Discover the hidden gems of Wicomico County

Kristen Goller, the tourism manager for Wicomico County says she’s heard the phrase many times before, “There’s nothing to do in Wicomico County.”

However, she says that couldn’t be further from the truth. Tourism is bringing in a $53 million impact to the local economy this fiscal year.

Goller goes on, “For our size community, the number of parks that we have is just absolutely amazing. We have over one thousand miles of water ways in Wicomico County and seventy-five different parks.”

Goller says if she had to pick, the top five attractions in Wicomico are the Ward Museum, Pemberton Historical Park, The Salisbury Zoo, Poplar Hill Mansion and the waterways.

However, Goller notes there are plenty of hidden gems in the area. She says one of the biggest is the White Haven Ferry.

She continues, “Actually White Haven is the oldest operating ferry in the United States. It’s a real historical treasure.”

Robert Bean has been manning it for 25 years. He goes on, “It’s nice to be outside, nice doing stuff and meeting people.”

The ferry is completely free and can hold up to 10,000 pounds. It moves about 150 cars a day over the water. The sleepy town of White Haven has got a lot of character too, from the Inn to the docks.

Joan Brauning says, “The sunsets are beautiful on the water.”

If you’re not sold, Bonnie Waters-McBeigh says there’s one thing pretty much anyone can appreciate about places like this.

She continues, “Being able to walk down the street and not have to see any cars and know that you don’t have to bother with traffic, it’s great.”

Joan, Bonnie and their sister Sue’s parents bought a house in White Haven in the 1970’s. In 1987, Sue got married at the church in town.

She shared her memory of the event with 47 ABC. “My mother decided that she wanted to invite all the neighbors. The whole town came. We think it sort of started you know the beginning of neighbors interacting with neighbors.”