Snow Hill was founded in 1686 by English settlers who may have named it after a street and neighborhood of the City of London called "Snow Hill." The town received its first charter on the October 26, 1686, and was made a port of entry in 1694.
Prior to 1742, when Worcester County was carved out of Somerset County and Snow Hill was made the county seat - Snow Hill had been a trading post and the head of navigation on the Pocomoke River.
Trade was the "engine" that drove commerce in the town and the Pocomoke River was the "highway". As the public came to trade, the residential population grew, businesses were established and churches and educational facilities were built. Prior to the turn of the twentieth century, Snow Hill resting on the banks of a navigable river, with its booming commerce became the business and cultural center of Worcester County. It became a town of gracious living, where merchants, bankers, farmers and sea captains built fine homes showing off their prosperity.
Snow Hill also became an attractive place for craft specialists, who became markedly successful not only because of the local population, but also due to the town's proximity to a navigable river which allowed both import and export of goods. Successful craft specialists prospered and as a result were able to afford lots of their own and the ability to build remarkable dwellings on those lots.