Wicomico

Formed January 1, 1867 (23^rd county)

Wicomico County (103,586), Salisbury (33,027)                

The Modern 1991 red brick courthouse was augmented by an Administrative Building built in 1973.  The courthouse is on Main Street at Division Street.  United States Highway 50 is two blocks to the north of the site.  Becker/Morgan Architects provided the designs.  The structure features a tower.  A District Courthouse also supports the county.  The county is named for the river which is Native American for “place where houses are built.”  The county seat is named for Salisbury, England.  Salisbury is the only county seat.  Wicomico County was the birthplace of 1 Maryland Governor, Elihu E. Jackson.  The county was established on January 1, 1867 from Somerset and Worchester counties as the 23^rd county. 

Wicomico County government consists of an executive, an administrator, and a sheriff (executive).  It has 7 Council Members (legislative.)  Seven Circuit Court Judges and Five District Court Judges serve Wicomico, Dorchester, Somerset, and Worcester counties and a court clerk and a county attorney serve Wicomico County (judicial.) Wicomico County is in southeast Maryland.  Baltimore is northwest of the county.  The county center is 4.9 miles Northwest of Salisbury nearer Hebron.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Delaware and Worcester, Somerset, and Dorchester counties. 

The area of the county is 400 square miles.  It is 20 out of 24 in the state.  It ranks 14 out of 24 in population in the state.  It has a density of 259.0 persons per square mile making it 13 out of 24 in the state.  Wicomico County has 45.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 13 goes north to south in the county from Delaware to Somerset County.  United States Highway 50 crosses east to west from Worcester County to Dorchester County.  The county is shaped like a small letter r lying on its back.  Salisbury is slightly south of center in the county.  Salisbury is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 31.9% of the county population.  The county is pronounced Y-KOE-MEE-KOE.  This county is in the Salisbury Metropolitan Statistical Area.