Poplar Hill Mansion has decided to turn the space in our second floor hallway into a temporary exhibit space. Every year, we will feature a new exhibit pertaining to the history of PHM, the City of Salisbury, or the Federal Period in general. Starting soon and running through the end of next year, we will feature Childhood in the Early 1800s. The first family of PHM had four daughters all raised here at the Mansion. What was their life like? What did they do for fun? What kind of things did they play at? How was it different for boys and girls? This exhibit will showcase artifacts recently donated to PHM from Margaret Reed. Mrs. Reed is 100 years young and was an antiques dealer most of her life. She personally collected miniatures. Her collection features children’s tea sets, Early American Pressed Glass (EAPG) items, tin coffee pots, flatware with bone handles, a bedwarmer, and various other items, including the child size hutch pictured. The exhibit will also include items from PHM’s existing collection of children’s items and some new acquisitions such as a doll’s bed and child’s trunk (see featured artifact), as well as a couple new pieces of artwork depicting children in the early 1800s. We are very excited about this new exhibit and look forward to sharing information and having everyone come in and see all the new to us collection of artifacts.

It is with a heavy heart that we have to cancel the PHM Festival for June 20, 2020, as well as other upcoming events for the forseeable future. This decision was not made lightly, but given the current situation regarding COVID-19 and the uncertainty for how long social distancing protocals currently in place will last, under guidance from the City of Salisbury, we have to think about the safety of guests, staff, volunteers, vendors, and other participants. It will not be rescheduled for this year, rather we look forward to seeing you all next year on June 19, 2021 when we will all be able to gather safely and celebrate the history, heritage, and resiliance of Salisbury. Thank you all, and we hope you and all your loved ones stay safe during this time. 

The year 2020 marks a major anniversary for PHM as we celebrate the 225^th Anniversary of the foundation being laid in 1795*.  Levin Handy, a distant cousin of the Handy family of Pemberton, bought Pemberton’s Good Will (what would later be nicknamed Poplar Hill Mansion). He started to farm the land and also began construction on an ambitious house. The house he planned was a four and a half story structure. It was designed in the style of a New England Federal period house. The distinguishing feature between homes of New England and the homes of the same style in the Mid-Atlantic is the construction material. The Mid-Atlantic is known for their homes being built of bricks, while New England has homes made of wood. Why did Handy choose the New England style? Handy is from Rhode Island and decided to build in the style known and familiar to him. More than likely, Handy and his wife had a small cabin like structure on the property while the main farm house was being constructed (although, no evidence of such a structure has been found). In 1795, the brick foundation of the house was laid and construction began. It would take ten years to construct the house. During that time, Handy would go bankrupt and a warrant would be issued by the Worcester County Sherriff for the seizure of the property. Shortly after, Hany died and his widow sold off all the property, including the unfinished house, in order to repay all the debt Handy had accumulated. Levin Handy never got to live in the house he began, but it survives as Salisbury’s oldest house.

*Stayed tuned this year for a special commemorative event!

We’ve had some strong storms come through Salisbury this year, especially on the night of July 11. This has caused one of the locust trees in the back yard to come down. It simply fell over, taking up the roots with it. Fortunately, it fell directly into the parking lot, away from the house and caused no damage, also missing the fence and the curator’s vehicle. It fell with such force, that it shook the entire house. We were lucky. Our Garden Chair and Horticulturist, David Scheid, estimated it was about 140 years old based on the rings. That is old, but not as old as the house. It would have been planted during the Victorian period of the Mansion, probably by the Waller family who owned the house from 1881-1945. In, fact there are no trees that are original to the property, as there probably were not many ornamental trees on the property. That was common during the Federal Period; yards and lawns, as we know them, are much more of a Victorian tradition. The City of Salisbury Field Operations Division came out the very next morning to assess the damage. They started immediately cleaning up and removing the fallen tree, so that mid afternoon there was no sign that a tree had ever actually been there (save the large hole left behind). We have already been asked if we are going to replace the tree and that decision will be made by the Garden Chair in conjunction with the Maryland Historical Trust. Since we are an easement property and our easement extends into the grounds, we have to make sure we follow the guidelines set forth under our easement. Thank you agin to the City of Salisbury for being so quick in your response and also thank you to Tom Stevenson for checking on the safety of our Curator almost right after the tree fell and to Mike Konipick for clearing out some of the debris to make it possible for the Curator to remove her vehicle in case of an emergency.

We want to thank EVERYONE who came out to the Award-Winning Second Annual Poplar Hill Mansion Festival held June 15! The weather could not have been more perfect for the day. The festival included some of the favorites from last year such as, The Friends of Maryland’s War of 1812, Chesapeake Independent Blues re-enactors, the Royal Marines, interpreting the British side of the War of 1812, the Dover Country Dancers, Canzona Diversa, live sheep from the Look Pretty, Play Dirty Mobile Petting Farm, and the Wicomico County 4-H, once again doing archery demonstrations. We also welcomed back many of our vendors and had some new vendors, such as Sandyhook Art Glass Studios, Crescent Moon Jewelry, and Pedestal Plates by Susan Peacock. Our kid’s activities tent and spinning demonstrations were big hits with children. Once again, we’d also like to thank Judge Robin Roberts for presiding over our Locked in the Stocks “court.”

We’d also like to give a great big thank you to all our sponsors and those who supported the Festival with donations and financial contributions:

The City of Salisbury, Robinson’s Printing, Rise Up Coffee, Parties Etc., Farmers & Planters, Avery Hall Insurance, Weisner Real Estate, The Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore, The Ward Museum

We could not have done the Festival without all of you! To see more pictures of this year’s Festival, please visit our website or Facebook page. Be sure to mark your calendar for next year’s Festival on June 20, 2020.