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. 

Architectural Survey on Smith Island

by Allison Luthern, Architectural Survey Administrator

Historical architectural survey describes the process of locating, identifying, and recording historic places. It is the important initial step of all historic preservation activities – we need to start by understanding what exists where. The Maryland Historical Trust has supported architectural survey since our founding in the 1960s. The results of our architectural surveys are contained within the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties (MIHP).

MHT’s Historic Preservation Non-Capital Grant Program recently funded survey work by architectural historian Paul Touart in Somerset County, including properties on Smith Island. Smith Island is the last surviving inhabited island off the shores of Maryland in the Chesapeake Bay. Early in its history, the island was occupied by the Pocomoke and Assateague peoples, Native American tribes who also lived along the Eastern Shore streams. The first English landowner was Henry Smith (the island’s namesake) in the middle of the 17^th century. Anglo-Americans continued to inhabit Smith Island through the 17^th, 18^th, and 19^th centuries.  

Smith’s Island, Lake, Griffing & Stevenson Map, 1877.

The recent survey project documented one of the oldest surviving buildings on Smith Island, known as Black Walnut Point. Its inventory number in the MIHP is S-536-6. The architectural survey provides a physical description of the house: It has a two-story, three-bay side hall/parlor plan main block supported on a stuccoed masonry foundation with an exterior sheathed in beaded weatherboards. The gable roof is covered with wood shingles. Attached to the back of the main block is a two-story, two-part service wing that dates from the third quarter of the 19^th century, around 1860-70.

Black Walnut Point, photo by Paul B. Touart

The survey also details the property’s history through its ownership by two prominent Smith Island families, the Tylers and Marshalls. Today, it is the Smith Island Education Center.

Black Walnut Point, photo by Paul B. Touart

Beginning in the second half of the 19^th century through the early 20^th century, the Lower Shore region experienced growth and economic prosperity associated with new railway lines, agriculture, and the seafood industry – the latter being particularly important for Smith Island. During this time period, each of the three Smith Island communities (Tylerton, Ewell, and Rhodes Point) built a new Methodist church building. These three churches were also surveyed in our recent project.

Ewell United Methodist Church (S-536-1) is a single-story, gable front building on a raised, rusticated block foundation. It has a symmetrical façade and is topped by a square belfry. It was built in 1939-40 on a site that has long been associated with the practice of Methodism. Adjacent to the church is a parsonage, a tabernacle, and a cemetery.

Ewell United Methodist Church, photo by Paul B. Touart

Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church (S-536-4) is located in the center of Rhodes Point. It is a single-story, L-shaped building with a marble date stone that reads: “1921 / Calvary M.E. Church / Reverend J.L. Derrickson.” It is also surrounded by a large cemetery with both in-ground and above ground vaulted burial plots.

Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church, photo by Paul B. Touart

The third church, Union Methodist Episcopal Church (S-536-8), is in Tylerton. It was built around 1920-1930, using salvaged materials from an earlier 1896 church. It is a rectangular shaped church on a raised, rusticated block foundation with a large columned projecting pavilion flanked by towers. Like many historic Methodist churches, the sanctuary inside is on the upper level.

Union Methodist Episcopal Church, photo by Paul B. Touart

If you want to learn more, you can view all MIHP survey records, including more properties on Smith Island, on our website, https://mht.maryland.gov/secure/medusa/.

Announcing the FY 2022 Historic Preservation Non-Capital Grant Awards

MHT is proud to share the FY2022 recipients of our Historic Preservation Non-Capital Grants! This  grant program, which is funded through the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority Financing Fund, 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 2022 Tyler Bastian Field Session – The Archeological Society of Maryland, Inc. 

($17,000) 

This annual event 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 contractors to produce a final report and prepare artifacts for permanent curation. 

Preliminary work was conducted last year at the site of Barwick’s Ordinary, an eighteenth-century tavern and home of the first county seat for Caroline County, where the 2022 Field Session will be held next spring. MHT staff photo.

Documenting Dairy Farms in Northern Maryland Phase II – The Center for Historic Architecture and Design, University of Delaware 

($40,000) 

This project will be the second of a multi-year effort to document historic dairy farms and their associated farm structures, resources that are fast disappearing in Maryland. Phase II will take place in Harford, Montgomery, and Washington counties, producing approximately 12 Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties forms, measured drawings for three farm complexes, and a brief historic context of dairy farming in each county. 

The Roop Farm, also known as Margaret’s Fancy, in Carroll County was documented during Phase I of this project. Photo courtesy of the Center for Historic Architecture and Design. 

