Two Historic Snow Hill Buildings Are Saved

This is so wonderful for the beautiful town of Snow Hill.

There probably isn't a person in Worcester County that never shopped at Goodman Clothing Store, or at least have heard the name. 

There aren't many that never dined at  the Snow Hill Inn.  Once one  of the finest restaurants in the area years ago.  I don't ever remember eating an undesirable meal there or an unpleasant dining experience.  I never saw J.J. the ghost....  not even on the one night my husband and I slept there.  In fact, I've probably seen more ghosts in my home.  Besides, ghosts don't frighten me.

It's just wonderful to know that two properties that hold so many memories will soon be bustling with activity!

SNOW HILL -- Two historic Snow Hill properties were sold at auction, and their new owners are locals who want to reshape each for use in the 21st century.

The former Goodman Clothing Store at 110 Green St. and the Snow Hill Inn at 104 E. Market St. were gaveled into new ownership by Marshall Auctions. The Goodman Building was sold to Snow Hill Realtor and business owner Gary Weber for $26,000. The Snow Hill Inn went to Shane C. Spain of Snow Hill for $42,000. Each auction had four bidders.

Both buildings were sold by owner PNC Bank, and the bank had sought a $50,000 minimum bid for each, according to auctioneer Doug Marshall.

"It's unbelievable to see the banks selling them this cheap," he said. "That's what that thing sold for, probably, in the 1930s. It's scary when you see the market in these little towns going back to that pre-Depression era pricing. Welcome to downtown America."

Spain says he plans to significantly renovate the Snow Hill Inn, which property records says dates to 1790, into a livable single-family home for his son, his wife and their three children.

"We just bought a $250,000 house for $42,000," Spain said with a smile. "Where else can you do that?"

In the second half of the 19th century, the home was owned by Dr. John S. Aydelotte, a prominent Snow Hill physician, according to documents in the Maryland State Archives.

Aydelotte reworked the property "in Victorian taste" about the time of the Civil War. He added a metal fence with a swinging gate that still bears his name. With the exception of an addition across the back of the house, the building is mostly unchanged since the Civil War.

The house was sold and made into apartments after Aydelotte's death, and later was turned into a bed and breakfast, according to Jim Washington, a former owner of the property. Washington lived in the building for about 15 years and later turned it into a restaurant. It has stood vacant for several years since his departure.

Washington said the house is haunted by the spirit of a man who took his own life in the 1920s or '30s. He nicknamed the ghost J.J.

In his first five years living there, Washington always had a reason to explain away the strange activity in the house -- candles blowing out on their own, strange activity with burning fireplaces -- before he saw something than convinced him that he wasn't alone n the house.

"I'm sitting there doing paperwork," Washington recalled. "All the doors are locked and it's late. One of my employees walked in, and I said, 'What are you doing here? How'd you get in?' Thin tie, old-looking gray suit. I watched him walk by me -- I still get the chills when I think about it -- and faded. I talked to this guy, and I believed that was a real human being there. And I still believe what I saw."

Spain doesn't necessarily believe the ghost stories, but he doesn't mind, either.



Goodman Clothing Store
PHOTO/ Brian Shane/ Wor. Co. Times



"For 42 grand, he can stay as long as he wants," Spain said.

The roughly 8,800-square-foot, two-story Goodman building was in significant disrepair at the time of the auction. Its two downstairs storefronts were empty and the flooring had been ripped up.

Its recent history as an antique mall was evidenced by a greens-and-tinsel-wrapped pole propped against the wall, tufts of synthetic snowy fluff on the floor beside it. The building also had briefly housed a popular wine bar.

Weber plans to significantly renovate the property, and hand over its operation to the Worcester County Children's Theater. He also plans to lease retail space on the first floor.

"I didn't really think I was going to get this stupid thing," he said.

Weber said he wants to see owner-operated businesses flourish in downtown Snow Hill, so it can grow to be as popular as Berlin.

The Goodman family ran the building as a clothing shop for more than 100 years, according to Jeff Chapman, a Realtor and Snow Hill native.

According to documents from the Maryland State Archives, it was Dr. Aydelotte who opened the retail property following a downtown fire in 1893, and the store first was occupied by William and Annie Goodman of Baltimore. There were two separate storefronts on the ground level until they were joined by an arched doorway through an open wall in 1924.

Records show the Goodmans still ran the store through at least 1988.

Source;  http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20110915/WCT01/109150315/Historic-Snow-Hill-buildings-sell-for-a-song?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Worcester County Times|p