Delmarva Peninsula
"Breadbasket of the Revolution"

Discovered by the navigator Verrazano in 1524, Worcester County has been described by author Charles J. Truitt, as part of the "Breadbasket of the Revolution," due to its ability to provide the Continental army with food, animals, boats, and volunteers. The original inhabitants, members of several native American tribes, had by 1671 congregated west of present-day Snow Hill to form the largest Indian Town in Maryland. Many of these tribal names are recognizable to us today by the waterways or towns of Pocomoke, Assateague, Annamessex, Manokin, Chincoteague, Assawoman, and Nassawatox.

Worcester County's unique geographical situation, in which its only land bridge to the western shore of Maryland was through crossing the Susquehanna River at the head of the Chesapeake Bay, caused a way of life that moved south to Cape Charles, Virginia, or north to Philadelphia. Prior to the twentieth century, these ties were especially strong and resulted in much trade and marriages with the Philadelphia area, whose descendants flourish here today. This north/south migration caused Commodore Stephen Decatur to be born in 1779 near Berlin while his parents were traveling to Philadelphia. As early as 1683, the Rev. Francis Makemie, known as the "Father of American Presbyterianism", had personally organized his first congregation as far north as Berlin and as far south as Accomac, VA.