Stockton

History

Stockton, originally called Sandy Hill, grew up at the crossing of the post road from Snow Hill south to Virginia (whose track is generally followed by modern Maryland Route 12) with the road from Mattapony Landing on the Pocomoke River to the Chincoteague Bay (the eastern part of which is now Maryland Route 366), where small ocean-going vessels could drop anchor. The landing on Chincoteague Bay came to be known as George Island Landing. Settlement in the area began in the 1660s, when the area was still part of Somerset County. Worcester County was separated from Somerset in 1742, and by 1774 Sandy Hill had grown large enough to merit a chapel of ease within All Hallows' Parish, today called Holy Cross Chapel. Sandy Hill, unlike neighboring Girdletree, was never incorporated, but in 1870 the name of the town was officially changed, by act of the legislature, from Sandy Hill to Stockton, commemorating the Rev. Thomas H. Stockton, a prominent Methodist minister. In 1872 the Worcester County election district which took its name from Sandy Hill was renamed Stockton. In 1876, a railroad (which would eventually become part of the Pennsylvania Railroad) was laid from Franklin City and Greenbackville in Virginia to Snow Hill. The line's main purpose was to haul seafood harvested from the Atlantic Ocean and Chincoteague Bay to Philadelphia, but the line also carried passengers. To avoid confusion with other Stocktons around the country, the station at Stockton was named Hursley Station. The center of Stockton was destroyed by fire in 1906, but was soon rebuilt, with many of the new buildings constructed of brick. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Stockton boasted a hotel, five churches, a post office, three stores, a canning factory, two sawmills, and two barrel…

Geography

Stockton is located at (38.057233, −75.416661). According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , all land. Maryland routes 12 and 366 intersect in the center of Stockton. An extensive network of manmade canals is located approximately two miles east of Stockton.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Laughing Gull

  Leucophaeus atricilla (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,968
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,388
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  6,257
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,982
• American herring gull, Smithsonian Gull

  Larus smithsonianus Coues, 1862 · Aves
  5,658
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,243
• Great Egret

  Ardea alba Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  5,122
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  4,852