The town of Snow Hill was founded on the Pocomoke River in 1642 by English settlers. A thriving ship-building industry was established there, and the town was designated a royal port by William and Mary of England— imported goods came through Snow Hill to be taxed. Exported goods included cypress lumber and tobacco.

When in 1742 the Houses of Assembly approved “An Act to Divide Somerset County and to Create a new County on the Seaboard Side by the name of Worcester,” the government seat of the new county was established at Snow Hill.

As Snow Hill gained economic importance, the Pocomoke River became more heavily traveled. Three-masted schooners called on the little port town, and later large steamboats offered overnight service to Norfolk and Baltimore. Hotels and boarding houses sprang up, and a lumber company dominated the waterfront. Stores for general merchandise, liveries, coopers, smiths, and wagon makers all took their living from the traffic plying the river.

After the Civil War, the railroad found its way along Maryland’s Eastern Shore, providing fast, inexpensive transportation of goods and passengers, and causing a steady decline in river traffic; the shipyards closed and the boarding houses became vacant. The people turned to the land and established a strong agricultural economy in corn, soybeans, and livestock. Today, agriculture remains the sustaining industry of Snow Hill.