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CHistory
History · Fruitland

Fruitland’s post office opened in 1873

More historic than 25% of U.S. towns · #157 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it

Most of Fruitland was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: maps from 1901 on and the census since 1950.

1873first post office
0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Fruitland began

When was Fruitland founded?

1873

The Fruitland post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1947. Another post office, Forktown (1840), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 1,028 in 19502020 census: 5,534153 years

How historic is Fruitland?

C

More historic than 25% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Fruitland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1947.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Fruitland’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fruitland is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #157 of 261 in Maryland. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fruitland’s overall grade.
Founding era1873, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19408.7% of homes (±7.6) · typical MD town 3.3% · U.S. 8.4%C+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MD town 0.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 25%
NewerOlder
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 40%

Few Maryland towns list much on the Register (a typical Maryland town has 0.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Fruitland’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (20% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1947.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Fruitland’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Fruitland are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Fruitland, and 6 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19013 editions of the USGS map, 1901 to 1982. Watch Fruitland change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fruitland’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fruitland’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Fruitland’s post office has been open since 1873. Another post office, Forktown, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Forktown
1840–1873
Fruitland
1873–today
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Brinkley HeightsHolly ManorLinda ManorMoores CornerSummitTall Timbers Park
1cemetery inside Fruitland
Saint Johns Methodist

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the map

Fruitland on the map, 1901 to 1982

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fruitland. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Fruitland on the 1901 USGS mapFruitland on the 1942 USGS mapFruitland on the 1982 USGS map1901Salisbury sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Fruitland.

The story

How Fruitland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fruitland.

Read it all →

Fruitland began around 1795 as Disharoon’s Cross Roads, named after George Disharoon’s home at a strategic fork in roadways decades before American independence. One of the roads was the dividing line between Somerset and Worcester Counties, making the village politically fragmented until 1867, when Wicomico County was formed from portions of the two counties.

About 1820, the village became known as Forktown, because it was located at the fork of two roads which were used by stage coaches traveling north and south. The stage coach route originated in Accomac, Virginia and continued to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The stage coaches would stop at Forktown, change horses and continue on their way.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fruitland, 1840 to 1901

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1840Post officeThe Forktown post office opens
  3. 1873Post officeThe Forktown post office closes
  4. 1873Post officeThe Fruitland post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1901On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
People over time

Fruitland, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,00019601980200020205,534

Grew from 1,028 people in 1950 to 5,534 in 2020, 5 times over.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fruitland’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Salisbury10 historic placesA−

Questions about Fruitland’s history

What year was Fruitland founded?

The Fruitland post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1947.

How does Fruitland rank for history?

Fruitland is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #157 of 261 in Maryland. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Fruitland?

9% of Fruitland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.6 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1989.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.