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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.
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