Announcing the FY2024 Historic Preservation Non-Capital Grant Awards

MHT is excited to announce the FY2024 recipients of our Historic Preservation Non-Capital grants! Funded through the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority Financing Fund, this grant program supports a wide variety of research, survey, planning, and educational activities involving architectural, archaeological, or cultural resources. 

This year, a total of $300,000 is being awarded to non-profit organizations and universities for an exciting slate of eight projects across the state. Below are descriptions of all the projects awarded:  

The Early 17^th-Century Jesuit Mission at Potapaco Town​ – St. Mary’s College of Maryland ($33,000) 

St. Mary’s College of Maryland, in partnership with the Piscataway Conoy Tribe and the Maryland Park Service, will conduct archaeological testing at Potabaco I, a centuries-old Indigenous settlement at Chapel Point State Park and possible Jesuit mission to the Potapaco Indians. This site is threatened by climate change-related erosion, and this project will seek to document those threats and provide recommendations on how to plan for the future. In addition, interpretive materials will be developed for the Maryland Park Service. 

Artifacts discovered at a Piscataway site. Photo courtesy of grantee.  

Tracking Native American Cultural Heritage of Maryland’s Upper Eastern Shore ​– Washington College ($40,000) 

To enhance our understanding of the Native American cultural landscape in the Upper Choptank watershed, the Washington College Archaeology Lab will conduct an archaeological survey and excavation within Caroline County. Climate-induced sea-level rise and erosion, coupled with a robust five-year strategic plan for economic development, threaten resources located along the shorelines of the Upper Choptank and its tributaries. Field and laboratory work will be conducted as a public archaeology endeavor and new Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties (MIHP) Archaeology Site Forms will be produced. 

Dr. Julie Markin of Washington College. MHT staff photo. 

Queen Anne’s County Architectural Heritage Book Project – Kent Island Heritage Society ($62,000) 

This project will constitute the first phase of work to create a book on the early architectural heritage of Queen Anne’s County. It will include research and fieldwork, as well as introductory and contextual essays analyzing the changes in buildings and landscapes from the earliest European settlement through the industrial period. The completed publication will include topical studies on pre-industrial Queen Anne’s County architecture; summaries of significant, representative properties; and engaging photographs. 

Dudley Chapel, Queen Anne’s County. MHT staff photo.

Documenting Dairy Farms in Maryland, Phase III​ – University of Delaware ($30,000) 

Building on Phases I and II of this project, the University of Delaware’s Center for Historic Architecture and Design will conduct a cultural resource survey of historic dairy farms and their associated structures in Baltimore and Howard counties. The work will include approximately 10 MIHP Architecture Forms, a selection of measured drawings, and brief historic contexts on dairy farming in each county. 

Indian Spring Farm 2, Harford County. Photo courtesy of grantee.

Phase II: Architectural Survey of US Route 1​ – Anacostia Trails Heritage Area ($50,000) 

This Phase II project will survey US Route 1 from the southwestern Baltimore City line to the Pennsylvania state line, including Baltimore City, and Baltimore, Cecil, and Harford counties. Phase I was funded by an FY2022 Historic Preservation Non-Capital grant. The work will include a literature review and a supplemental research report for the project area, a reconnaissance-level survey, and 5-8 MIHP Architecture Forms for selected properties. 

Beltsville Garage, Prince George’s County. Photo courtesy of grantee. 

Architectural and Archaeological Survey of the Westminster Historic District – City of Westminster ($30,000) 

This work will produce an updated National Register nomination and supporting documentation for the Westminster Historic District, originally completed in 1980. The new research will expand upon topics such as the rural free delivery system, the area’s Civil War history, and underrepresented histories of the African American, Irish, and Greek communities of Westminster. 

Shellman House in Westminster Historic District, Carroll County. MHT staff photo.

Curating the Mayr Collection: Artifacts and Records of Archaeological Sites  ​- The Lost Towns Project ($40,000) 

The Lost Towns Project will enhance their stewardship of the recently obtained Thomas Mayr collection, amassed from over 50 years of systematic collecting in central and southern Maryland. Before these collections can yield valuable information on sites in these areas, the collection needs to be professionally curated, processed, and cataloged. Funds will support an interdisciplinary team of professionals who will process and rehouse the collection to Maryland State curation standards, create a digital catalog of the artifacts and associated documentary materials, update MIHP Archaeology Site Forms, and produce a technical report. 

