HISTORICAL COMMENTS BY GEORGE CHEVALLIER

The Fire of 1860

(The picture above is Bridge St., around 1850 – earliest known picture of Salisbury)

Although Salisbury is 278 years old, only the last 150 years can be historically chronicled. A tragic fire in 1860 destroyed all the town records and most of the buildings that would have made Salisbury a very historic town.

Before 1860, Salisbury was not much more than a village, similar to the ones that dotted the English countryside in which most of the ancestors of Salisbury had resided.

The population was around 500 people. The roads were dirt, and livestock was more likely than not to wander and graze on the main street of town. The main street was called Bridge Street. It is now called Main Street. It was a small, three block street with few stores on it that ended on the west end at the river. A general merchandise store of William Birckhead, the jewelry store of A. W. W. Woodcock, the bakery of John Kayler, the hat shop of Henry Brewington, the apothecary shop of Dr. Levin D. Collier, a small post office and a bank were some of the establishments of Bridge Street. There was also the occasional tavern that invited a visit from the passer-by. Overlooking all this was the high tower of St. Peter’s Protestant Episcopal Church, referred to as Goddard’s Chapel. Being the highest structure in town, it was used as a landmark for travelers to tell them from a distance where they were.

This tranquility was broken in August, 1860, by a devastating fire that broke out in the Daniel Davis building on the northwest corner of Bridge and St. Peter’s streets.

Shortly before, the town had purchased a new piece of fire fighting apparatus. It consisted of a large wooden reservoir, mounted to a chassis with large iron wheels. Two hand pumps forced water into the tank from one of the town pumps, ordinarily used to quench the thirst of the townsmen and their horses.

Down St. Peter’s Street, a dozen men dragged this apparatus, while St. Peter’s church bell continued to ring wildly. The Davis building was being rapidly consumed. From there the flames leaped to other frame structures on Bridge Street. The whole street became a raging inferno. Firemen fought valiantly. Bucket brigades augmented the single piece of fire-fighting equipment. All to no avail.

When burning embers remained a mute testimony to the town that was, it was discovered that the fire “engine”, too, had met destruction. The people of Salisbury had fought bravely to save their town, but all was lost – the history, the buildings, everything.

There were two other events that occurred at this time. The first was the railroad. It had been extended down as far as Delmar in 1860 and was to have been built all the way to Somer’s Cove, which is now Crisfield. The second event precluded the railroad from coming any further south. It was the Civil War. The Civil War put a four-year hiatus on any measurable growth to what was a town left in ruins after that devastating fire.