Salisbury: Capital of the Delmarva Peninsula
Maryland
Salisbury sits at the head of the Wicomico River, about thirty miles from the Atlantic coast, and has served as the commercial center of the Delmarva Peninsula since its founding in seventeen thirty-two. The town grew on the oyster and timber trades, and by the early twentieth century it had become the hub of the Delmarva poultry industry, which today produces hundreds of millions of broiler chickens each year. A fire in eighteen eighty-six destroyed much of downtown, and the rebuilt commercial district still defines the city center.
Salisbury is home to the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art, which holds the world's premier collection of decorative bird carvings, a craft born from the region's deep hunting and waterfowl culture. It is the largest city on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.