In his recent inaugural address Mayor Ireton mentioned that 100 years ago the dam that created a sizeable “mill pond” called Humphrey’s Lake on the east prong of the Wicomico River suddenly failed, causing the impounded water to flood further downstream and exposing a lake bed that is now part of downtown Salisbury and the City Park. The dam failed on May 29, 1909, so we still have a couple weeks to plan a centennial event at the site of the former dam -- where Division Street crosses the river just north of Carroll Street.
When I mentioned this to a friend she said it’s an opportunity for Urban Salisbury to “do something” to draw attention to the area, possibly together with the local Historical Society. She also sent these maps from 1877 and 1817 that give a mental picture of how much and what part of the area was once under the pond. These indicate that the dam was there for nearly 100 years or longer. By 1877 the railroad had arrived and ran through the “lake” on a trestle structure, and the street names were different: Bridge Street had become Main Street and Back Street changed to Camden Street. What was called Dividing Street in 1817 (then the County line) became Division Street.
Hopefully Urban Salisbury and George Chevalier try to get something going. My friend suggested asking Pete Cooper to participate and provide his recollections about how the area changed. As a title examiner she has learned that the bed of the pond was sold by the owner of the mill and dam (an estate) to a group of local investors who developed it and sold some of the land on the east side of the railroad tracks to the City that is now part of the Park where the tennis courts, bandstand and footbridge are located.
It would be great to post some before or after photos of the pond and the dam and mill that was powered by the water, as well as article or reports. If you happen to have any, please send them as “jpg” (not “pdf”) files for posting.
10 comments:
Should'nt everyone involved with the future of the city be thinking about the future and not the past?
Why does it matter how the area has changed? If city officials or citizens were interested in Salisbury's past, I think there would be more than the few (very few) historians currently intested in the city.
Lets just worry about the future and focus the few resources we have.
9:15am You should think before typing! How are we going to know where we are going if we don't know where we came from? I love the history in this....Wow who would have guessed that alot of downtown was once a lake...I am baffled right now and amazed. This is the kind of stuff I like to see...keep it up!
Joe:
Disregard buffoons like 9:15, above.
There’s an interesting aspect to the dam story (no pun intended) if what my late uncle said is correct. Some years ago he recalled that at first it was not certain whether the dam would be replaced with another one. Apparently the Humphrey family claimed that the City had caused it to break by some work it did on the Division Street roadway that ran along the dam, and an agreement was reached that resulted in a bridge rather than another dam being built there. The pond bed was gradually (over many years) developed mostly from the higher ground on the west side (Division Street, etc.) toward the east – there was no Route 50 or Route 13 for many years afterwards. Until the automobile came into common use and the major highways were build shortly before and after World War II, Salisbury remained mostly developed close to the core area now called the “downtown” and the main axis was along the railroad and Division Street with almost no traffic or development to the west, but some to the east along the rail line to Berlin. There was no rail line to the east, and until Route 50, no significant road in that direction. It was easier to go to Wilmington or Philadelphia by train than to Baltimore or the “Western Shore” during much of the first half of the 20th Century.
George Chevalier: you take it from here with your records and documents (and more personal experience that I have).
That 1877 Salisbury Atlas (“map”) allows you to see how the automobile and its progeny (Route 50 and Route 13 being the main ones) have changed Salisbury from the former core-centric city into a dispersed collection of developed areas on the periphery, nearby at first but now (after the construction of the outer “bypass” highway further “explosion” has occurred, similar to what happened in Baltimore during the past 50-60 years with the building of super highways and the “Beltway”. We are about 20 or so years behind Baltimore, but closing rapidly with the annexation by Salisbury that’s taking place almost constantly to extend sewer and water around the “metro core” that now resembles Glen Burnie, Towson and Pikesville in places.
Mr./Ms. 9:15
Are you for refurbishing the old standpipe for over $100,000?
What about City funds for that All-American City contest?
This is great, love it! You can find lots and lots of maps from the 1800s just like this at the library, in their records section. Aren't libraries great?
Also, Salisbury ain't no Towson. That place is way bigger, as big as cities like Raleigh-Durham. The 'Bury is still a little 'un.
OK, I see my comment at 9:15 snot too popular.
My point was, that the city has limited resources and they should be concentrating on current issues like crime, the failing WWTP, etc. I do consider the cities history an important tool for guiding its future, but grist mills and railroad trusses are not part of the citys current issues.
11:42-
Even if not a Towson in size, the 'Bury is beginning to get there and following the same pattern of uncontrolled development. But it really lopoks more like Glen Burnie IMHO!
Salisbury will continue to grow but it needs to have a better plan for growth. Like a big designed plan that Salisbury can grow into. Over the years they have put a shopping center here, pharmacy over there, and developments all around. Because of this the overall flow of Salisbury is terrible. Traffic is very bad and takes you 30 min to get from one side of Salisbury to the other; not getting on the bypass. Right now developers are building off current back roads that cant handle the traffic. Take W. Salisbury for example. So many new developments but only one way out. Developments should be built to accommodate each other with new major roads to handle the extra traffic.
"History is philosophy teaching by example, and also warning; its two eyes are geography and chronology."
James A. Garfield (1831 - 1881)
How can you know where you're going if you don't know where you've been?
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