By Brian Shane

Staff Writer

(Aug. 13, 2026) Snow Hill could lean harder into arts and entertainment. Or it could shape its downtown economy around paddling, fishing, hunting, and outdoor tourism.

Whatever the answer, town officials say they will need to choose a direction as part of a bigger decision: What should Snow Hill’s Main Street district be known for?

“Anytime you go somewhere to a neighborhood or to a small town, you often will get kind of like a vibe, right? A feeling of what is that place all about,” Economic Development and Main Street Manager Jennifer Demas told the Town Council on July 28.

Snow Hill is participating in Maryland’s state-run Main Street program, which helps towns strengthen their downtown business districts.

The program aims to help towns convert their identity into a healthier downtown – one with fewer empty buildings, more businesses and jobs, and a clearer reason for people to visit and shop.

“It really is about, again, focusing down to ideally one sort of core identity that we want to promote for Snow Hill,” Demas said.

Council members at the meeting inquired about the program’s board structure and downtown boundaries, but they did not weigh in on which transformation strategy Snow Hill should pursue, and no path forward was selected.

Now recognized as an aspiring Main Street community, Snow Hill is about six months into a two-year state training program, Demas said.

She said the town expects to apply for full Main Street designation in 2027, with hopes of receiving it by the end of that year. Full designation would increase its annual Main Street Improvement Grant to about $34,000.

To get there, the town must develop what the program calls a transformation strategy – a focused plan that would guide business recruitment, marketing, downtown improvements, events, and other investments.

Demas said Snow Hill already has an arts and entertainment district, historic character, and an active volunteer organization in Downtown Snow Hill. She also raised outdoor recreation and tourism as another possible direction.

The next step? Figuring out which of those should be the new centerpiece.

If Snow Hill chose arts and entertainment, its economic development efforts could focus on attracting artists and arts-related businesses, while promotional work could tell the stories of artists already working in town.

A recreation and tourism strategy could instead focus on attracting businesses and visitors connected to paddling, hunting, fishing, and similar outdoorsy activities.

An eventual choice would require broader community involvement before the town and Downtown Snow Hill turn it into a detailed work plan, Demas added.

Snow Hill must also show continued support from the mayor and council, maintain a Main Street manager, dedicate funding to the program, and track its progress. Those measurements would include the number of occupied and vacant buildings, jobs created or lost, public and private investment, and volunteer participation.

Moving forward, Demas said enforcement of the town’s ordinance on vacant properties will also important. That’s because empty or neglected buildings work against the central goal of putting properties back into use and strengthening the local economy.