Processing of artifacts. Photo courtesy of grantee.

Condition Assessment for the Lemuel Wallace House​ – American Chestnut Land Trust ($15,000) 

This project will produce a condition assessment report for the Lemuel Wallace House, one of the best-preserved cultural resources on hiking trails maintained by the American Chestnut Land Trust in Calvert County. Wallace was an African American farmer and landowner in the community of Parkers Creek. The report will detail the most urgent preservation, maintenance, and conservation needs, as well as develop treatment strategies and cost estimates for recommended treatments. 

Lemuel Wallace House, Calvert County. MHT staff photo.

Availability of FY2025 funds through the Historic Preservation Non-Capital Grant Program will be announced in the spring of 2024 on MHT’s website ( https://mht.maryland.gov/Pages/funding/grants-noncapital.aspx). Application deadlines and workshop dates will also be found on this page at that time.  

For more information about the grant program, please contact Heather Barrett, Administrator of Architectural Research at MHT, at 410-697-9536 or heather.barrett@maryland.gov.  For information about organizations receiving grants, please contact the institutions directly. 

Announcing the FY2023 Historic Preservation Non-Capital Grant Awards

MHT is proud to share the FY2023 recipients of our Historic Preservation Non-Capital grants! Funded through the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority Financing Fund, this grant program supports a wide variety of research, survey, planning, and educational activities involving architectural, archaeological, or cultural resources.

This year, a total of $300,000 is being awarded to non-profit organizations and universities for an exciting slate of ten projects across the state. Below are descriptions of all the projects awarded: 

2023 Tyler Bastian Field Session in Maryland Archeology – The Archeological Society of Maryland, Inc. 

($15,000) 

While official dates and location have not yet been determined, this annual event will likely be held at the Chapel Branch Prehistoric Site in Caroline County in the spring of 2023. The field session provides a hands-on opportunity for laypersons to learn archaeological methods under the direction of professional archaeologists. The funds will cover field session expenses as well as the hiring of a contractor to produce a final report and prepare artifacts for permanent curation, all according to State standards.

Fieldwork Photo from the 2022 Tyler Bastian Field Session

Women in Maryland Architecture – Baltimore Architecture Foundation, Inc. 

($45,700) 

This project will nominate properties designed by early women architects to the National Register of Historic Places. This work constitutes the second phase of the project; the first phase involved the creation of a Multiple Property Documentation Form, “Women in Maryland Architecture, 1920-1970,” and one supporting nomination for the Hirsch Residence. 

Hirsch Residence in Havre de Grace, designed by Poldi Hirsch (Baltimore Sun, 1973)

Recovering Identity: African American Historic Context Study in Frederick County – Frederick County, Maryland

($35,000)

As part of this project, Frederick County will partner with the African American Resources Cultural and Heritage Society to create an African American Historic Context Study of Frederick County. This work will expand on the completed Phase I, which involved a context statement and survey of Black resources in northern Frederick County. The proposed project will focus on identifying and researching historic and cultural themes to create a more comprehensive picture of the African American experience in Frederick County.

The Wolfe House in Lewistown was surveyed in Phase I. (Photo by John W. Murphey)

Growing a County: A Study of Anne Arundel’s Agricultural Heritage – Anne Arundel County, Maryland 

($46,000) 

This project seeks to write a thematic report entitled “Growing a County: Agricultural Heritage in Anne Arundel.” It will provide a detailed examination of the history and evolution of agricultural practices from pre-historic times into the 20th century and specify resource types for documentation and preservation. The document will also highlight the contributions of enslaved workers and immigrant labor to the county’s agricultural heritage.

Franklin Farm in Anne Arundel County

Modeling Wooden Shipwreck Deterioration in the Potomac River: Interdisciplinary Approaches – Program in Maritime Studies, East Carolina University (via ECU Foundation)

($30,000) 

This project will fund important archaeological-biological baseline research on the hull of the wooden shipwreck Aowa in Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary. The Maritime Studies Program at East Carolina University, which conducted a maritime field school at the site in 2022, will revisit Aowa every 3-4 months over 2023-2024, carrying out a detailed environmental sampling regimen to understand how natural processes are impacting Aowa’s hull. This research and the report it produces will be used to build new models to aid in the effective evaluation and protection of Maryland’s maritime cultural heritage and assist the future management of the shipwrecks at Mallows Bay during a time of global environmental change.

