Goldsboro Town

Caroline County, Maryland

Home | Whats New | Site Index | Contact | Search

Goldsboro Town Hall is located at 505 Old Town Road, Goldsboro, MD 21636.
Phone: 410‑482‑8805.

Neighborhoods

Beginnings [1]

Goldsboro has histories related to the expansion of the railroad. The Town of Goldsboro is located near one of Caroline County's most historic colonial estates, Castle Hall. Located between the Towns of Henderson and Greensboro, Goldsboro was ideally situated to take advantage of regional railroad transportation corridors. Goldsboro flourished through the exportation of agricultural goods to the North via the railroad. In 1873, a cannery was constructed. By 1889, Goldsboro had grown considerably and included a country store. By 1907, the population had grown to over 200 people.

Goldsboro is one of the railroad towns that were created by the establishment of the Delaware and Chesapeake Railroad in 1867. Owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad, the line was designed to provide shipping for goods and products from the Eastern Shore to communities, farmers, and markets in Philadelphia and other cities. In addition, the Railroad encouraged the development of communities at rail stops to ensure that there would be natural market points for local products.

Towns, such as Goldsboro, Ridgely, and Hillsboro in Caroline County were laid out by speculators who sold house lots and some commercial and industrial lots within each community. Within a short time of its creation, the community at Goldsboro, originally known as "Old Town" was a small prosperous town with a village core, residential buildings, and several small industrial and canning operations. The Town's name was changed to Goldsborough about 1870 to honor Dr. G.W. Goldsborough, the owner of most of the land around the town. Eventually the name was shortened to Goldsboro.

Goldsboro remained a small rural village throughout the end of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. The railroad provided access to markets. Several small nearby canneries provided employment and a processing facility for local fruits and vegetables. As the town prospered, roads were built to connect Goldsboro with other regional centers. Route. 287 or Sandtown Road was built in 1871 as Sandy Island Road. This road connected Goldsboro with Dover and central Delaware. In 1919, a bridge was built over the Choptank River on the Sandtown Road to provide a better connection with Delaware highways.

The railroad faded as a source for transport with the introduction of paved and all-weather highways, along with larger and more powerful trucks, food processing could be conducted at larger more centralized plants that provided an opportunity for companies to cut costs and to be nearer their markets. Although this did not occur overnight, by the middle of the 1960s, both the vegetable packing plant and the milk plant had closed. The milk plant closed over the 1961 and 1962 calendar years.

  1. Goldsboro, Maryland Planning Commission with Community Planning and Assistance, Maryland Rural Development Corporation, Goldsboro Comprehensive Plan, 2009, planning.maryland.gov, accessed June, 2015.

Home | Whats New | Site Index | Contact
Privacy | Disclaimer

Copyright © 1997-2024, The Gombach Group