Moving to Marydel, Maryland

William Hall built what was to become the first house in Marydel in 1850. Mr. Hall’s property was both in Caroline County, Maryland, and Kent County, Delaware. The town started off with the name Halltown, but that was changed to Marydel about three years later. The main industry in the area at the time was fruit evaporating, a preservation process that required the construction of a factory. The industry shared the building with the town’s school for a while.

Along with other towns in the area, Marydel’s major spurt of growth occurred with the arrival of the railroad. Connecting Marydel to the north at Clayton, Delaware, and to the south at Oxford, Maryland, the P. B.W Railroad provided transportation of passengers and freight throughout the region.

Today, Marydel still stands astride the Mason-Dixon Line at the northern end of Caroline County. While the Maryland portion of the town is incorporated, the Delaware portion is not. Both sides of the town are served by the post office on the Maryland side; businesses are located on both sides.

The Marydel commissioners have been involved with Caroline County in a study that will bring a water distribution system and waste water collection and treatment systems to the area. With the arrival of those improvements, commercial and residential expansion is expected from the rapidly growing Dover, Delaware, area.