Archaeological Research Underway at the Wooden Shipwreck Aowa

Historic Preservation of Cedar Haven & Eagle Harbor, Maryland – Cedar Haven Civic Association on the Patuxent River, Inc.

($30,600) 

The project work includes the preparation of one National Register district nomination for the Town of Eagle Harbor and one Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties form for Cedar Haven. Founded in the late 1920s, Eagle Harbor and Cedar Haven were African American waterfront neighborhoods that provided an escape from the summer heat and city life during the segregation era.

Eagle Harbor in Prince George’s County

Herring Run Park Comprehensive Archaeological Investigations – Towson University

($30,000) 

This project will conduct an archaeological survey of Herring Run Park in Baltimore City. The project will include a shovel test pit survey and ground penetrating radar survey of areas with high potential for intact cultural resources at the Park. The collective archaeological survey results will be used to update MIHP data, write a summary report, and plan Towson University’s 2024 Summer Archaeological Field School.

Towson University assistant professor Katherine Sterner and her students conduct field work in southern York County, Pennsylvania (Photo by Lauren Castellana/Towson University)

Applegarth Tubman Medicine Hill Historic Preservation Project–Stage Four (MHT) – Applegarth Tubman Medicine Hill Preservation and Education Foundation, Inc.

($16,200) 

This project will conduct a conditions assessment with treatment strategies for Medicine Hill, an early nineteenth-century domestic and agricultural complex that is one of the most complete in Dorchester County. It is associated with the Tubman and inter-related Applegarth families, and is threatened by rising sea levels due to climate change.

MHT staff photo of Medicine Hill in Dorchester County

The Search for Lord Dunmore’s Floating City – Institute of Maritime History, Inc.

($20,000) 

The Institute of Maritime History (IMH) will perform historical research and underwater archaeological survey in Maryland waters in order to locate and identify any cultural resources related to the Revolutionary War-era occupation of St George’s Island and scuttling of numerous vessels there in 1776. IMH volunteers will be taught proper archaeological survey techniques, non-disturbance site recording, research, and report preparation. A report detailing the results of fieldwork will be submitted to MHT.

Logo of the Insitute of Maritime History (IMH)

St. John’s College Campus History – St. John’s College

($22,500) 

This project will involve research and documentation at St. John’s College, including an examination of the history of enslaved people in relationship to the St. John’s College campus. The work will also include updating existing architectural survey data in the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties.

MHT staff photo of McDowell Hall on St. John’s College campus in Annapolis

Availability of FY2024 funds through the Historic Preservation Non-Capital Grant Program will be announced in the spring of 2023 on MHT’s website (https://mht.maryland.gov/grants_noncap.shtml). Application deadlines and workshop dates will also be found on this page at that time. 

For more information about the grant program, please contact Heather Barrett, Administrator of Architectural Research at MHT, at 410-697-9536 or heather.barrett@maryland.gov.  For information about organizations receiving grants, please contact the institutions directly. 

Announcing the FY2022 Historic Preservation Capital Grant Recipients!

By Barbara Fisher, Capital Grant Administrator

We are pleased to announce the FY2022 Historic Preservation Capital grant recipients! The Historic Preservation Capital Grant Program provides support for preservation-related acquisition and construction projects, as well as for architectural, engineering, archaeology, and consulting services needed in the development of a construction project. All assisted properties must be either eligible for or listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the list of historic and culturally significant properties maintained by the National Park Service. Nonprofits, local jurisdictions, business entities, and individuals may apply for up to $100,000 per project. Projects compete for funding out of our $600,000 program allotment each year. 

In FY2022, MHT received more than 40 applications requesting a combined total of over $3.2 million, which demonstrates a very strong demand for this funding.  MHT awarded seven preservation projects throughout the state, including a unique window restoration, a 19^th century bank barn, and the home of a significant civil rights advocate. Read more about all our newly funded capital grant projects below.  

Chase-Lloyd House, Anne Arundel County ($99,000) | Sponsor: Chase Home, Inc.

