HISTORICAL MOMENTS BY GEORGE CHEVALLIER

Humphrey’s Lake


What is now East Main St., was once under the waters of Humphrey’s Lake. The waters in the lake were filled by the drainage from the headwaters of the East branch of the Wicomico River. This origin is now Schumaker Pond.

The first and only effort to dam the river was a dam built in 1743 by William Venables. Because of this dam he was able to produce enough water power to set up his grist mill to service the local area. The mill was located where the Wicomico County Library is today. When the dam burst in 1909, steam power had replaced most of the water-powered mills and the mill never operated there again. Efforts were made by some local businessmen to have the state or government assist financially in rebuilding the dam, but the lack of need for water power entered into their decision to not rebuild.

Humphreys Lake was originally named T. Humphreys Lake after Thomas Humphreys. The Humphreys owned all the land north of the lake near the dam and operated a saw mill and grist mill by the power supplied by the water tumbling over the dam.

It is rumored that there is a cave on the East end near what is now Route 13 that was the hiding place of one Ben Allen, a Tory during the Revolutionary War. He was a large man and caused a lot of trouble for the Patriots during the War.

During the Civil War, a Union Army encampment was established of the South side of Humphreys Lake. It was named Camp Upton for the commander of the Union forces there. The street that ran beside it from South Division Street to the railroad was also named after him, Upton Street.

After the army left, a local attorney, Thomas Humphreys, built his offices there. It had a vantage position, located on a natural rise that commanded a view over Humphreys Lake, owned by his ancestors, dating back to the pre-Revolutionary period. Also within his sight was the South Division Street dam and the family operated water powered mills.

The site was subsequently occupied by the new high school, which opened in 1905. The previous high school had been named Salisbury High School, but the new school was named Wicomico High School for two reasons. First, it took in students from all over the county, not just Salisbury. Second, it had to do this to finance the new school. It served as the only high school from 1905 to 1931, when the new high school was built out on Main St. across from what is now City Park. This land was made available when the dam burst in 1909, exposing all the land that is now utilized by the school, the City Park and many businesses. The old high school was used as a grade school through the 30’s and 40’s when it was declared too run down and declared surplus by the county. The property was purchased by the Brush-Moore Company of Akron, Ohio, the owners of the Daily Times at the time. They built new offices on the site and they remain to this day the home offices of the Daily Times.

When the dam broke in 1909, it was the end of an era. Gone were the boat rides on the lake in the summer and the skating in the winter. The Old School Baptist Church, which is still located at the corner of Church and Baptist Streets, lost the shallow water for their immersions behind the Church. The exposed land was purchased from the Humphreys family for $40,000 by a group of local businessmen who formed the Salisbury Realty Co. Through their efforts, we now have a very busy East Main St.