Snow Hill, Maryland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Snow Hill is a town in Worcester County, Maryland, United States. The population was 2,409 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Worcester County^GR6.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 Notable Residents and Natives
5 Trivia
6 External links

[edit] History

Snow Hill was founded in 1686 by English settlers who may have named it after a street and neighborhood of the City of London called "Snow Hill." The town received its first charter on the October 26, 1686, and was made a port of entry in 1694.

Prior to 1742, when Worcester County was carved out of Somerset County and Snow Hill was made the county seat - Snow Hill had been a trading post and the head of navigation on the Pocomoke River.

Trade was the "engine" that drove commerce in the town and the Pocomoke River was the "highway". As the public came to trade, the residential population grew, businesses were established and churches and educational facilities were built. Prior to the turn of the twentieth century, Snow Hill resting on the banks of a navigable river, with its booming commerce became the business and cultural center of Worcester County. It became a town of gracious living, where merchants, bankers, farmers and sea captains built fine homes showing off their prosperity.

Snow Hill also became an attractive place for craft specialists, who became markedly successful not only because of the local population, but also due to the town's proximity to a navigable river which allowed both import and export of goods. Successful craft specialists prospered and as a result were able to afford lots of their own and the ability to build remarkable dwellings on those lots.

In 1893 a fire destroyed most all the commercial area of Snow Hill including the Court House. All of the buildings were rebuilt within the next two years, so the downtown area today contains primarily historic buildings with architectural design of the late nineteenth century.

Today, the Town of Snow Hill is a community of over 2400 residents with a combination of residential, commercial, rural and historical districts.

[edit] Geography

Snow Hill is located at 38°10′30″N, 75°23′27″W (38.175024, -75.390738)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 3.4 km² (1.3 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 2,409 people, 862 households, and 555 families residing in the town. The population density was 699.3/km² (1,806.2/mi²). There were 964 housing units at an average density of 279.9/km² (722.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 56.00% White, 42.34% African American, 0.08% Native American, 0.58% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.37% from other races, and 0.58% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.08% of the population.

There were 862 households out of which 28.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.6% were married couples living together, 20.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.5% were non-families. 31.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the town the population was spread out with 21.0% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 19.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 99.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.5 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $29,730, and the median income for a family was $38,657. Males had a median income of $25,439 versus $20,625 for females. The per capita income for the town was $15,560. About 14.8% of families and 15.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.5% of those under age 18 and 13.1% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Notable Residents and Natives

John Walter Smith, Congressman for Maryland 1st District, 1899-1900; 44th Governor of Maryland, 1900-1904; U.S. Senator, 1907-1919. Born in Snow Hill on Feb 5, 1845.
Ephraim King Wilson II, U.S. Senator, 1885-1891; Congressman for Maryland 1st District, 1873-1874. Born in Snow Hill on December 22, 1821.

[edit] Trivia

In 2001, some scenes of the Hollywood film, The Runaway Bride (starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere) were shot at the Snow Hill High School. The scenes at the baseball and football games were filmed behind the school.