Located in downtown Annapolis, the Chase-Lloyd House was completed by noted colonial-era architect William Buckland in 1774. The house is associated with Samuel Chase, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, among other prominent figures in early Maryland and American history. For over 130 years the house served as an independent living facility for elderly women, but is now used as the headquarters for the facility operator, Chase Home, Inc. The grant supports the restoration of the large, Palladian window, a dominant feature visible from the entry hall, stairway, and surrounding garden of this three-story Georgian mansion. Named for Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, these three-part windows derived from classical forms and were often incorporated into the design of wealthy American homes in the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries. 

Image by MHT Staff

Charles H. Chipman Cultural Center, Wicomico County ($100,000) | Sponsor: The Chipman Foundation, Inc.

The Charles H. Chipman Center is the oldest African American congregation and the first site for African Americans to hold religious services in the region during and after slavery, the first school for children of freed slaves in the region, and the first Delmarva high school for African American children after the Civil War. The original church dates to 1838 but has been enlarged and evolved stylistically to what you see today. The building currently serves as a cultural center and small museum focusing on African American heritage on Delmarva. The wood shingle roof of the building has reached the end of its useful life, so the capital grant funds will help replace the roof in-kind. 

Image by MHT Staff

Buckingham House and Industrial School Complex – Bank Barn, Frederick County ($100,000) | Sponsor: Claggett Center

Established in 1898 to provide housing and education for boys in poverty, the Buckingham Industrial School for Boys includes a 6,300 square foot, hemlock-framed Pennsylvania Bank Barn. The barn represents a type of large agricultural outbuilding found throughout central and northern Maryland, and still retains its original pine siding, wood roof and interiors. These barns were generally built into the side of a small hill and have an earthen ramp which provides access to a second floor. Capital grant funds will help restore the barn’s doors and stone cheek walls and reconstruct the roof vents to match the original design. The barn will be used as a meeting space and for youth summer camp programming. 

Image by grantee

Elk Landing – Stone House, Cecil County ($61,000) | Sponsor: The Historic Elk Landing Foundation, Inc.

The Stone House at Elk Landing, built in 1782-83, is significant for its architecture and association with early Scandinavian and Finnish settlement in Maryland.  Its simple fieldstone construction, center hall plan (although missing due to deterioration), and symmetrical massing are characteristic of late 18th-century vernacular dwellings in northeastern Maryland. The house includes a rare exterior-corner fireplace that is vented at the eaves (pictured below). More typical in Maryland is the other fireplace in the house, which are found back-to-back at interior corners and share a common chimney stack that exits at the roof ridge. The Historic Elk Landing Foundation currently operates the house for historical interpretation and fundraising activities, although limited due to its condition. Capital grant funds will help restore the stone fireplaces and exterior masonry work. 

Image by grantee

Parren J. Mitchell House and Cultural Center, Baltimore City ($100,000) | Sponsor: Upton Planning Committee, Inc.

This property is best known as the long-time home of Parren J. Mitchell, a renowned professor, scholar, and Maryland’s first African American U.S. Congressman, serving from 1971-1987. A WWII veteran and Purple Heart recipient, Mitchell also helped found the Congressional Black Caucus. In 1950 he won a landmark legal case against the segregated University of Maryland to allow him admission into their graduate school. He became the first African American to graduate with a master’s degree from the University, and his case is considered instrumental in desegregation of higher education in Maryland. Capital grant funds will help complete an overall interior and exterior rehabilitation of the house, which has a planned use as a community and resource center.

Image by grantee

Easton Armory, Talbot County ($90,000) | Sponsor: Waterfowl Festival Inc.

The imposing Easton Armory, also known as the Waterfowl Building, reflects the period when armories were built to resemble fortresses. Built in 1927, the building served as an armory and social space for the Easton community until it was acquired by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources in 1976. Since 1997, the building has primarily served as administrative headquarters for Waterfowl Festival, Inc., providing space for staff, volunteers, storage, and is also used as an event space. Capital grant funds will help complete the rehabilitation of several original metal windows.  

Image by MHT staff

Hays House, Harford County ($50,000) | Sponsor: The Historical Society of Harford County, Inc. 

Constructed ca.1788, the Hays House was originally owned by Thomas A. Hays, the cartographer of the earliest known map of the town.  It is the oldest private residence in Bel Air, distinguished by its gambrel roof – the only one in town. The house has not been altered much over time; however, in 1960, preservation advocates moved it one block from its original site to save it from demolition. Hays House now serves as a house museum and the headquarters of the Historical Society of Harford County. The capital grant project will assist in restoring the north wall, which is severely deteriorated due to prolonged moisture issues. 