Tracing Piscataway Indian History on the Ground – St. Mary’s College of Maryland 

($60,000)

This project involves archaeological survey work on several fifteenth to eighteenth-century Piscataway sites along the north shore of the Potomac River. Research will focus on the identification of both Native and European trade items to explore how these items circulated within Piscataway practices and systems of meaning. A summary report will be produced detailing the project’s findings. As the 400th anniversary of Maryland draws near, this project presents an important opportunity to center narratives of the Piscataway in this transformational period. 

Trade items represented more than just economic exchanges to Indigenous communities. The exchange of objects, including beads, occurred within a web of rules, practices, and relationships laden with meaning and developed over the preceding centuries. Photo courtesy of St. Mary’s College of Maryland.  

A Survey of Brick Construction in Colonial Maryland – Anne Arundel County Trust for Preservation 

($44,000)

This project will trace the evolution and development of masonry building traditions in Maryland between 1634 and 1750. During this time period, the use of brick construction by a select few of the colony’s elite contrasted dramatically with the ephemeral building practices of neighbors, a distinction that has never been studied. Approximately ten buildings will be selected for detailed documentation, including measured drawings, field notes, and photographic prints. 

Dendrochronology has positively identified Araby in Charles County as within this early period of masonry construction, dating to 1746. Photo courtesy of Willie Graham. 

Southern Maryland Tobacco Barns Survey and Documentation – University of Maryland 

($42,000) 

Tobacco barns that date before c. 1870 in Southern Maryland will be surveyed for this project. These resources are highly endangered due to functional obsolescence and development pressure. The survey will systematically identify and document previously unknown tobacco barns and update information on resources identified in earlier efforts. Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties forms and a final survey report will be produced.

This survey will provide new interpretive analysis of Maryland tobacco barns, such as the recognition that sheds, as seen on each side of the De La Brooke Tobacco Barn in St. Mary’s County, were often original construction features rather than later additions as previously believed. MHT staff photo.  

Slavery, Resistance, and Freedom: Recording Anne Arundel County’s Past – The Lost Towns Project 

($40,000) 

This project will undertake a detailed archival and literature review of nineteenth-century Black housing in the Chesapeake. The investigators will create a database of approximately 100 such sites, conduct field visits to approximately 20 sites to assess their condition, create or update Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties site data, and write a summary report to disseminate the findings. Through this study, the project aims to broaden public support for the protection and preservation of Black historical spaces.  

This is a multidisciplinary project that may employ documentation techniques such as remote sensing. In this photo, Lost Towns uses ground penetrating radar to investigate the slave cemetery at Whitehall. Photo courtesy of the Lost Towns Project. 

National Register of Historic Places Nomination of Columbia Beach – Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation 

($40,000) 

This project includes the preparation of a National Register nomination for Columbia Beach, a community in Anne Arundel County established as a summer retreat for African Americans during the segregation era, when racist policies barred the Black community from other resort towns along the Chesapeake Bay. The timing of this nomination is critical, as Columbia Beach is currently threatened by development and climate change.  

African American professionals from Washington, DC and Baltimore built many of the early cottages in Columbia Beach. MHT staff photo. 

Architectural Survey of U.S. Route 1: Washington, DC to Baltimore – Anacostia Trails Heritage Area 

($17,000) 

This project will include a reconnaissance survey and the preparation of a historic context report for resources along U.S. Route 1 from Washington, DC to Baltimore City, including Prince George’s, Howard, and Baltimore counties. This is intended to be Phase I of a multi-year project to document the unique resources along U.S. Route 1, including tourist cabin hotels and roadside architecture, minority-owned commercial buildings, and light industrial complexes.  

This architectural survey will record vernacular commercial structures from the recent past, such as this row of commercial buildings in the 1300 block of Baltimore Avenue, College Park. Photo courtesy of the Maryland Historical Trust.  

Availability of FY 2023 funds through the Historic Preservation Non-Capital Grant Program will be announced in the spring of 2022 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 FY 2021 Historic Preservation Non-Capital Grant Awards

By Heather Barrett, Administrator of Research and Survey, and Allison Luthern, Architectural Survey Administrator

We are pleased to announce the recipients of this year’s Historic Preservation Non-Capital grants! With funding from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority Financing Fund, these grants support and encourage research, survey, planning, and educational activities involving architectural, archaeological, and cultural resources.  This year, the Maryland Historical Trust (MHT) awarded eight grants totaling $300,000 to Maryland nonprofit organizations and local jurisdictions.

MHT identified several special funding priorities for the FY 2021 grant cycle, including:  comprehensive archaeological or architectural surveys; assessment and documentation of threatened areas of the state due to impacts of natural disasters; and projects undertaking in-depth architectural or archaeological study of a specific topic, time period, or theme. This year’s grant awards, listed below, ranged from $18,000 to $64,000, benefitting projects across the state.

