Downtown Salisbury Walking Tour

Masonic Temple Wicomico Lodge 91 (1904)

The yellow ochre and red pressed brick façade stands in marked contrast to the Victorian exterior of the courthouse, old city hall, and firehouse. The regular rhythm of arched door and window openings, as well as the bold cornice across the top of the third floor point to the neoclassical style popular in the US during the early 20th century. The Masonic Temple was designed by Baltimore architect Jackson C. Gott and built by Princess Anne contractor James A. McAllen.

Alfred C. Dykes Building aka Kuhn's Jewelers (1892)

The intricate gabled metal cornice of this building includes the construction date of this handsome commercial facade, which is enriched with a variety of molded brick and terra cotta ornament. Rope molded string courses divide the second floor, and molded terra cotta panels highlight the segmental arches as well as the wall surface between the window openings.

Thomas H Williams Building (1887)

Tall, slim brick pilasters divide this three-story, late 19th-century commercial block into five bays, which are pierced by paired or single windows accented with raised brick arches. The storefront top has lost its heavy metal cornice.

White & Leonard Building (1887)

This three-story, six-bay brick commercial block is dated by an inscribed marble stone fixed above the third-floor windows. A bold corbeled brick cornice trims the top of the pressed brick façade. Marble accent stones highlight the round-arched windows.

St. Peter's Episcopal Church (1880-1887)

Designed after the Church of the Annunciation in Philadelphia, this Romanesque Revival basilica plan is the third building to occupy this site. The common bond brick walls of this church are accented with decorative terra cotta panels, brick pilasters, molded belt courses, and corbeled brickwork. A Star of David, executed in glazed bricks, distinguishes the gable end above the large colored glass nave windows.

Old City Hall & Firehouse (1896)

One of the most distinctive public buildings erected during the late 19th century, the former city hall and firehouse reflects Victorian eclecticism with its multi-faceted brick exterior accented with rusticated stone trim. The four-story hose tower is distinguished by an unusual, two-tiered pyramidal spire incorporating gabled dormers as well as louvered vents. The building was designed by Thomas H. Mitchell.

First National Bank (1929-1930)

Beaux Arts brick and stone bank dominated by a colossal Tuscan columned portico that fronts a Flemish bond brick main block accented with tall round-arched windows. The main body is enriched with masonry conventions popular to the Colonial Revival style.

Brewington Building (c 1905)

One of the most unusual brick facades downtown, also known as the Goodman Department Store, features a large round-arched window opening inspired by the architecture of Henry Hobson Richardson. The window opening spans two levels and is divided by radiating muntins on the second floor.

R.K. Truitt Building (1887)

An intricate brick front distinguishes this from other late 19th-century buildings on West Main Street. Eight brick pilasters define the five-bay façade, and white marble belt courses contrast with red brick walls.

Samuel H. Evans Store (1887)

This three-story, three-bay brick commercial building survives as a well-preserved example of late 19th-century architecture with its intact bracketed first floor and display windows.

Merchants' Hotel (1887)

Known also as the West End Hotel, this brick block was built on a triangular lot and as a result, its exterior walls resemble a flat iron. The windows are accented with decorative brick lintels and the building top is enriched with a decorative cornice.

Port Exchange (1880, 1904)

Built as the Humphreys & Tilghman warehouse after the 1886 fire, this three-story block was assembled in two distinct stages and is evident in the change of brick color between the second and third floors. This building, pierced by segmental arched windows, is enriched with a decorative brick cornice across the front.

Bridge Tender's House (1927)

In the design of the low walled two-leaf lift bridge is a two-story tender’s house, which retains corner pilasters that rise to a classical entablature. The copper roof follows the shape of a flattened bell curve.

Franklin Hotel (1930)

Also known as the Mainlake Building, it was used by traveling salesmen, sailors, and the general public. It is defined by a series of arched openings across its second floor. A date plaque is on the southeast corner.

H.S. Brewington Building (1802)

The intricate gabled metal cornice includes the construction date of this handsome façade, which is enriched with a variety of molded brick and terra cotta ornament. Rope molded string courses divide the second floor, and molded terra cotta panels highlight segmental arches and surfaces between the window openings.

William D. Long Building (1923)

Now isolated on this corner, the Long building is a plain three-story, five-sided commercial block defined by double window openings and bands of decorative brickwork.

Dorman & Smyth Hardware (1886-87)

Commonly known as the Thomas R. Young Building, this prominent block combines rusticated granite in red mortar on the first floor and a range of late 19th-century decorative brickwork on the second and third floors. It also features an elevator and a bold galvanized cornice across the top of the parapet wall.

Vernon Powell Building (c 1936)

Designed in the Renaissance Revival style, this two-and-a-half-story brick and stone building was erected for Montgomery Ward as a department store. The narrow brick façade oriented to Main Street is enriched with elaborate stonework across the cornice and around second-floor windows. The slate roof is enhanced with arched dormers also featuring stone decoration.

Gallery Building (c 1800)

The three-story, eleven-bay front of the former Woolworths is defined by a series of arched openings and inset terra cotta panels that adds a rich textural contrast to the smooth-pressed brick façade.

Farmers' & Merchants' Bank (c 1929)

The Art Deco stone façade boasts carved eagles perched atop a large glass entrance and window wall which ascends two stories. The eagle tails abstracted into a linear design, descend on each side to the window wall to frame the entrance.

Greater Salisbury Building (1930)

Built as Eastern Shore Trust Company by the firm of Hastings & Parsons, this building is distinctive for its green marble and limestone front that frames a tall entrance and window wall. The carved panels representing the bow and stern of a two-masted schooner are obvious references to the Eastern Shore in an effect to localize the popular Art Deco style.

John Handson Savings & Loan Bank (1914)

Occupying a pivotal corner, this four story Renaissance Revival follows a neoclassical architectural formula visually divided into three sections that correspond to the classical column, the base, the shaft and the capital. Assembled of stone, brick and terra cotta, the street elevations offer a rich design in mixed materials and textures.

Wicomico Hotel (1923)

The Wicomico Hotel building is the largest structure to define the district and its seven-story height stands out on the skyline. Following the Renaissance Revival style with a three-part design of column base, shaft, and capital, the hotel building has a highly decorative top floor capped with a prominent console block cornice.

Hurdle Building (1995)

A recent addition, the Wicomico County Health Dept. is housed in the former JC Penny. The 1950s brick store was significantly enlarged and given a post-modern dryvit East Main St. façade.

F. Leonard Wailes Law Office (1926-27)

This building is a superior example of early 20th-century law office architecture. The two-story neo-Federal style, designed by Salisbury architect W. Twilley Malone, has survived virtually unchanged since its construction. Particularly significant is the East Main Street façade with leaded glass fanlights and a modillion-block cornice.

Salisbury News & Advertising Building (c 1927)

Probably designed by W. Twilley Malone shortly after the construction of the nearby Wailes office, this building features a Flemish bond façade, marble window sills, and a dormered attic story

US Post Office (1925, 1936)

This was built in two principal stages, beginning with a single-story, five-bay brick structure that was expanded to a two-story, nine-bay building that respected the neo-classical style of the original design. Original murals depicting romanticized views of Colonial America embellish the front hall.

Salisbury City Fire Department Headquarters (1927-28)

Also erected in a neoclassical style, the brick and stone firehouse is defined by brick pilasters that rise to a brick and stone entablature.