Wicomico and Pocomoke Railroad

For the 20th and 21st century companies that used this railroad, see Pennsylvania Railroad, Maryland and Delaware Railroad, and Norfolk Southern Railway.
Wicomico and Pocomoke Railroad
Wicomico & Pocomoke Railroad
Overview
HeadquartersBerlin, Maryland
LocaleMaryland, United States
Dates of operation1848–1890
SuccessorBaltimore and Eastern Shore Railroad Company
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
ElectrificationNo
Length23 miles (37 km)

The Wicomico and Pocomoke Railroad (W&P), was a railroad that ran 23 miles (37.0 km) from Salisbury, Maryland to Berlin, Maryland from 1868 to 1890, and extended to Ocean City in 1870. At Salisbury, it connected to the Eastern Shore Railroad (ESR). It was chartered in 1848, started construction in 1867 and began operation in 1868. In 1890 it was purchased by the Baltimore and Eastern Shore Railroad.

The only portion that remains in service today is the 3.65-mile (5.87 km) long Willards Industrial Track, the 0.65-mile (1.05 km) Mardella Industrial Track and the 0.6-mile (0.97 km) Mill Street Industrial Track - all in Salisbury, Maryland - operated by Delmarva Central Railroad on track owned by Norfolk Southern Railroad.

History

The Wicomico and Pocomoke Railroad was incorporated on February 15, 1848 to connect Salisbury, Maryland/the Wicomico River and Berlin, Maryland/the Pocomoke River, a distance of 23 miles, but no progress was made and the charter expired.[1][2]

In 1860, the ESR built a rail line south from Delmar, DE to Salisbury and as a result the W&P charter was revived in 1864 and funds were allocated for construction.[3]. In 1866 the ESR extended their line south to Crisfield, Maryland.

The W&P began construction on the line to Berlin began in 1867 under the leadership of Dr. H. R. Pitts, the company's president, and completed it in May 1868.[4][2][5] One of the original investors, Col. Lemuel Showell of Berlin, later became the company's president.[6]

In 1869-1870, the line was extended ~0.75 miles west to the wharves along the Wicomico River and across the river on a new bridge, which aided in the shipment of lumber and grain to Baltimore.[7][8]

In 1871, the Worcester Railroad began construction on a branch from Berlin to Snow Hill, Maryland, on the Pocomoke river which opened in 1872.[2]

The Wicomico & Pocomoke Railroad inclusive of its interests in the bridge into Ocean City, operated by its subsidiary, Ocean City Bridge Company, was sold to the newly organized Baltimore & Eastern Shore railroad in 1888.[2][9]

In 1874, the W&P began construction of an extension east from Berlin to Ocean City to bring travelers to the Atlantic Hotel, which opened on July 4, 1875. By early 1875 they had reached Hammock Point on the shore of Sinepuxent Bay just opposite of Ocean City but a bridge to town would not be completed until 1881.[10] Travelers to the hotel could leave Baltimore in the evening by steamship to Crisfield and then by rail on the ESR and W&P and reach the hotel by early morning.[11]

Two years later in 1876, the Ocean City Bridge Company built a pivot bridge across Sinepuxent Bay, from Hammock Point to Ocean City, which the railroad could cross for direct access to the hotel; others paid a toll.[12][13] This remained the only bridge into the city until the state built an auto bridge in 1919.[2]

In 1876 the Worcester railroad expanded their line north to Selbyville, on the Delaware state line, where it connected to the Breakwater and Frankford Railroad (B&F), which had built a line south from Georgetown to Selbyville in 1874.[14][2]

In 1883, the Junction and Breakwater railroad (J&B), the B&F and the Worcester railroads merged to form the Delaware, Maryland and Virginia Railroad (DMVR). [15] [2]

In 1886 investors incorporated the Baltimore and Eastern Shore Railroad (B&ES) to build a pair of lines, one on each side of the Chesapeake, to shorten the trip between Baltimore and Ocean City by connecting Claiborne on the SChesapeake to the W&P at Salisbury. Work on the Eastern shore began in 1899.[16] In June of 1890, before the line was even finished, the B&ES and the W&P agreed to merge along with the Bay Ridge and Annapolis Railroad (which owned the terminals at Bay Ridge and Claiborne) to create one railroad of over 100 miles long. The first section of the B&ES from Salisbury to Vienna, Maryland opened two days later on July 4th.[17]

Route

The railroad started in Salisbury on the Wicomico River and then headed east, crossing over the ESR, and then on to Walston's Switch, Parsonsburg, Pittsville, Hancock, Whaleyville, St. Martins and finally Berlin.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Laws of Maryland" (PDF). Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Hayman, John C. Rails Along the Chesapeake: A History of Railroading on the Delmarva Peninsula, 1827–1978. Marvadel Publishers, 1979.
  3. ^ "AN ACT to revive and extend an act to incorporate the Wicomico and Pocomoke Railroad Company, with amendment passed at the December session, eighteen hundred and forty-seven". Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  4. ^ "The Wicomico and Pocomoke Railroad". The Baltimore Sun. 22 April 1868.
  5. ^ University of Virginia (July 24, 1931). "E. Shore Railroads Had Dramatic Start". Onancock, Va.: Eastern Shore News.
  6. ^ Jacob, J. E., Carter, J., & Wainwright, E. (2000). Worcester county. Charleston, SC: Arcadia.
  7. ^ "Railroad Extension on the Eastern Shore". The Baltimore Sun. 20 November 1869.
  8. ^ "EXTENSION OF THE WICOMICO AND POCOMOKE RAILROAD". The Baltimore Sun. 7 March 1870.
  9. ^ Interstate Commerce Commission Reports, Volume 31, Valuation Reports, Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States, October, 1929-July, 1930
  10. ^ "Letter From the Eastern Shore". The Baltimore Sun. 28 January 1875.
  11. ^ "THE EASTERN SHORE RAILWAY". The Baltimore Sun. 12 June 1875.
  12. ^ Proceedings and Acts of the Maryland General Assembly, 1876, Volume 199, Page 23, Accessed at [1] an information resource of the Maryland State Archives
  13. ^ "THE MARYLAND SEASIDE: Letter from Ocean City". The Baltimore Sun. 16 August 1876.
  14. ^ "Worcester History". Retrieved 3 January 2025.
  15. ^ Proceedings and Acts of the Maryland General Assembly, 1882, Volume 418, Page 371, Accessed at [2] an information resource of the Maryland State Archives
  16. ^ Interstate Commerce Commission reports. decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States / reported by the Commission. United States. Washington : U.S. G.P.O. : 1929–1965. [3] Accessed at HaithTrust
  17. ^ "A THROUGH LINE NOW". The Baltimore Sun. 2 July 1890.
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