A page from 1916's Maryland's Colonial Eastern Shore.

                                                                       

(View another page next Saturday here at The Pocomoke Public Eye.)

Pocomoke announcements-

 

City of Pocomoke

Pocomoke City Hall will be closed on Monday, October 13, 2025 in observance of Columbus Day.

Holiday Trash Route: 

Mon 10/13 picked up on Tues 10/14

Tues 10/14 picked up on Wed 10/15

State Board of Ed: Somerset schools-

(WBOC)

Two opinions issued by the Maryland State Board of Education Monday detail months of tension among the local board, the superintendent and the school community in Somerset County.

(View video news story:)

 Maryland Board of Education weighs in on local school 

(View printed news story:)

Maryland Board of Education weighs in on local school leadership | Latest News | wboc.com

Budget survey for Somerset schools-

 

SCPS FY27 Stakeholder Budget Survey: Please Respond by October 24, 2025

Somerset County Public Schools invites families, students, staff, and community members to share their input in the FY27 Stakeholder Budget Survey, now through October 24, 2025.

Your feedback will help guide the Somerset Board of Education in making decisions for the 2026–2027 school year budget.

The survey asks participants to identify budget priorities and share where additional funding is most needed.

Click the link below to participate in the survey:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf9qiIjx7eyOcGg50tFHJ3vmTsXqlDaWApQN-kycCWMZ_82lQ/viewform?pli=1&authuser=0

Meet and chat with Worcester Supt-

 

Country performers shine in OC!

 It was COUNTRY CALLING this past weekend in Ocean City. Among the performers were Carrie Underwood and Brooks & Dunn.

Megan Raymond Photos/Special To The Daily Times

We asked... (Westover POW Camp)

 

Tell me about the Prisoner of War Camp in Westover, Md.

The Prisoner of War (POW) camp in Westover, Maryland, was known as 

Camp Somerset. It held nearly 1,000 German POWs during World War II and was the largest permanent POW camp on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Today, the site is known as the Westover Labor Camp. 

History of Camp Somerset

• CCC camp: The site was originally built as a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp in 1935, which housed 270 men involved in area drainage and ditch projects.
• Army post: During the early years of World War II, it was converted into an army post headquarters, with a total of about 1,000 soldiers stationed there to guard the shoreline.
• POW camp: In 1944, the army soldiers were relocated, and the empty facility was repurposed to house German POWs and American guards.
• Post-war migrant camp: After the German POWs were repatriated in mid-1946, the camp was sold to the University of Maryland and soon became a migrant labor camp, which it remains today. 

Treatment and labor of POWs

• Work details: POWs from Camp Somerset were contracted out to local businesses to work on farms, in sawmills, and at meatpacking and canning plants throughout Somerset County. Some prisoners were also sent to work in neighboring Worcester County and housed in temporary branch camps.
• Fair conditions: According to local accounts and historical records, the prisoners were generally treated well, in accordance with the Geneva Convention. They received three meals a day and were reportedly content to work in America. One notable instance involved German POWs being confused by corn on the cob, as in their home country it was only used as livestock feed.
• Positive interactions: Though fraternization was technically against the rules, some prisoners and their supervisors had friendly relations, and some Germans were seen as model workers. 

Legacy of the camp

• German POWs: Some former German POWs maintained contact with the American families who employed them, with one writing to his former employer for food packets after the war.
• Migrant labor camp: Following the war, Camp Somerset, now known as the Westover Labor Camp, gained notoriety for its harsh and squalid living conditions. Despite recent improvements, it has long been known as one of the largest and most infamous labor camps on the Eastern Shore, attracting migrants from across the Americas.
• Modern development: In 2007, a portion of the former POW camp was demolished to make way for new dormitory-style housing for seasonal workers.

Time Machine: 100 years ago this week in Pocomoke's newspaper; plus 1878, 1903, 1993.

 

        (editorial)

("Flapper" is the subject of the Pocomoke news item below. FYI, Google defines the term as follows: Flappers were a "new breed" of young women in the 1920's who wore short skirts, bobbed (cut short) their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior.)

September, 1878

Baltimore Sun

April, 1903

Baltimore Morning Herald

*August, 1993

Salisbury Daily Times

tkforppe@yahoo.com