Edward H. Nabb Center for Delmarva History and Culture, Salisbury, University, Salisbury, Maryland
| Identifier |
2014.057 |
| Creator(s) |
Staley, Marion |
| Acquisition |
Donated by Stephanie Fridie. |
| Language(s) |
English |
| Use |
Records are open for research. Copyright, including literary rights, belongs to the author(s) or their legal heirs. Permission to publish or reproduce must be obtained from the Nabb Research Center which extends beyond "fair use." |
| Preferred Citation |
"Item, collection title and identifier, box # and folder # (if applicable), Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture, Salisbury University, Salisbury, Maryland." |
| Attribution |
Finding aid written by L. Van Veen, June 2014. |
| Related Materials |
None |
| Separated Materials |
See Nabb Center Staff |
Administrative History Poplar Hill Mansion was built as the manor house of a farm outside the small eighteenth century town of Salisbury,which had slowly expanded since 1732 from a port landing site at the head of the Wicomico River, more than a half mile away. Construction was begun by Major Levin Handy, originally from Newport, Rhode Island. In 1795 the Major took out a deed for 357 acres of the original 700 acre land patent called "Pembertons Good Will." The house Handy began in 1795-96 was an ambitious Federal-style structure, outdistancing most buildings in the area in size and fine detail.
Unfortunately, because of severe medical conditions, the Major's architectural ambitions exceeded his ability to finance them. In 1803 the property was ordered to be put up for sale for payment of debts. The house was still incomplete.
In 1805 the title was passed to a prominent physician in Salisbury, Dr. John Huston. When the Doctor died in 1828 there were fruit trees, vegetable crops, sheep, cattle, and eighteen slaves on the property, as well as $110 "cash on hand."
Huston's widow Sarah inherited the property. In the late 1840s to early 1850s, she partially subdivided it, overseeing the laying out of Poplar Hill Avenue and Isabella Street. The subdivision of "Poplar Farm" continued at a moderate rate before the Civil War. From the 1870s until World War One, the extended area experienced a building boom, creating Salisbury's first suburb, or "Newtown." Mrs. Huston left Poplar Hill to her daughter Elizabeth, who initiated its sale to George Waller in 1881. (Elizabeth and her sister Isabella are commemorated in the names of neighborhood streets.)
George Waller and his family lived in the house from 1882 to 1945. Various early photos and memorabilia belonging to the Wallers are located in the Mansion’s archives. Fred A. Adkins, who purchased the property in 1945, undertook restoration work with the hope of turning the house into the local Masonic Lodge. In 1948, when this failed to materialize, the house passed to Mr. and Mrs. Ward A. Garber, who maintained an 18th century period antique shop downstairs and lived upstairs. Mrs. Garber sold the property to Wicomico County in 1970 and since 1974 the City of Salisbury has owned it as a house museum in the public trust.
Citation: http://www.poplarhillmansion.org/history0.aspx
Arrangement Statement See Nabb Center Staff
