Pole barns and barndominiums in Snow Hill, Maryland.
Building in Snow Hill.
Snow Hill has been the Worcester County seat since 1742, and the Worcester County Courthouse, the Julia A. Purnell Museum and All Hallows Episcopal Church are among its landmarks. The town was founded in 1686 at the head of navigation on the Pocomoke River, and many downtown buildings went up in the late 1800s and early 1900s, after fires in 1844 and 1893.
In town, a garage has to work around older houses and lots. Outside the limits, Worcester’s farmland has room for a pole barn or an equipment building. Either way, the first step is finding out which office covers your parcel and what it requires. Snow Hill is about 77 miles from our Dover office, about 108 minutes by car.
- County
- Worcester County, Maryland
- Population
- 2,156 (2020 Census)
- ZIP code
- 21863
- From our office
- About 1 hr 48 min (77 miles) by car
- Permits
- Town of Snow Hill, Codes Enforcement Officer
- Main roads
- US 113 (Worcester Highway bypass), US 113 Business (Market Street), MD 12 (Snow Hill Road / Church and Washington Streets), MD 365 (Public Landing Road)
Permits and rules in Snow Hill.
Inside town limits, the Town of Snow Hill handles building and zoning permits. Worcester County’s building code section applies everywhere except incorporated towns, and the county’s permit office handles only unincorporated areas. The Maryland Department of Labor lists the Town’s Codes Enforcement Officer as Snow Hill’s building-code contact (P.O. Box 348, Snow Hill, MD 21863; 410-632-2080). We confirm the Town’s current setbacks and forms with that office, and for a lot in the historic district, whether a new outbuilding needs historic review.
Snow Hill sits on the Pocomoke, and Worcester’s Chesapeake Bay Critical Area follows the tidal river from 1,000 feet beyond the head of tide at Whiton Crossing. New development there keeps a buffer of at least 100 feet of natural or planted vegetation from tidal waters, tidal wetlands and tributary streams, and where active farming exists, a vegetated filter strip of at least 25 feet may be required. Whether a given in-town lot is mapped in the Critical Area is a question for the Town.
Who issues the permit
Town of Snow Hill, Codes Enforcement Officer
- Address
- P.O. Box 348, Snow Hill, MD 21863
- Phone
- 410-632-2080
- Website
- Permit information(opens in a new tab)
Where this comes from
- dllr.state.md.us (opens in a new tab)
- ecode360.com (opens in a new tab)
- worcestermd.gov (opens in a new tab)
Permit details checked October 2026. Rules change, so we confirm the current requirements for your parcel before anything is drawn.
What people build around Snow Hill.
Snow Hill is the seat of a farm county: Worcester had 361 farms on 104,121 acres in 2022, with poultry and grain making up most of its farm sales. Around town, that means equipment buildings and machinery storage on working farms, and a horse barn on a few acres. On an in-town lot, the likely project is a detached garage or a workshop, drawn to the Town’s setbacks.
Snow Hill questions.
Have a question about your property? Call 302-399-4420 and we’ll look it up.
Worcester County’s permit office is in Snow Hill. Does it issue in-town permits?
No. The Worcester County Department of Development Review & Permitting (DRP) works from the Government Center at 1 W. Market St., but it processes permits only for unincorporated parts of the county. Inside town limits, the Town of Snow Hill handles them. If your land is outside the limits, DRP at (410) 632-1200 is the office.
Do farm buildings outside Snow Hill need a permit?
Yes. We have found no Worcester County exemption for farm buildings, and DRP’s checklist sends “agricultural structures of any size” through a zoning permit application. That application needs only a simplified floor plan with dimensions, rather than the three sets of construction plans a building permit takes, and zoning rules still apply.
How far is Snow Hill from your office?
Our office at 575 N Dupont Hwy in Dover is about 77 miles away, and the drive takes about 108 minutes. However far the drive, final payment does not come due until the building passes its final inspection.
Let’s plan your building in Snow Hill.
Tell us what you’d like to build and where, and we’ll come back with drawings and a free quote.
- info@pbuincde.com
- Office
- 575 N Dupont Hwy, Dover, DE 19901 (opens Google Maps in a new tab)
- Hours
- Mon to Fri, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm
- We build in
- Snow Hill and all of Worcester County