By Tom Range, Sr.

The names of the landowners appearing on a map of the 1870s of what was designated as East Berlin-District No.3-Worcester County, reads like the modern telephone directory. Showells, Cathells and Purnells abound.

In histories of the locale, the term "plantation" is often found being used in accounts of the origins of Ocean Pines. The image brings to mind the Tara of Scarlett, Ashley and Melanie. Though not as grand as Georgia's Tara, the land owned by members of the Purnell family, called Buckland Plantation, exceeded 2,200 acres and represented the major holding of the land that was acquired by affiliates of Boise Cascade nearly a hundred years after the map was drawn. Another major landowner was Granville Stokes, whose property straddled what is now Route 589 as it proceeds toward Route 50. He owned much of the land near what is now the South Gate of Ocean Pines.

As an addendum to the map is a listing of prominent citizens of the district. Among them were the brothers John Selby and Henry Purnell, the largest landowners who owned Buckland Plantation and H. R. Pitts, the owner of 1,000 acres in the vicinity of Berlin. Pitts is listed as president of the Wicomico & Pocomoke Rail Road, which had recently been extended to the resort area named Ocean City. Lemuel Showell is listed as a farmer. William B. R. Selby, resident of Philadelphia, is described as a "gentleman of leisure."

The earliest "dates of settlement" is 1807 though the ownership of Buckland Plantation is traceable back to the land grants of Lord Baltimore in 1683. Over the decades the dimensions of Buckland Plantation varied. Some of the acreage in the vicinity of the main holding was sold to Roland Beauchamp, whose name, pronounced locally as "Beecham," graces the road marking the northern boundary of Ocean Pines.

Virtually no industry is indicated on the 1877 map other than the steam saw mills which would have been operated by the Purnell family, described as "farmers and lumber dealers." The presence of gristmills is also indicated on the maps.

None of the historic homes of the early settlers has survived the centuries. Buckland Mansion, at the approximate site of White Horse Park, was the grandest of three residences of the Purnell family of Buckland Plantation. The mansion and the other residences of the Purnell family decayed from neglect or were destroyed by the fire of 1926 that had threatened neighboring Riddle Farms.

The only remnant of the early residents of the Ocean Pines area is the graveyard of the family of William Jones. Five graves are distinguishable by their gravestones, the earliest being that marking the grave of a two-year-old boy having been born in 1831. The latest commemoration of the deceased is that of Calvin L. Jones who died in 1913. The cemetery is situated within Ocean Pines Section 8.

Fortunately for local history buffs, there exists in the Ocean Pines/Showell area a notable historic building, St. Martin's Episcopal Church, considered by many as an architectural gem of Episcopal history on the Eastern Shore. Erected for Worcester Parish between 1756 and 1763, the church was the second building to house the St. Martin's congregation at this site. Although the land on which it stands was not officially purchased until July 1756, records indicate that there was a "chapel of ease" of All Hallows parish at this location as early as 1703, when a local planter, Roger Thomas, directed in his will that his body be buried "in the church yard at St. Martin's."

Nothing is known about this early building, as the records of All Hallows Parish no longer exist. The vestry minutes of Worcester Parish record for Tuesday the 10th of July 1756 that "the Vestry agreed with James Johnson to build a Church forty four feet square where the old chapel stands for Eighty five thousand three hundred pounds of Tobacco." Outside the building built of Flemish bond brick stands a marker erected by the Maryland Historic Trust reading "Established around 1692 as a chapel-of-ease for Snow Hill Parish. And, later in 1744, designated as the principal church of Worcester Parish. The original frame building was replaced with this Georgian brick structure, completed in 1764." Evidently the term "chapel of ease" described a church facility established for the convenience of local communicants.

Originally, the area surrounding the church was named St. Martins. The local resident Lemuel Showell, described as a farmer on the 1877 map, made two major contributions to the area. He strove for years to bring a railroad to Worcester County and to capitalize upon the nearness of the Atlantic shore to develop a seaside resort. He was successful in both efforts. He became the first president of the Wicomico & Pocomoke Rail Road, and built the first cottage on the beach of Ocean City. The name of the town was changed to Showell, pronounced locally as "Shawl," in appreciation of his efforts.