Geophysical Survey of the Mill Field Surrounds – St. Mary’s County

($18,000 awarded)

 In 2018, with funding from the Historic Preservation Non-Capital Grant Program, Historic St. Mary’s City (HSMC) undertook a geophysical survey, which identified the remains of an early 17th-century site. HSMC will feature the excavation and interpretation of the site prominently in its master planning efforts, currently underway. To inform the effort, HSMC will utilize this grant to carry out a rapid, high-resolution, ground-penetrating radar survey on the full 12 acres surrounding and encompassing the resource.

Tim Horsley collects GPR data with the Jesuit Church at St. Mary’s in the background. The FY 2021 non-capital work will include a GPR survey of the full 12 acres surrounding and encompassing an early 17th-century site. Photo courtesy of Historic St. Mary’s City.

Documenting Early Women Architects in Maryland – Statewide Project

($40,000 awarded)

Baltimore Architecture Foundation, Inc., will research and document properties designed by the state’s first licensed women architects in Maryland. Funds will be used to hire a consultant to develop a National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form focused on women architects practicing in Maryland from 1920 to 1970.

Recovering Identity: Northern Frederick County Cultural Resource Survey – Frederick County

($50,000 awarded)

The African American Resources, Cultural Heritage Society (AARCH), Frederick County Division of Planning and Permitting, and the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, Inc. (CFHS) will combine efforts to complete a comprehensive historic context statement and a survey of northern Frederick County, with an emphasis on previously undocumented African American resources. The project will prepare new or updated architectural survey forms for a sampling of building types, focusing on vernacular structures, for inclusion in the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties (MIHP).

Maryland Slave Dwelling Survey – Statewide Project

($36,000 awarded)

The Maryland Slave Dwelling Survey, led by Texas A&M University, proposes to investigate, document, and digitally visualize a statewide cross-section of buildings associated with enslaved African Americans. These resources are at risk from myriad forces including development, environmental change, and neglect. The project will produce investigative reports, digital photographs, measured drawings, and 3D digital models for a pilot dataset that can grow to include more sites across the state

Woodlawn Slave Quarters, Howard County (HO-411). The Maryland Slave Dwelling Survey will include the documentation of a selection of extant quarters across the state. Photo courtesy of Ken Short, Howard County Department of Planning & Zoning.

Investigating Jesuit Plantation Landscapes in Maryland: Archaeological and Geophysical Survey – Cecil and St. Mary’s Counties

($64,000 awarded)

This project, launched by the Catholic University of America (CUA), will examine archaeological evidence of built landscapes on former Jesuit plantations on the Eastern Shore and in southern Maryland. Archaeological investigations on these properties have identified few concrete architectural features such as slave quarters, tenant dwellings, or outbuildings. A combination of geophysical survey, surface survey, shovel testing, and test unit excavation will be used to examine the interrelationship between free and enslaved landscapes, resulting in a detailed summary report and new MIHP data. CUA will collaborate with landowners and stakeholders to develop public educational materials to interpret the findings.

Documenting Maryland’s Education History: A Context Study of School Architecture – Statewide Project

($46,000 awarded)

For this project, Preservation Maryland will hire a consultant to prepare a historic context report on Maryland school construction from early education efforts to the 1970s. The goal is to identify trends and patterns in school architecture, identify major styles and architectural features, and develop a framework for evaluating architectural and historical significance

Galesville Rosenwald School, Anne Arundel County (AA-914). Preservation Maryland received a grant to hire a consultant to prepare a statewide historic context on school architecture from the earliest education efforts to the 1970s. MHT staff photo.

Asian American Historical and Cultural Context of Montgomery County

($24,000 awarded)

MNCPPC-Montgomery County Historic Preservation will hire a consultant to conduct a historical and cultural resource survey associated with Asian American history, covering the period from the founding of Montgomery County in 1776 to the present, with a principal focus on the late 19th to early 21st centuries when the Asian American community grew in Montgomery County. The project will produce a series of oral histories and a research report identifying trends and themes related to Asian American history for future property designations.

U-1105 Historical and Archeological Survey, Inc.

($22,000 awarded)

The Battle of the Atlantic Research and Expedition Group will conduct archival research and documentation using direct measurements and imagery that will produce a report, update records, and disseminate results to the public.  U-1105 is a German U-boat equipped with a snorkel that extended its submerged operation, an advanced hydrophone array to detect vessels, an anechoic coating to evade opponents, and an advanced communication system.  It is believed to be the only German submarine equipped with this suite of innovations to conduct an operational patrol during WWII. U-1105 marks a significant milestone in the evolution from submersible to true submarine capable of indefinite submerged operation, and the changing tactics of undersea warfare between WWII and the Cold War.

