History

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Stockton, originally called Sandy Hill, originated at the crossing of the post road from Snow Hill south to Virginia with the road from Mattapony Landing on the Pocomoke River to the Chincoteague Bay (the eastern part of which is now Maryland Route 366), where small ocean-going vessels could drop anchor. The landing on Chincoteague Bay came to be known as George Island Landing and is still in use to this day.

 

Settlement in the area began in the 1660s, when the area was still part of Somerset County.  Worcester County was separated from Somerset in 1742, and by 1774 Sandy Hill had grown large enough to merit a chapel of ease within All Hallows' Parish (today called Holy Cross Chapel). In 1870, the^[2] name of the town was officially changed from Sandy Hill to Stockton, commemorating the Rev. Thomas H. Stockton, a prominent Methodist minister.^[3] In 1872 the Worcester County election district which took its name from Sandy Hill was renamed Stockton.

 

In 1857 the first Episcopal Church at Stockton (then known as Sandy Hill) was built through the effort of the Reverend John Rosse, who was the rector at All Hallows Parish in Snow Hill. This "Chapel of the Cross" building was destroyed by fire and its exact location has not been determined. The present building, known as the Chapel of the Holy Cross, was built during the tenure of the Reverend Thomas Flower, in about 1850. At one time, the chapel had a congregation which drew from Greenbackville, VA to Girdletree, MD. Services were held until 1943 when they were discontinued due to poor attendance. In 1951, services resumed twice a month, continuing until 1961 when the membership was combined with that of All Hallows.

 

In 1876, a railroad (which would eventually become part of the Pennsylvania Railroad) was laid from Franklin City and Greenbackville in Virginia to Snow Hill. The line's main purpose was to haul seafood harvested from the Atlantic Ocean and Chincoteague Bay to Philadelphia The line also carried passengers. The station at Stockton was named Hursley Station.

 

The center of Stockton was destroyed by fire in 1906, but was soon rebuilt, with many of the new buildings constructed of brick. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Stockton boasted a hotel, five churches, a post office, three stores, a canning factory, two sawmills, and two barrel factories. However, the overfishing of Chincoteague Bay led to a permanent decline in the commercial seafood industry.

 

A new Stockton High School was dedicated in 1926. Grades 7-11 were discontinued in 1942, but first through sixth grades continued until 1960, when the school was closed. Stockton's only bank failed in 1929. Passenger trains ended service in the late 1940s, and the last freight train made its final run through Stockton in approximately 1955.The Stockton Poultry Plant opened as World War II ended, but closed around 1970. The post office was closed in 2012.