We asked... (WWII/Delmarva)

 
How close were enemy craft to Delmarva during World War II?

German U-boats operated just off the coast of the Delmarva Peninsula throughout World War II, sinking ships and laying mines, with some incidents occurring within sight of the shore

. Enemy vessels never entered the Delaware or Chesapeake bays to attack ports directly, but their presence in nearby coastal waters posed a very real and significant threat. 

Notable incidents near Delmarva

Operation Drumbeat (early 1942)

• Beginning in January 1942, German submarines carried out a highly successful campaign known as "Operation Drumbeat" against Allied shipping along the East Coast.
• The tanker Francis E. Powell was torpedoed and sunk just over 20 miles off Wachapreague Inlet, south of Chincoteague, Virginia. Survivors were brought to Lewes, Delaware, and Chincoteague.
• The tanker W. L. Steed was sunk about 100 miles off the Delaware coast in February 1942.
• Survivors of the freighter San Gil, also torpedoed off the coast, were brought to Lewes in early 1942. 

Mine-laying in Chesapeake Bay (June 1942)

• In June 1942, the German submarine U-701 entered the Chesapeake Bay and laid a minefield in the shipping channel.
• Within days, this minefield damaged or sank five ships, and the U-boat also torpedoed a British tanker nearby. 

Submarine-spotting

• The Civil Air Patrol assisted the U.S. military in supplementing naval air patrols to spot U-boats, sometimes with jury-rigged bomb racks on their civilian aircraft.
• Land-based lookout towers, such as one built at Cape May, New Jersey, were constructed to spot German vessels. 

The surrender of U-858 (1945)

• After Germany's defeat, the German U-boat U-858 surrendered in the waters off the Delmarva coast on May 14, 1945.
• It was the first enemy ship to surrender to U.S. forces following the war and was brought to Lewes, Delaware, behind the Cape Henlopen breakwater. The captured German crew was sent to a prisoner-of-war camp at Fort Miles. 

The threat to the bays

Despite the activity just offshore, German surface vessels were deterred from entering the Delaware and Chesapeake bays by a combination of anti-submarine defenses, coastal fortifications, and the risks posed by shallow water. 

• Delaware Bay: The "Harbor Defense of the Delaware" system, centered at Fort Miles, used minefields, naval patrols, and long-range guns to protect the bay from German attacks. This system effectively deterred enemy warships, though U-boats still operated nearby and laid mines at the bay's entrance.
• Chesapeake Bay: While U-boats successfully laid mines just inside the Chesapeake Bay, they were deterred from penetrating further. The minefield was laid as U.S. anti-submarine tactics were improving. 

A prison camp was established in Westover for German POWs. Since many American men were off to war or otherwise engaged, the prisoners were used for cheap labor in local industries and farms. Mason Canning Company utilized German prisoners to load cases of tomatoes into railcars. At lunchtime the local ladies who worked on the peeling line would climb up into the railcars for a good time.

Your friend,
Slim

We asked... (Worcester ceded territory)

 
Why did Worcester County give up territory for what is now Somerset and Wicomico Counties?

Worcester County ceded its territory for the formation of Somerset and Wicomico Counties due to the immense size of the original land grant, which caused significant inconveniences for citizens living far from the county seat

. Political developments also played a role in the formation of Wicomico County, as citizens in the Salisbury area pushed for a new county where they would have more influence. 

Formation of Somerset County in 1666

Somerset County was the original colonial territory covering the entire Lower Eastern Shore. When it was established by an Order in Council in 1666, it was much larger and included the areas that would later become Worcester and Wicomico counties. 

Formation of Worcester County in 1742

Worcester County was officially formed in 1742 by splitting the eastern portion of Somerset County. The reasons for this split mirror the later division that created Wicomico County: 

• Travel difficulties: With Somerset County stretching from the Chesapeake Bay to the Atlantic Ocean, residents in the eastern regions, especially near the newly designated county seat of Snow Hill, found it inconvenient to travel across the vast territory to attend to legal and administrative matters in Princess Anne, the original county seat.
• Distance from administration: The need for a local seat of government for the growing population in the eastern area led to the split. 

