[1] In the October 16, 1968 edition of the Daily Times in Salisbury, it was reported that the overall cost of the mall had exceeded $7 million, and the parking lot could accommodate 3,300 vehicles.

Salisbury Mall's location on Civic and Glen Avenues was situated between a residential neighborhood and businesses along U.S. Route 50.

The Wicomico Youth and Civic Center was within 100 yards (91 m) of the mall, and the city park and Salisbury Zoo were also within walking distance.

[8] Although an opening-day advertisement for the mall claimed that shoppers could browse "all forty stores",[9] only sixteen were ready to open on the first day of operation.

[10] The mall claimed it would be "one of America's most beautiful shopping centers", and "an enchanting fantasyland of cascading fountains, lovely gardens, greenery, and flowers.

Originally operated by Cinecom Theatres and named simply "Mall Cinema," the theater featured the latest technology—xenon lamps, a "picture window radiant screen" and "RCA high fidelity sound"—for its 350 seats.

[16] Eight years after its original opening, the Salisbury Mall underwent a major renovation and expansion, with construction beginning in November of 1975.

The mall's interior flooring, originally white ceramic tiles, was replaced with a parquet style during the renovation.

The bypass extension to Route 50 west of Salisbury, planned for 1991, will further expand the accessibility of the mall to the majority of shore-bound traffic from Baltimore and Washington.

Hecht's and Sears relocated to the newly built mall in November 1991 as their leases expired,[33] leaving Peebles and Food Depot as the only remaining anchors.

Foot traffic decreased as national chains left the mall, due in part to concerns about crime and lax security.

[35] On September 9, 1991, a seventeen-year-old Salisbury State University freshman student from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was murdered when she separated from a group of friends to use the restroom.

Boyd continues to serve his sentence at the Maryland Correctional Institution - Hagerstown, located halfway between Salisbury and the victim's hometown of Pittsburgh.

The mall held 51 stores at this point, although fewer than ten were national brands, and Orange Julius was the only remaining eatery.

Because of the mall's flat roof, leaks were often a problem,[40] and the original west wing was now going without basic upkeep and maintenance.

[41]The mall deteriorated rapidly; the original west wing caught fire due to an electrical short in 2000, and some parts of the building were condemned.

That left only Food Depot, The Connection, Illusion's Games and Comics, a branch of Sojourner-Douglass College, a martial arts academy, and a handful of small businesses.

A final 2007 Daily Times opinion piece on the old mall concludes: "It is now filled with mold, rotted by water damage and neglect, and unsafe for use or restoration.

Cleanup occurred from December 2007 to April 2008: the remaining 40,000 tons of debris, consisting of the steel frame and masonry, was shipped to nearby recyclers.

Construction was scheduled to begin in June 2008; however, these plans were put on hold due to the housing slump, and later the Great Recession that followed.

The plaintiff was granted permission, by Wicomico County Circuit Court judge Donald C. Davis, to cancel their contract and pull out of the Village at Salisbury Lake development on September 29, 2008.