Wicomico County includes several notable attractions: the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art, named for Lem and Steve Ward of Crisfield, Maryland, whose skill and vision elevated traditional decoy carving to a fine art form, holds the world’s most comprehensive collection of wildfowl carving and art and includes changing exhibits, a habitat theater, a recreated Ward Brothers’ workshop, a championship gallery, and galleries tracing the history and major flyways of innumerable wildfowl species; Poplar Hill Mansion, a transitional Georgian house begun in 1795 by Levin Handy and completed in 1805 by Dr. John D. Huston, Salisbury’s first prominent physician, survived the great fires of 1860 and 1886, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and was once a 228-acre working plantation; the Salisbury Zoological Park is a 12-acre city zoo on a branch of the Wicomico River with natural habitats for about 400 birds, mammals, and reptiles; and Pemberton Historical Park, on the western bank of the Wicomico River, includes Pemberton Hall, a brick gambrel-roofed plantation home built in 1741 where Isaac Handy established his home and working plantation, along with a museum, exhibits of local history, and 4-1/2 miles of trails through varied landscapes.
