Salisbury History: Saturday, Dec. 11, 1976

Most Salisbury residents have no idea that most of current downtown area once stood under water until a dam broke around 1910. Pictured looking North is Humphreys Lake. You can see the court house in the background.

Salisbury History: Saturday, Dec. 11, 1976

• Twenty-one people were held following a Lower Shore drug sweep that netted an array of drugs with a estimated street value of more than $40,000. Most of those who were arrested were from Pocomoke City, but their alleged drug activity centered in Salisbury, Snow Hill and Pocomoke.
• Workers constructing the new section of Peninsula General Hospital placed a 20-foot spruce Christmas tree atop the structure facing Carroll Street. On Friday, co-administrator Ed Horsman announced that the concrete pouring for the $26.2 million complex was nearly completed.
• In response to a number of complaints about boat trailers, camper trailers and recreational vehicles being parked on city streets, Salisbury City Council members were scheduled to consider Ordinance No. 1183. The growth in the motorhome industry was expected to add to the problem.
• The city was preparing for Bennett and Wi-Hi’s big basketball showdown on Tuesday. Coach Jim Rayne’s Clippers were coming off a big win over Crisfield; Butch Waller’s Indians were still recovering from a 1-point heart-stopping win over Snow Hill.
• Salvation Army Capt. Thomas Louie was asking for the public’s financial support at holiday time. Louie reported the local SA had raised $16,500 by this time last year, but only $12,000 in the 1976 effort. The group helps more than 600 families.
• Pastor Oren Perdue announced that Salisbury Baptist Temple has rented a 40-foot-by-100-foot  block building on Pineway. The church has been holding service in the local Holiday Inn.
• Circuit Judge George B. Rasin Jr. handed an 18-month prison sentence to a 25-year-old Keene Avenue woman after convicting her for a second time of shoplifting. The woman stole two blouses and a skirt valued at $25 from the Ames Department Store on South Salisbury Boulevard.
• Salisbury Postmaster Alfred C. Huffer said he expected the local mail-handling record to be broken this season. He said the Salisbury office on Dec. 7 handled 412,697 pieces of mail. In the first week of December, 2.29 million pieces of mail went through the Salisbury office on Route 50. He said last year’s busiest day was Dec. 16, when the local office handled 579,639 mail pieces.
• Delegate Roy Dyson of St. Mary’s County, who unsuccessfully ran for Congress last year, will be the guest speaker at this month’s Democratic Club meeting on Dec. 15. The meeting will be held at the Ol’ Country Inn in Pittsville.
• Wicomico Memorial Park announced that 1,300 developed sites were now available as part of its 10-acre expansion toward Snow Hill Road.