HISTORICAL COMMENTS BY GEORGE CHEVALLIER

Camden Avenue

Camden Avenue was once referred as the road to Noah Rider’s mill. Noah Rider had the mill at Tony Tank because it had belonged to his family for generations. The Rider family was originally from Quantico but relocated near Salisbury and became very influential in the growth of both the city and what was then Somerset County. One of the Riders, Thomas F. J. Rider, was instrumental in the formation of Wicomico County in 1867. His sister, Nannie, married Elihu E. Jackson, another prominent Salisburian who became the Governor of Maryland in 1888.

Originally, it was just a dirt country road that ran through W. F. Allen’s extensive property. A growth plan was adopted in 1920 that was supposed to suffice until 2000. Then two events quickly overloaded the system. The first was the building of a college from land purchased from the Allen family in 1922. The school was built and opened in September, 1925. Second was the building of Route 13 in 1939. The expansion of the Camden area between Camden Avenue and the railroad was to be a mixture of residential and commercial properties. The limit south was to be Tony Tank Lake with the town of Fruitland eventually expanding northward to meet there. All this land from what is now College Avenue belonged to the W. F. Allen Co. Over the years, they have sold off parcels for the college and to Asbury Methodist Church for their new structure. Many other lots were sold off over the years and individual families built there.

The college was not anticipated in the original growth plan, so for a sewer system, a pipe was laid down College Avenue that drained directly into the Wicomico River. Eventually it was incorporated into the city system. The system also extended southward paralleling Camden Avenue along the back of the several residences facing Camden Avenue. The water main down Camden Avenue that serviced the same houses was built by prisoners-of-war from Rommel’s Africa Corps. That had to be during the Second World War. Surprisingly, the recipients of this municipal service received it with no cost to them. Some things never change.

The paving of Camden Avenue came about as a result of a great debate in 1906. The downtown had their streets paved with a light buff-colored brick. Since this was before the automobile was used extensively, the iron-rimmed wagon wheels were deemed too noisy on brick for a residential area. The debate ensued over the use of brick or the new material called asphalt. Asphalt won out or we would have had a brick Camden Avenue now. It was just a matter of timing. Apparently, the dirt roads handled the wagon wheels to everybody’s satisfaction and, if they had waited a few short years, the pneumatic tires on cars and trucks would have been quiet enough.

Houses on Camden Avenue started appearing even before the street was paved. The first house was situated between Pennsylvania and Virginia Avenues across from North Boulevard. It was the home of Col. Marion A. Humphreys. Other large homes soon appeared on the west side of Camden Avenue that earned that section the term “millionaire’s row”. The homes built on the east side of Camden were more modest by comparison. Most of the homes south of Winder Street were built later than the early homes of prominent Salisburians. The Jackson mansions were built at the end of the 19th Century. They are both now gone. The homes of Wm. B. Tilghman and L. W. Gunby remain, however.