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Snow Hill/Berlin The Pocomoke River is the area's principal attraction and defines its character. You can view it from two riverside parks, Byrd and Sturgis, in Snow Hill and from Milburn and Shad landings in Pocomoke River State Park. Otherwise, it's pretty much hidden from public view as it winds like a tropical jungle stream past thick forests and an occasional farm. The tidal river is the deepest (up to 45 feet) for its width in the United States. The best way to experience the river is by canoe. The Pocomoke River Canoe Co. at the Route 12 drawbridge in Snow Hill rents canoes. Groups can rent a pontoon boat. The less adventurous can settle for a tour on Tillie the Tug, an open tugboat that carries 22 passengers downriver from Snow Hill to Shad Landing and back. We saw lots of lily pads, duck blinds and stumps of bald cypress trees, but found the boat too low to see much – not that there was all that much to see. The odd bird and passing speedboat helped while the hour away. We got the distinct impression that life in the Snow Hill area moves just as slowly as Tillie the Tug and the Pocomoke River. Cruises available mid-June through Labor Day and fall weekends. Birdwatching. More than 350 species have been sighted in Worcester County from the Assateague coastline across the Pocomoke Forest and down the Pocomoke River. They are detailed in two lengthy brochures furnished by the country tourism office at 105 Pearl St., Snow Hill. Historic Walking Tours. Maps for self-guided walking tours are available both for Berlin and Snow Hill. We like the shops and harmonious row of brick Victorian storefronts along Main Street in Berlin. The houses and the mix are more illustrious in Snow Hill, where most of the sights are concentrated along Market and Federal streets. Especially noteworthy are All Hallows Episcopal Church, established in 1692 and occupying its present structure since 1756, and nearby Makemie United Presbyterian Church, whose Gothic Revival facade hides the fact it was established in 1683 and is considered the birthplace of American Presbyterianism. The town's three inns were among the houses opened for tours on Snow Hill's annual Heritage Weekend when we were there. Viewtrail 100. About 100 miles of contiguous scenic bicycle trails along secondary roads are marked by Viewtrail logos and outlined on a map available through the County Extension Service. Julia A. Purnell Museum, 208 West Market St., Snow Hill, 632-0515. A former Catholic church houses local memorabilia involving Julia Purnell, a seamstress and storekeeper who lived here 100 years and took up folk art after breaking her hip at age 85. Because of her age and her penchant for relating stories of Snow Hill, her son opened a museum in her honor in 1942 and people flocked to see her and her creations before her death a year later. A few of her hundreds of needlework pictures are on display, but most of the space now operated by the town is devoted to a step-in boardwalk, a Colonial cupboard, the Purnell general store, a toy shop and Mrs. Purnell's sewing room. Open April-October, weekdays 10 to 4, weekends 1 to 4. Globe Theatre, 12 Broad St., Berlin, 641-0784. The old theater in the center of Berlin has been restored and revived, encompassing a cafe, a book and gift shop and an art gallery. At the rear is a small theater of about four dozen seats, which started showing movies in 1989 "after a twenty-year intermission." It now schedules live musical entertainment of increasing distinction on many weekends. A wildfowl carving display and an exhibit of heritage boats occupied part of the old stage of this eclectic building at one of our visits. The Balcony Gallery shows interesting works of local guild members and guests. Extra-Special Furnace Town, Old Furnace Road, Snow Hill. Rarely can you see the remains of a 19th-century industrial village, least of all one that rose like a phoenix and thrived briefly on the gathering and smelting of bog iron ore. A short-lived boomtown of 300 people produced iron here in the 1830s, floating it on barges down Nassawango Creek to the Pocomoke River and the Chesapeake Bay. Almost as rapidly as it emerged it failed and became a ghost town. The Furnace Town museum shows the gathering of bog ore, archeological relics, a model of the mansion house and a loom, plus Snow Hill newspaper pages of the time citing the collective debt to "those enterprising strangers who have erected an iron furnace in our county" and the sudden notice of a sale involving 7,000 acres "embracing immense beds of iron ore." Visitors can tour an old print shop, peer into the Old Nazareth Church, inspect the crumbling Nassawango Iron Furnace, watch a craftsman making brooms in the broom house and a smithy at work in the blacksmith shop, and ascend the reproduction charging ramp for a four-story-high view of the countryside. Markers show foundations of long-lost buildings. We enjoyed the mile-long Nature Conservancy trail along a curved boardwalk through the adjacent, bayou-like swamp forest. We passed the stumps and "knees" of one of the northernmost bands of bald cypress trees, whose needles hang like grass clippings on trees below, and saw what remained of the twenty-foot-wide shipping canal. At appropriate times of the year you may see American holly and sweet gum trees, muscadet grape vines and fifteen varieties of orchids. (410) 632-2032. Open April-October, daily 11 to 5. Adults, $4.
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