Editing Worcester County, Maryland (section)

==History==
Worcester County was created by the division of the formerly larger [[Eastern Shore of Maryland|Eastern Shore's]] [[Somerset County, Maryland|Somerset County]] in 1742. The [[county seat]], which was previously located near the confluence of [[Dividing Creek (Maryland)|Dividing Creek]] with the [[Pocomoke River]], was later transferred to the river port of [[Snow Hill, Maryland|Snow Hill]], at the [[head of navigation]] of the Pocomoke, now near the center of the new county.

Both the areas of Somerset and Worcester Counties were divided into old colonial divisions of [[Hundred (country subdivision)|"hundreds"]], from south to north: [[Mattapony]], Pocomoke, Boquetenorton, Wicomico, and Baltimore Hundreds. Later subdivisions of these hundreds added Pitts Creek, Acquango, Queponco, and Buckingham & Worcester Hundreds, all of which in turn eventually became [[election district]]s for the newly independent state following American independence. [[Penn–Calvert Boundary Dispute|Competing territorial claims]] between the Proprietor family of the [[Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore|Calverts]] and the Lords Baltimore in the old [[Province of Maryland]] and the [[William Penn|Penns]] of the neighboring [[Province of Pennsylvania]] to the north and of what later became the state of [[Delaware Colony|Delaware]] to the east led to the surveying of Worcester County's northern border, the "[[Transpeninsular Line]]" in 1751, though boundary disputes continued through the rest of the colonial period, not totally settled until the work of the famous [[Charles Mason]] and [[Jeremiah Dixon]] with their "[[Mason–Dixon line]]". In 1779, [[Stephen Decatur]], the famous [[United States Navy]] officer and hero of the [[First Barbary War]] and the [[Second Barbary War]] in the early 1800s, and leading into the [[War of 1812]], was born at [[Sinepuxent, Maryland|Sinepuxent]], near what is today the town of [[Berlin, Maryland|Berlin]].

Originally settled by European immigrants of [[British people|British]] and [[Irish people|Irish]] stock, along with [[Atlantic slave trade|slaves of mainly West African descent]], Worcester County was divided during the colonial period into several [[Church of England]] [[parishes]], though [[Quakers]], [[Presbyterians]], and later [[Methodists]] also set up meeting houses. Like the [[Border states (American Civil War)|border states]] in general, Worcester County had a high proportion of [[free people of color]] for many decades before the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], due in part to the influence of initially [[Quakerism]], and later [[Methodism]]. During the 1840s and 1850s, Worcester County, Maryland had the highest portion of [[free people of color]] per capita out of any county in Maryland. It was one of the few counties in the state with an active abolitionist movement. Most abolitionists in the county were [[Methodism|Methodists]], [[Quakers]] and [[Presbyterians]], however the slave-owning community was overwhelmingly [[Baptist]] and [[Catholic]]. First-generation immigrants from [[England]] and [[Germany]] were also overwhelmingly abolitionists in Worcester County. During the civil war in Worcester County first generation immigrants from [[England]] and [[Germany]] were known for siding with the [[United States of America|Union]] whereas first generation [[Irish people|Irish Catholic]] immigrants from [[Ireland]] overwhelmingly sided with the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] and were known for being some of the leaders of the [[Copperhead (politics)|Copperheads or "Peace Democrats"]] in Worcester County.<ref>A History of Worcester County, Maryland by Sandra Harrison, 1958 - pg. 10</ref>

Worcester County was primarily an agricultural area from its inception, first planting [[tobacco]], but when the quality produced in the area's sandy soil could not compete with that produced elsewhere, they began growing wheat, corn, and livestock. Early industrial activity included the smelting of [[bog iron]] ore in a brick blast furnace to make pig iron at [[Furnace Town Living Heritage Museum|Furnacetown]] in the first half of the 19th century. The presence of large [[Taxodium distichum|bald cypress]] swamps along the Pocomoke River led to logging, the manufacture of [[Wood shingle|roofing shingles]], and [[shipbuilding]] along the river at Newtown (later [[Pocomoke City, Maryland|Pocomoke City]]). The arrival of steam-powered water transport and then the railroad opened urban markets to another of Worcester County's principal products: [[seafood]], particularly [[shellfish]]. Oysters, clams, and crabs were shipped to [[Baltimore]], [[Philadelphia]], and [[New York City|New York]]. Soon after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] (to each side of which Worcester County sent soldiers), parts of both Worcester and Somerset Counties were combined to create, in 1867, [[Wicomico County, Maryland|Wicomico County]]. Also in the later 19th century, the seaside resort of [[Ocean City, Maryland|Ocean City]] was founded.

[[Truck farming]] and the [[canning]] industry came to the fore during the early 20th century. However, both the [[Fishing industry|seafood industry]] and truck farming declined after mid-century, due to overfishing on the one hand, and the opening of [[California]]'s [[Central Valley (California)#Agriculture|Central Valley]] to irrigated agriculture on the other, but the advent of the large-scale [[Chicken#Chickens in agriculture|poultry industry]] filled this gap. The expansion of Ocean City since the 1960s has turned the northern part of the county from a summer resort to an expanding year-round community.

Two major storms influenced the course of Worcester County history in the 20th Century: the [[1933 Chesapeake Potomac hurricane|hurricane of August 1933]], which badly damaged Ocean City and [[Public Landing, Maryland|Public Landing]], but also cut the Ocean City Inlet and passageway between the inner bays west of the sandy barrier islands of [[Assawoman Bay]], [[Sinepuxent Bay]] and [[Assateague Channel|Assateague Channel and Bay]] and the [[Atlantic Ocean]], and the later [[Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962|Ash Wednesday "Nor'easter" of 1962]], which destroyed much of the residential development on [[Assateague Island]] and led to the creation of the [[Assateague Island National Seashore|National Seashore]] and [[Assateague State Park|State Park]].

The county has a number of properties on the [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Worcester County, Maryland|National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2008a}}</ref>