Image by MHT staff

***If you intend to apply for the FY2023 Historic Preservation Capital grant round, please join us for workshops and webinars this fall. Information will be posted on the program website and shared through our listserv and social media accounts. Online applications will be due in March 2023.

Announcing FY2021 African American Historic Preservation Program Grant Recipients!

By Charlotte Lake, Ph.D., Capital Grant and Loan Programs Administrator

We are pleased to announce this year’s African American Heritage Preservation Program (AAHPP) grant recipients! This is the tenth year of grants since the program’s launch, marking $10 million total in funding awarded to 128 grant projects. The Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture and the Maryland Historical Trust jointly administer this program to promote the preservation of Maryland’s African American heritage sites. Grants fund construction projects at important sites throughout the state. This year’s projects include museums, cemeteries, an interpretive memorial, a historic lodge, community centers, and a historic school. Read more about our newly funded AAHPP grant projects below.

Project: Laurel Cemetery – Baltimore City ($88,000) | Sponsor: Laurel Cemetery Memorial Project, Inc.

Incorporated in 1852 as Baltimore’s first nondenominational cemetery for African Americans, Laurel Cemetery became known as one of the most beautiful and prominent African American cemeteries in the city. Descendants attempted to purchase the cemetery, but the owner prevailed against their legal challenges and leveled the cemetery for development in 1958. As a result, much of the cemetery currently lies beneath the parking lot of the Belair-Edison Crossing Shopping Center. Grant funds will support repairs to the retaining wall and construction of a pathway with interpretive signage in the unpaved portion of the cemetery, where recent archaeological investigations have identified undisturbed burials.

Project: Historic Oliver Community Firehouse – Baltimore City ($100,000) | Sponsor: African American Fire Fighters Historical Society, Inc.

Baltimore’s African American Fire Fighters Historical Society will use grant funds to acquire the historic firehouse, Truck House #5, through the City’s Vacants to Value program. The overall project will rehabilitate the building and convert it into the International Black Fire Fighters Museum & Safety Education Center.

Project: African American Heritage Center – Frederick, Frederick County ($100,000) | Sponsor: The African American Resources-Cultural and Heritage Society Incorporated

Grant funds will support the creation of a new center for African American heritage within a commercial space inside a modern parking garage. The project will reconfigure the commercial space and add accessibility improvements so that it can be used for exhibits, collections, and public programs to share Frederick County’s African American heritage and present this history within a broader regional and national context.

Carver School, photo courtesy of City of Cumberland

Project: Carver School – Cumberland, Allegany County ($100,000) | Sponsor: Mayor and City Council of Cumberland

Built in 1921 to accommodate the growing African American population of Cumberland, Carver School (previously known as Cumberland High School and the Frederick Street School) soon attracted students from outside Allegany County, including attendees from nearby areas of West Virginia. The school was renamed in 1941, when Principal Bracey held an election and students voted to name the school after Dr. George Washington Carver, who consented by letter to having the school named after him. The grant will fund necessary repairs to the building so that it can be rehabilitated for community use.

Project: Diggs-Johnson Museum – Granite, Baltimore County ($100,000) | Sponsor: Friends of Historical Cherry Hill A.U.M.P., Inc.

The Cherry Hill African United Methodist Church, now known as the Diggs-Johnson Museum, was built in the late 19th century, and functioned as a church through the 1970s before its conversion to a museum in the 1990s. The museum documents the history of the African American community of Baltimore County, and in particular the enslaved and free African Americans of Granite, many of whom worked the area’s granite quarries. The grant project will fund repairs to the church’s foundation and grave markers in its burial yard.

Kennedy Farmhouse, photo courtesy of John Brown Historical Foundation

Project: Kennedy Farm / John Brown Raid Headquarters – Sharpsburg, Washington County ($99,000) | Sponsor: John Brown Historical Foundation, Inc.

This grant will fund repairs to the timber and chinking of the Kennedy Farmhouse, a log building used as the headquarters by John Brown and his band in planning their famous raid on Harper’s Ferry. While the raid was planned, the farmhouse also served as living quarters for the five African American members of the band:  Dangerfield Newby; Lewis Leary; Shields Green; John Copeland, Jr; and Osborn Anderson. The raid on Harper’s Ferry is considered a pivotal moment in the lead-up to the American Civil War.