Formation of Wicomico County in 1867

Wicomico County was carved out of both Somerset and Worcester counties following the Civil War. The factors leading to this division were: 

• Inconvenient travel for citizens: Residents in the northern parts of Somerset and western parts of Worcester faced challenging travel to reach their respective county seats of Princess Anne and Snow Hill. As one proponent for the new county explained, some residents had to travel up to 35 miles and cross an ice-blocked river in winter.
• Emergence of Salisbury: By the mid-19th century, Salisbury had developed into a strategic commercial and railroad hub. However, its downtown was split between Somerset and Worcester counties.
• Political push for a new county: Local leaders, particularly from Salisbury, organized a movement for a new county to consolidate their commercial and political power. The new county was approved by a narrow majority in an 1867 special election. With its central location and growing influence, Salisbury was named the county seat of Wicomico County.

We asked... (Pocomoke Heights)

 

Tell me about the establishment of Pocomoke Hights in Pocomoke City.

Pocomoke Hights was 

established as a Public Housing Administration (PHA) project in Pocomoke City and occupied by 1953. It was built to provide housing for the low-income community in the area. 

Key details on the project

• Establishment: The PHA approved the project and the first units were occupied by 1953.
• Initial construction: The initial PHA project was for 50 family units, and the construction contract was awarded to J.C. Armiger, Inc. of Salisbury. The project was constructed on a 15-acre site.
• Name: The development was initially referred to as the Pocomoke Public Housing project before the name Pocomoke Hights was assigned.
• Operations and funding: The development was operated by the Pocomoke City Housing Authority, with federal funding.
• Early residents: Early residents described the housing as clean, affordable, and a close-knit community. 

Transition from public housing

By the 2000s, like many public housing projects, 

Pocomoke Hights

 faced issues with aging infrastructure and shifting demographics. The Pocomoke City Housing Authority received approval in 2006 to demolish the original project. The authority was able to secure a $12 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to finance the redevelopment. 

Redevelopment

The new development, completed in 2011, features:

• A revitalized streetscape, with new roads and sidewalks
• The demolition of the original 50 rowhouses, and their replacement with a smaller number of modern, energy-efficient townhouse apartments
• A new community building
• A new playground 

The redevelopment project aimed to modernize the affordable housing available in Pocomoke City while improving the overall quality of life for its residents.

(Pocomoke Public Eye note:)

Based on personal remembrance and newspaper archive accounts, Pocomoke Heights provided reasonably priced home ownership opportunities for area residents which included the housing needs of Chincoteague Naval Air Station personnel.  Ai's "It was built to provide housing for the low-income community in the area."  may prompt a misleading connotation (i.e. a "slum" project).

"Ai's "It was built to provide housing for the low-income community in the area." may prompt a misleading connotation (i.e. a "slum" project)."

In 1953 all of us in Pocomoke were equally poor so nobody noticed. We just thought that was the way almost everybody was.

Your friend,
Slim

"Ai's "It was built to provide housing for the low-income community in the area." may prompt a misleading connotation (i.e. a "slum" project)."

In 1953 all of us in Pocomoke were equally poor so nobody noticed. We just thought that was the way almost everybody was.

Your friend,
Slim

We asked... (1800's erosion?)

    

 In the 1800's were any concerns expressed about possible erosion along Delmarva's oceanside and bayside areas?

Yes, in the 1800s, concerns were expressed about erosion along the oceanside and bayside areas of the Delmarva Peninsula. Records show that residents, particularly those on the Chesapeake Bay's islands, witnessed firsthand the powerful forces of erosion and rising sea levels as their communities and property were lost to the water. 

Examples of 19th-century erosion concerns and observations:

• Vanishing islands: Residents of the Chesapeake Bay's smaller islands were among the first to raise the alarm. Holland Island, for instance, had a sizable community in the late 19th century but was already experiencing significant land loss to erosion. Islands that were populated in the 18th and 19th centuries, like Sharps Island, had vanished entirely by the early 20th century.
• Lost property: Landowners in shoreline communities on both the Atlantic and Chesapeake Bay sides of Delmarva documented the continuous loss of their property to the relentless forces of storms and wave action.
• Threat to infrastructure: As erosion encroached on inhabited areas, it became a clear threat to developing infrastructure. The Miller R. Creighton hotel, built in the late 1800s on Sharps Island, was torn down by the early 1900s because erosion had claimed enough of the island to render the hotel unviable.
• Scientific and military reports: Records from the time, including those from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, noted the coastal changes. For example, reports from the late 19th and early 20th centuries documented shoreline changes and were influenced by factors like relative sea-level rise. In the Chesapeake Bay region, the uncertain future of earthen forts built around the War of 1812 was discussed in terms of erosion processes.
• Filling of waterways: The issue was not limited to the coastline. Extensive soil erosion from agricultural lands in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, exacerbated by widespread tillage, caused downstream problems. This led to bayside shipping ports filling with sediment, which made them too shallow for navigation, a problem documented from the 1820s onward. 

