's ferry, shipbuilding, hotel, river commerce, and preservation history.
- Bivalve, Maryland An account of Bivalve and its river-centered life, excerpted with permission from Paul Willing's Bivalve United Methodist Church centennial history.
- Sharptown An excerpt from John E. Jacob, Jr.'s pictorial history describing Sharptown's boatbuilding, commerce, transportation, and growth.
- Hebron Eric Ruark's history of Hebron, including the railroad, lumber and basket industries, businesses, churches, and community life.
Churches and religious history
- Bivalve Methodist Church The story of the church at Bivalve, excerpted with permission from Paul Willing's 1886-1986 centennial history.
- Early Roots of Methodism on the West Side Paul Willing's account of early Methodism in western Wicomico County, beginning with Francis Asbury and Freeborn Garrettson.
- The Quantico Circuit Material transcribed from the Quantico Circuit Methodist Episcopal Church record book, including early Methodist history and ministers.
People, families and everyday life
- Luther Franklin Mezick: Illustrated Biography The life of Wicomico County native Luther Franklin Mezick (1869–1917), Methodist evangelist, gospel singer, composer, temperance lecturer, and Prohibition Party activist, illustrated with family photographs, church records, sheet music, newspaper clippings, and his gravestone.
- The Adkins Family of Wicomico A family manuscript compiled in 1965 by Lura Bacon Winings, tracing branches of the Adkins family from Wicomico County into Ohio and Illinois.
- John Nelms Store Accounts of Salisbury Surnames A-C and debts due to Robert Handy's estate. Material from John E. Jacob, Jr.'s transcription and study of surviving eighteenth-century Salisbury store ledgers, including surnames A-C.
Landmarks and local life
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Letters and Written Artifacts
Four transcribed items are currently available. Additional family papers and written artifacts can be added as they are contributed.
- Carrie Robertson Mezick’s Autograph Book Verses, signatures, family connections, and courtship from a book used chiefly during the 1880s and early 1890s.
- A Witch and Some Old Remedies Etha Parsons Yohe remembers Parsonsburg folklore, a supposed witch, and traditional home remedies from her childhood.
- Trouble in Old Stepney Parish Covington Mezick’s 1807 letter to the Stepney Parish vestry explaining why he withdrew from communion.
- A Glimpse at Life in Old Tyaskin Anna Larmore recalls family, steamboats, mail delivery, farming, trade, and everyday life around Tyaskin and White Haven.
Have Wicomico history to share?
Original local-history articles, transcriptions, corrections, and source material are welcome. Please include your source information whenever possible.