Formed January 1, 1742 (14th county)
Worcester County (52,460), Snow Hill (2,103), Ocean City (7,102)
The current red brick Georgian Revival building was built in 1894. There was also a 1742 courthouse in Snow Hill, the only county seat. The courthouse is located on Market at Washington streets. United States Highway 113 is Market Street in the town. Jackson C. Gott provided the courthouse designs. The facility features a tower and veterans memorials on the grounds. A County Administration Building was added in 2002. District Courthouses in Snow Hill and Ocean City augment the county courthouse. Worcester County was created on January 1, 1742 from Somerset County as the 14th county. It is named for the Earl of Worcester. The county seat is named for Snow Hill, England. Worcester County was the birthplace of 1 Maryland Governor, John W. Smith.
Worcester County government consists of a treasurer, an administrator, and a sheriff (executive). It has 7 Council Members (legislative.) Seven Circuit Court Judges and Five District Court Judges serve Worcester, Dorchester, Somerset, and Wicomico counties and a court clerk and a county attorney serve Worcester County (judicial.) The county is in the southeast part of the state. Baltimore, Maryland is northwest of the county. The county center is 11 miles Northeast of Snow Hill nearer Newark. The county is surrounded clockwise by Delaware, the Atlantic Ocean and Virginia and Somerset and Wicomico counties.
The area of the county is 695 square miles. It is 2 out of 24 in the state. It ranks 17 out of 24 in population in the state. It has a density of 75.5 persons per square mile making it 20 out of 24 in the state. Worcester County has 34.9% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 13 cuts the southwest corner of the county from Somerset County, west, to Virginia, south. United States Highway 50 originates in the county and heads west to Wicomico County. United States Highway 113 enters from Delaware, north and terminates in the county. The county looks like a capital letter J. Snow Hill is in the southwest quarter of the county. Ocean City is in the northeast quarter of the county. Snow Hill is the county seat and Ocean City is the largest city. Snow Hill is 4.0% of the county population while Ocean City is 13.5% of the county population. The county is pronounced WUR-STER. This county is in the Ocean City Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Berlin
Ocean City
Pocomoke City
Snow Hill