Project: Galesville Community Center – Galesville, Anne Arundel County ($45,000) | Sponsor: Galesville Community Center Organization, Inc.

Of the fifteen schools in Anne Arundel County built using money provided by the Julius Rosenwald Fund, which supported the establishment of African American schools throughout the southern United States, only six survive today. The grant project will fund repairs to the roof, siding, and windows of the Galesville Rosenwald School, built in 1929, which now serves as a vibrant community center.

Howard House, photo courtesy of Maryland Department of Natural Resources

Project: Howard House – Brookeville, Montgomery County ($100,000) | Sponsor: Department of Natural Resources – Maryland Park Service

The Howard House, currently in ruins, is the last intact building associated with Enoch George Howard. Born enslaved, George Howard purchased his freedom and eventually became a prosperous landowner, donating land to establish Howard Chapel and a community school. The grant project will restore the stone house’s exterior to its original appearance for interpretive use.

Project: Bazzel Church – Cambridge, Dorchester County ($100,000) | Sponsor: Good Shepherd Association

In 1911, the Bazzel Church was either built on or moved to its current site, where the original 1876 chapel stood before it burned down. The church, located in Bucktown, is best known for its association with Harriet Tubman, whose family members reportedly worshipped at the original church building. Initial stabilization of the church was completed in the summer of 2020, and the grant will fund the next phase of repairs, eventually leading to the rehabilitation of the building for use as an interpretive center.

Project: Mt. Zoar AME Church – Conowingo, Cecil County ($32,000) | Sponsor: Mount Zoar African Methodist Episcopal Church

Mt. Zoar African Methodist Episcopal Church was built in 1881 and the earliest known burial in the adjacent cemetery dates to 1848. Over 30 veterans are buried in the cemetery, including soldiers whose graves are marked with Grand Army of the Republic flag holders. The grant project will fund repairs to the cemetery and grave markers.

Prince Georges African-American Museum & Cultural Center, photo courtesy of Prince George’s African-American Museum & Cultural Center at North Brentwood, Inc.

Project: Prince George’s African American Museum and Cultural Center – North Brentwood, Prince George’s County ($20,000) | Sponsor: Prince George’s African-American Museum and Cultural Center at North Brentwood, Inc.

Through exhibitions and educational programs, the Prince George’s African American Museum and Cultural Center shares the county’s untold stories of African Americans. The grant-funded pre-development project will involve the design of facility renovations and an addition to provide support space and affordable housing space for African American artists.

Project: Millard Tydings Memorial Park – Havre de Grace, Harford County ($25,000) | Sponsor: The Sgt. Alfred B. Hilton Memorial Fund, Inc.

Established as Bayside Park in the late 1800s, Millard Tydings Memorial Park includes recreational amenities as well as memorials to those who served in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Grant funds will help construct a new monument dedicated to Sergeant Alfred B. Hilton, Harford County’s only recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor. The monument will include permanent interpretive material about Sgt. Hilton and the role of his U.S. Colored Troops regiment in the Civil War.

Project: Union of Brothers and Sisters of Fords Asbury Lodge No. 1 – White Marsh, Baltimore County ($91,000) | Sponsor: The Union of Brothers and Sisters of Fords Asbury, Inc.

In 1874, Dr. Walter T. Allender constructed and donated this building to the Baltimore County School Commissioners for use as an African American School, initially known as Colored School 2, District 11. The Union of Brothers and Sisters of Ford’s Asbury Lodge No. 1, an African American benevolent society, held monthly meetings on the second floor of the school building until 1922, when Baltimore County Public Schools donated it to the lodge. The grant project will fund repairs and accessibility improvements that allow the building to be used by the public again.

If you are planning to apply for funding for an AAHPP project, the FY2022 grant round will begin in the spring of 2021, with workshops in April and applications due July 1. For more information about AAHPP, please visit our website or contact Charlotte Lake, Capital Grant and Loan Programs Administrator, at charlotte.lake@maryland.gov.

Documenting Maryland’s Dairy Industry

By Heather Barrett, Administrator of Research & Survey

Dairy barns and supporting structures, such as milking parlors, silos, and farmyards, were once common features in Maryland’s agricultural landscape. Yet, no comprehensive survey or historic context exists that documents the role of the dairy industry in Maryland. As more and more farmers leave the industry, now is the time to capture these stories and document the associated historic resources before all tangible evidence disappears.

