New sign on Virginia Ave. honoring General Woodcock, event held for dedication Friday

SALISBURY, Md.- On Friday, Virginia Avenue in Salisbury received a new name, General Woodcock Way.

The new street name honors General Amos W.W. Woodcock, a person who played a critical role in Salisbury’s formation.

“I gave a talk a year or two ago over at the MAC center some people were saying we never heard of this guy, or how come we never see anything about it him, so we thought maybe we can get one of the streets named in his honor,” Stephen Gehnrich, a Salisbury University biology professor said.

Gehnrich, along with Woodcock’s family came up with the idea of naming a street in his honor to help his memory live on.

“I think it’s a good thing because not many people in Salisbury remember the General, and at one time I suppose you can say he was one of Salisbury’s most outstanding people,” Dr. Devins Todd, Woodcock’s grand-nephew, said.

Salisbury’s Acting Mayor, Julia Glanz, said General Woodcock served in the National Guard Company from Salisbury, and one of the key ways he helped out the city was by allowing the city to use his land in order to build up the community.

“They sort of made way for neighborhoods to be build here and for all of these you know these strong family homes to built here, where kids grow up and there’s a really strong sense of community here,” Glanz said.

This is why Glanz and family members said sharing his legacy is important.

“I think its a focus on our history here in Salisbury, I mean were talking about our history in many ways in this community, the good and the bad, and this certainly from my understanding a lot of good,” Glanz said.

Gehnrich said that if you would like to learn more about the General you can go to the NABB Center at Salisbury University to do so.

We are told General Woodcock was born in Salisbury and graduated from Wicomico High School.

Also, among his many titles, he once served as the president of the Wicomico County Board of Education.