By the end of the century, these local observations and reports began to lay the groundwork for more systematic analysis of Delmarva's eroding coastlines.

Without erosion there would be no Delmarva Peninsula. We are the creation of sediment from the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers. What The Lord giveth, The Lord taketh away.

Your friend,
Slim

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.

We asked.. (1875 Pocomoke to Philly on the RR)

 
What was a typical train ride like from Newtown/Pocomoke to Philadelphia circa 1875?

In 1875, a train ride from Newtown (later named Pocomoke City) to Philadelphia would have been 

a long, bumpy, and dirty journey involving multiple transfers and different railroads. The trip was a significant undertaking, not a simple, direct ride like today, and would have exposed passengers to a mix of discomfort, occasional danger, and the constant buzz of industrial-era technology. 

The route: A complex journey

Because a direct Newtown-to-Philadelphia rail line did not exist in 1875, passengers would have traveled on several different railroad companies' lines to complete the journey. 

• The first leg of the trip would have been on the Wicomico & Pocomoke Railroad, which later merged with other lines, and involved a number of transfers.
• Travelers would have likely ridden north through towns on the Delmarva Peninsula, connecting to different short-line railroads along the way.
• Eventually, they would have reached a hub such as 
  Wilmington, Delaware
  , where they could catch a train from a major railroad like the Pennsylvania Railroad into Philadelphia. 

Life inside the car

The interior of a standard passenger car in 1875 was a far cry from modern trains.

• Seating: Standard cars featured wooden benches placed crosswise, with a narrow passage down the middle.
• Dirt and cinders: A constant annoyance was the dirt and smoke from the locomotive. Soot and sparks flying from the steam engine would enter through the windows, coating passengers and their belongings in black cinders. The air quality could be poor, especially when passing through tunnels.
• Heating: On cold days, a charcoal or anthracite coal stove in the car's center would provide heat, sometimes becoming red-hot.
• Toilets: Unlike earlier train travel, restrooms were available on many trains by the 1870s. However, they were basic—just a bowl with a hole that emptied directly onto the tracks. 

The experience of the ride

The journey was defined by a constant, rattling motion and noise.

• Bumpy and noisy: The ride was bumpy due to early track technology and hard-sprung cars, making conversation difficult. The noise from the engine and the clanking of the wheels was constant.
• Jolting and jarring: The trains of 1875 had rudimentary brakes, which meant that starting and stopping were often jerky and sudden.
• An uncertain schedule: Timetables were not always reliable, and delays were common. Weather, mechanical failures, or animals on the tracks could stall a trip for hours. 

The constant fear of danger

Passengers during this era faced risks that are largely absent from modern rail travel.

• "Snake heads": A feared danger was the "snake head," where a loose, flat-bar iron rail would come undone and pierce the floor of the train car, impaling unlucky passengers sitting above it.
• "Railway madness": Doctors at the time worried about the psychological effects of the constant motion and noise. They theorized it could lead to "railway madness" or "train psychosis" in some individuals. 

Food and facilities

Passengers had to plan ahead for meals, as dining cars were not standard on all routes, especially shorter ones.

• Passengers often had to make do with whatever food was available at infrequent stops.
• Over time, luxurious dining and parlor cars would be introduced, but these would primarily serve first-class, long-distance routes. 

A changing landscape

For those traveling during this period, the train ride offered a new perspective on the landscape.

• Unfiltered views: Though obscured by dirty windows and cinders, the changing landscape of the Eastern Shore would have unfolded in a new way.
• Signs of the times: Passengers would have witnessed the growing influence of the railroad, from small hovels and stations popping up along the route to the economic and social changes the new infrastructure brought to each town