Martha Perry Robinson (Pattie). Source: The Robinson and Via Family Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

To support this effort, the Maryland Historical Trust awarded the University of Delaware’s Center for Historic Architecture and Design a non-capital grant to document historic dairy farms in Cecil, Carroll, and Frederick counties over the next two years. Additionally, the MHT Board of Trustees is funding the documentation of several farms in Garrett and Allegany counties. This project, eventually covering all 23 counties plus Baltimore City, is identified as a survey goal in the statewide preservation plan, PreserveMaryland II (2019-2023), and MHT staff from the Office of Research, Survey, and Registration is actively involved in the outreach, documentation, and research efforts.

Farmers from Western Maryland and staff from the Office of Research, Survey, & Registration at the Dairy Farmers Reunion at the Allegany County Fair in 2018 (Photo courtesy of Casey Pecoraro).

Changes in Maryland’s agricultural industry frequently translated to the built environment, requiring new forms and materials to meet evolving needs and advances. In the late nineteenth century, many Maryland farmers sought to diversify their agricultural production, moving from traditional crops such as wheat and tobacco to dairy, fruits, and vegetables. By the early twentieth century, countless dairy farmers shifted from using large multi-purpose barns that housed a variety of livestock to a more standardized barn design dedicated to safe dairy production. The U.S. Department of Agriculture publicized the new designs, which focused on increased light, ventilation, and materials, such as concrete, that promoted cleanliness. Additionally, advances in technology, such as the development of the feed silo in 1873 and improvements to refrigeration, pasteurization, and bottling, transformed the industry at the turn of the century.^[1]

Main house at Leigh Castle Farm, Carroll County. Source: The Robinson and Via Family Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

Near the town of Marston in Carroll County, Leigh Castle Farm is a representative early twentieth-century dairy farm that illustrates the shift in agricultural practices.^[2] Harry and Martha (Robinson) Townshend purchased the roughly 53-acre farm in 1908 for $4,000. By 1910, the U.S. Census lists Harry as a farmer, with the household consisting of Harry, age 30; Martha, age 29; and Margaret, their one-year old daughter.^[3] The family expanded three years later with the birth of their son Henry.

Martha Robinson Townshend and her mother Amanda Baden Robinson at the Carroll County farm. Source: The Robinson and Via Family Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

In addition to dairy production, the Townshends grew a variety of crops and raised chickens. In a letter dated July 20, 1914, Martha (known as Pattie) wrote to her mother, Amanda Baden Robinson, of Brandywine, Maryland: “We have had a very wet season and such heavy electric storms … I have certainly had a terrible time this summer – labor is scarce and high – some of Harry’s hay and wheat crop was damaged but I did my best … I have done but little canning – cherries rotted on the trees and my beans are to (sic) old to can now … Only have a small crop of chickens about a hundred and five … Am raising a calf, which is much trouble around the house (?) …”^[4] On the eve of World War I and with a newly established farm, this passage illustrates the challenges and hard work of farming for a living.

Dairy barn constructed at the farm in 1929. Source: The Robinson and Via Family Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

Between 1919 and 1923, the Townshends added a total of about eight acres to the farm. The farm expanded again with the construction of a sizable new dairy barn in 1929. Historic photographs in the collections of the National Museum of American History chronicle the barn-raising and show a typical, early twentieth-century concrete block and frame gambrel-roofed structure. Concrete block and structural terracotta tile were common materials used in the construction of dairy barns and milking parlors in the twentieth century, as more stringent sanitation laws were enacted. By 1930, the Agriculture Census showed 858 dairy farms in Carroll County, just behind Frederick and Harford counties, with a total of 5,652 farms classified as dairy operations in the state.^[5] 

Additional research, such as agricultural or farm schedules, will provide further information into the operations of Leigh Castle Farm. As we move forward with our documentation and research efforts, MHT will continue to highlight examples of dairy-related buildings, farm complexes, and landscapes that help illustrate this important chapter in Maryland’s history.

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[1] Diehlmann, Nicole A. and Jacob M. Bensen, Thematic Historic Context:  Dairy Farming in Frederick and Montgomery Counties, Maryland (Appendix F), March 2020.