Historic photograph of a U-1105 submarine. This grant, awarded to the Battle of the Atlantic Research and Expedition Group, will fund diving and direct measurements, photography, and videography of the U-1105 submerged in Maryland waters. Photo courtesy of the Naval History & Heritage Command.

Availability of FY2022 funds through the Historic Preservation Non-Capital Grant Program will be announced in the spring of 2021 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 Research and Survey at MHT, at 410-697-9536 or heather.barrett@maryland.gov.  For information about organizations receiving grants, please contact the institutions directly. 

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).

Historic Preservation Non-Capital Grants Awarded for FY 2018

After receiving over $1.1 million dollars in requests for research, survey and other non-capital projects, the Maryland Historical Trust awarded nine grants totaling $200,000 to nonprofit organizations and local jurisdictions throughout the state. Historic Preservation Non-Capital grants, made available through Maryland General Assembly general funds, support and encourage research, survey, planning and educational activities involving architectural, archeological and cultural resources.

The goal of the Historic Preservation Non-Capital Grant Program is to identify, document, and preserve buildings, communities and sites of historical and cultural importance to the State of Maryland. These grant funds have not been available since 2012, and thus, the Maryland Historical Trust identified several special funding priorities for the FY 2018 grant cycle, including:  broad-based and comprehensive archeological or architectural surveys; assessment and documentation of threatened areas of the state due to impacts of natural disasters and ongoing natural processes; and projects undertaking in-depth architectural or archeological study of a specific topic, time period, or theme. This year’s grant awards, listed below, ranged from $10,000 to $45,000.

Preservation Maryland received a FY 18 grant for “Documenting Maryland’s Women’s Suffrage History.” Photograph: “Maryland Day” Pickets at White House, 1917. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division. Credit: Harris & Ewing. 

The availability of fiscal year 2019 non-capital grant funds will be announced in the spring of 2018 on the Maryland Historical Trust’s website, along with application deadlines and workshop dates.

For more information about the Historic Preservation Non-Capital Grant Program, please contact Heather Barrett, Administrator of Research and Survey, at 410-697-9536 or heather.barrett@maryland.gov.  For information about organizations receiving grants, please contact the institutions directly.

The Somerset County Historical Trust, Inc. received funding to document threatened sites in Dorchester and Somerset counties. Photo of Smith Island house: Heather Barrett.

Somerset County Historical Trust, Inc. – Somerset and Dorchester Counties ($45,000)

Project work includes the completion of a historic sites survey of threatened sites in Somerset and Dorchester counties.

The Society for the Preservation of Maryland Antiquities, Inc./Preservation Maryland – Statewide Project ($20,000)

Project work includes research and educational activities related to the women’s suffrage movement in Maryland, including the development of new and updated National Register of Historic Places nominations and Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties forms for specific sites. This work is timely due to the upcoming 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote.

St. Mary’s College of Maryland – Prince George’s, Charles, Calvert, and St. Mary’s Counties ($45,000)

This project includes the survey and documentation of early domestic outbuildings in southern Maryland with high-resolution digital photography and measured drawings.

The Archeological Society of Maryland, Inc. – Frederick County ($13,500)

This project involves the preparation of a final report on multiple 20th and 21st century excavations at the prehistoric Biggs Ford site.

Anne Arundel County, Cultural Resources Division – Anne Arundel County ($17,500)

The project includes a review of heritage themes and sites in Anne Arundel County, which will result in a survey report on one major, underrepresented heritage theme and completion of new and updated Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties forms.

Historic St. Mary’s City – St. Mary’s County ($16,000)

This grant will fund a geophysical prospection effort to locate the 17th century palisaded fort erected by the first European settlers of Maryland.

The Archeological Society of Maryland, Inc. – Location Undetermined ($13,000)

This grant will provide the public the opportunity to participate in a supervised archeological excavation through the 2018 Tyler Bastian Field Session in Archeology. The specific site has not been identified yet, but this is an annual event supported by the Archeological Society of Maryland and the Maryland Historical Trust.

The Morgan Park Improvement Association, Inc. – Baltimore City ($10,000)

Project work includes the completion of a National Register nomination for Morgan Park, an African-American neighborhood in Baltimore with strong ties to Morgan State University.

Chesapeake Bay Watershed Archeological Foundation, Inc. – Dorchester County ($20,000)

Project work includes survey of the shoreline of the Honga River Watershed for undocumented prehistoric and historic sites and to supplement the Maryland Historical Trust’s data concerning previously documented sites.