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Snow Hill/Berlin By Nancy and Richard Woodworth Like a waterway in the bayous of Louisiana, the Pocomoke River lazes through the flatlands and forests of Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore. Stands of bald cypress trees define its path. Bald eagles, osprey, egrets and other wildlife populate its shores. The river – deep, languorous, mysterious and hauntingly beautiful – is Maryland's first to be designated "wild and scenic." Such is the watery backdrop for little-known Snow Hill, founded by English colonists in 1642 and billed today as "the undiscovered treasure of the Eastern Shore." The county-seat town of 2,200 is not really on the way to anywhere. It claims more than 100 homes that are at least 100 years old, a way of life that's 40 years behind the times and almost no downtown at all. The big social events are church suppers and monthly dances in summer under the stars beside the river. Snow Hill's counterpoint in the path of non-discovery is Berlin, an old-fashioned town of 2,600 about fifteen miles to the northeast. The old houses here are not as compelling as the rejuvenated Victorian storefronts up against brick sidewalks on a maze of downtown streets. Berlin languished in the shadow of Ocean City until the late 1980s, when ten hometown boosters bought and renovated the Atlantic Hotel to wide acclaim. Now Berlin, pronounced BUR-lin by most natives, has a first-class restaurant, a restored theater, a working downtown, a dozen antiques shops and enough gawkers on weekends to qualify as the newly discovered "jewel of the Eastern Shore." The attractions of Snow Hill, Berlin and environs are diverse: the Assateague Island National Seashore, canoeing on the Pocomoke, riverside parks, the site of a vanished 19th-century industrial village called Furnace Town. The coastal habitat and temperate climate produce the best bird-watching opportunities in Maryland. Three centuries of history converge in Snow Hill. Its Presbyterian church is the first of the American denomination. All Hallows Episcopal Church, a brick antique surrounded by gravestones in the center of town, displays a bible and bell presented to the community by Queen Anne. Chain stores and fast-food outlets are noticeably missing here and in Berlin. The two small towns live up to their theme, "where the good life still lives on." Material excerpted from Inn Spots & Special Places / Mid-Atlantic, by Nancy and Richard Woodworth. Copyright 2003. Wood Pond Press E-mail feedback to: Home
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