[2] The farm became known as Leigh Castle, named after one of the early parcels of land.

[3] Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.

[4] Letter to Amanda Baden from Martha (Pattie) Townshend, July 20, 1914. The Robinson and Via Family Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

[5] Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930 – Agriculture, Volume III, United States Government Printing Office (Washington, DC: 1932).

Maryland Paleoindian Sites on the National Register of Historic Places: A Newly Reported 13,000 Year Old Fluted Point from the Katcef Site

By Zachary Singer, MHT Research Archaeologist

The Maryland Historical Trust’s Office of Archaeology is delighted to participate in the celebration of Preservation Month by highlighting the Ice Age inhabitants of Maryland, which archaeologists refer to as Paleoindians. Researchers can recognize Paleoindians in the archaeological record by the distinctive types of stone projectile points they made, which are typically lanceolate in shape and usually fluted (i.e. thinned from the base to create a channel scar). The re-established Maryland Fluted Point Survey is generating data to learn more about the lifeways of the Paleoindians who lived in Maryland between 13,000 and 10,000 years ago.

The National Register of Historic Places includes three Maryland archaeological sites with Paleoindian components: the Nolands Ferry Site in Frederick County, the Katcef Site in Anne Arundel County, and the Paw Paw Cove Site in Talbot County. National Register listing indicates that these archaeological sites have been recognized for their significance in archaeology and identified as worthy of preservation.

In 1979, as part of the Maryland Fluted Point Survey, Lois Brown reported one crystal quartz fluted point from the Nolands Ferry Site and one crystal quartz fluted point from the Katcef Site.

Crystal quartz Clovis point from the Nolands Ferry Site (Source – JPPM Diagnostic Artifacts in Maryland).

Crystal quartz Clovis point from the Katcef Site
(Source – Maryland Fluted Point Survey, photo by Zachary Singer).

Subsequently, Dr. Darrin Lowery has shared information on the fluted points from the Paw Paw Cove Site with the Maryland Fluted Point Survey.

Paw Paw Cove fluted points from left to right: jasper, chert, jasper, orthoquartzite
(Source – The Chesapeake Watershed Archaeological Research Foundation, photo by Darrin Lowery).

The re-established Maryland Fluted Point survey has recently recorded a second fluted point from the Katcef Site.

Orthoquartzite fluted point from the Katcef Site
(Source – Maryland Fluted Point Survey, photo by Zachary Singer).

The two fluted points from the Katcef Site (both the crystal quartz point and the newly recorded orthoquartzite one) were found by Robert Ogle, a professional surveyor and avocational archaeologist who spent over 50 years collecting artifacts from central and southern Maryland and Virginia. In 2009, Bob Ogle donated his artifact collection to Anne Arundel County’s Cultural Resources Division. Through a grant from the MHT’s FY 2020 Historic Preservation Non-Capital Grant Program, Anne Arundel County’s Cultural Resources Division is rehousing, enhancing, and studying Ogle’s collection. As part of their grant project, Anne Arundel County’s Cultural Resources Division has organized public workshops to assist in sorting and rehousing the Ogle materials. During a recent workshop, the second fluted point from Katcef was discovered in Ogle’s collection.

The newly discovered fluted point from Katcef is a mid-section fragment, which is identified as a fluted point based on the distal terminations of the flutes present on both faces. The raw material of the fluted point is a large grained orthoquartzite, a preferred toolstone during the Paleoindian period. Paleoindians likely procured the stone material from Maryland’s coastal plain at quarry localities exposed along an ancient paleochannel of the Susquehanna River, which was created due to the lower sea-levels caused by glaciation during the terminal Pleistocene (Lowery and Wagner 2018). Due to deglaciation, sea-level rise, and sediment infilling over the past 13,000 years, the Susquehanna paleochannel and associated quarry localities are now inundated by the Chesapeake Bay. Systematic test excavations at the Katcef site in 1989 and 1990 identified stratified archaeological deposits, which suggests that there is the potential for deeply buried Paleoindian activity areas to be present at the site. Future research aimed at locating and carefully investigating stratified areas of Katcef to document buried Paleoindian materials may yield valuable information about the early inhabitants of Maryland, perhaps including the recovery of archaeological features like hearths that could provide radiocarbon datable materials and evidence for Paleoindian diet in Maryland.