Free genealogy and local history

Welcome to Wicomico County

Explore records, cemetery transcriptions, maps, photographs, books, local history, and research resources for Wicomico County and Maryland’s Lower Eastern Shore.

Wicomico County was created in 1867 from portions of Somerset and Worcester Counties. Because this area was once part of “Old Somerset,” researchers with Wicomico roots will often find useful records on neighboring Lower Shore sites as well.

Research Wicomico

The main collections are gathered here so you can get where you are going without hunting through a long list of links.

Records Transcribed Historical Records Census material, deeds, family Bibles, wills, petitions, and other records. Cemeteries Paul J. Willing Cemeteries Project Gravestone transcriptions and cemetery information from across Wicomico County. Maps 1877 Atlas Historic election district maps from the Lake, Griffing and Stevenson atlas. Maps Map Collection Historic, land grant, Lower Shore, and other maps useful to Wicomico research. Census Wicomico Census Images Browse census resources and images for Wicomico County. Local History Wicomico History Stories Articles, stories, and background on communities and people of the county. Artifacts Letters and Written Artifacts Historic correspondence and other written material preserved online. Research Help Libraries, Societies and Resources Local repositories, organizations, online collections, and research tools.

Worth a Look

A few especially useful corners of the site and the wider Lower Shore genealogy community.

Historic maps

1877 maps meet the modern landscape

Use rectified atlas maps to compare old roads, property patterns, communities, and election districts with today’s geography.

Open a rectified map

Community

LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS Forum

Post a query, share surnames, compare notes, or just say hello to other researchers with roots on the Lower Delmarva Peninsula.

Visit the forum

Photos and postcards

Lower Delmarva Family Album

Browse a growing collection of old family photographs, postcards, places, and people from across the Lower Shore.

Browse the album

A little orientation

About Wicomico County

Wicomico sits on Maryland’s Lower Eastern Shore between the Chesapeake Bay country to the west and the Atlantic coastal counties to the east. Salisbury is the county seat, but the county also includes farming communities, river villages, fishing towns, and places whose history reaches back well before Wicomico County itself existed.

For earlier families, remember to search Somerset and Worcester County records. The boundaries changed over time, but the families, waterways, roads, churches, and communities did not neatly change with them.

County formed 1867
Parent counties Somerset and Worcester
County seat Salisbury
Region Maryland’s Lower Eastern Shore
Research tip Check Old Somerset records for pre-1867 ancestors

Books to Read Online

Full-text works and transcriptions with strong Lower Shore value.

Store Accounts of John Nelms of Salisbury1758–1787 They Lived In Somerset17th-century Marylanders Maryland’s Colonial Eastern ShoreEastern Shore history Indians of the Eastern Shore of MarylandRegional history

More Research Connections

Additional links are grouped below to keep the home page easy to scan.

Neighboring county genealogy sites

MDGenWeb and USGenWeb resources

Additional Wicomico research pages

Questions, corrections, or something to share?

If you spot a broken link, have a correction, or know of a Wicomico County resource that belongs here, please get in touch.

Shari Handley, Wicomico County MDGenWeb Coordinator · wicomico at mdgenweb dot org

Please note: I am unable to accept requests for personal genealogy research, but I am always glad to hear about useful records and resources that can help other researchers.