The Maryland Historical Trust (MHT), a unit of the Maryland Department of Planning (Planning), recently announced the seven preservation projects that will be awarded funding by the Historic Preservation Capital Grant Program this year.
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 construction projects. Nonprofit organizations, government entities, business organizations, and individuals are eligible to apply for funds to rehabilitate, restore, or acquire properties listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register. For FY 2024, the Historic Preservation Capital Grant Program received a $600,000 appropriation and re-awarded $4,000 in prior year funds. Of the 37 applications requesting approximately $3 million, MHT’s Board of Trustees and the Secretary of Planning approved the following seven projects for funding.
Cowdensville A.M.E. Church – Arbutus, Baltimore County ($100,000) | Sponsor: Friends of Cowdensville A.M.E Church
Cowdensville A.M.E. Church is a modest wood-frame church with a gabled roof, designed in a vernacular style, and constructed between 1904 and 1907. Cowdensville AME’s roots go back to 1857 within the free Black community of Cowdensville in southwestern Baltimore County. The church has served not only as a place of worship but as a meeting place for civil rights groups in the mid-20th century. For many years the church hosted grief support groups, food and school supply giveaways, and neighborhood organization meetings. A complete rehabilitation was undertaken in the late 1990s to save the church from condemnation and demolition. Funds will go toward exterior work like drainage improvements, roof repair or replacement, and foundation repair.
Allegany County Courthouse – Cumberland, Allegany County ($85,000) | Sponsor: The Board of County Commissioners of Allegany County
Still owned and operated by Allegany County, the Allegany County Courthouse located within the Washington Street Historic District was constructed in 1893 in the Richardson Romanesque-style. Built on the site of Fort Cumberland, an 18th-century outpost, the courthouse features highly contrasting red brick with white stone trim. Funding will aid in the restoration of the 190 historic wood double-hung sash windows on the building.
Brookeville Academy – Brookeville, Montgomery County ($100,000) | Sponsor: Town of Brookeville
Constructed in 1808, the Brookeville Academy was built of stone and primarily donated materials, with work to raise it to two stories completed in 1834. It was one of the first private academies in Montgomery County, and while it was originally a school for boys, it admitted female students as early as 1819. Today, the building is used as offices for the town of Brookeville. The grant project will address critical masonry and window repairs resulting from recent water damage.
Nathan House – Cambridge, Dorchester County ($86,000) | Sponsor: Dorchester Center for the Arts
Nathan House in the Cambridge Historic District Wards is a distinctive three-story brick commercial building. Originally constructed in the 1880s, the property was remodeled in the 1930s and retains its Art Deco storefront. The building was home to Nathan’s Furniture Store, a Delmarva chain founded by Milford Nathan. The building is now home to the Dorchester Center for the Arts. The project will address moisture issues in the building, including replacing the corroded window lintels and upgrading mechanical systems.
Ebenezer A.M.E. Church – Baltimore City ($100,000) | Sponsor: Ebenezer Kingdom Builders
Built in 1865 for a congregation organized in 1836, Ebenezer A.M.E. Church is thought to be the oldest standing church in Baltimore that was erected by African Americans and continuously occupied by the descendants of the same congregation. This brick Gothic Revival church has a prominent bell tower, with the parish house located in an adjoining rowhouse. The grant will aid in the rehabilitation of the historic bell tower, masonry repair, restoring broken louvers, and repairing a deteriorated roof that has led to leaking and interior damage.
Brodbeck Hall – Frederick, Frederick County ($99,000) | Sponsor: Hood College of Frederick, Maryland
Brodbeck Hall, located in the Hood College Historic District, is the last building on the campus that pre-dates the establishment of Hood College. Constructed in 1868 for a German social club, this handsome building retains its original Greek Revival and Italianate detailing with 20th-century updates. Since Hood College took ownership of the building in 1897, the building has been used for a variety of purposes, including living quarters, performance spaces, and a hall for ceremonies and lectures. The funding will support repairs necessary due to fire damage the building suffered in 2021.
Baldwin Hall – Millersville, Anne Arundel County, ($34,000) | Sponsor: Severn Cross Roads Foundation
The Historic Baldwin Hall is a one-story frame church built in 1861 for the Severn Crossroads Methodist Episcopal Church and is significant as a distinct example of Italianate architecture in a rural church. The building was moved twice: first in the 1930s and again in 1981. It now serves as a community center operated by the Severn Cross Roads Foundation. Grant funds will help address water damage to the historic building, including the repair of 21 historic wood windows and site work to bring water away from the building.
For more information about the Historic Preservation Capital Grant Program, please contact Stacy Montgomery, Capital Programs Administrator, at stacy.montgomery@maryland.gov.
By Jennifer J. Babiarz (Anne Arundel County), C. Jane Cox (Anne Arundel County), and Lisa H. Robbins (Lost Towns Project consultant)
In 2022, The Lost Towns Project, Inc., in collaboration with the Anne Arundel County Office of Planning and Zoning’s Cultural Resources Section, began a county-wide study—documenting and contextualizing architectural and archaeological sites representing African American households living through enslavement, resistance, and freedom during the 19th century. This project was possible thanks to an FY 2022 Historic Preservation Non-Capital Grant Award from the Maryland Historical Trust.
Products of the study include a comprehensive database of these site types in Anne Arundel County; a report providing an historical, architectural, and archaeological context for Anne Arundel County’s 19th-century African American households; and updates to, or creation of, over a dozen historic archaeological inventory forms to ensure that the state’s inventory more fully and holistically reflects the existence and importance of African American households in 19th-century Anne Arundel County.
The work undertaken at the Whitehall Overseer’s Quarters (AA-326A) was one of the more compelling sites the team studied not only because it was poorly documented in state inventory records, but also because it sparked a new level of engagement, interest, and connection with the area’s descendant community and the possibility of future partnerships and discoveries.
(*Note: This building and site is on private property, and should not be visited without the express permission of the owner(s).)
The Whitehall Overseer’s House, which stands about 40 feet west of the Overseer’s Quarters, was built in 1750 by Governor Horatio Sharpe as a one-and-a-half story frame, whitewashed house with an attached kitchen. After Sharpe’s death in 1790, Whitehall and its associated properties were willed to John Ridout, and the Whitehall Overseer’s House (AA-326) remained in the Ridout family until 2022. Horatio Ridout II and his wife Jemima Duvall were the first Ridouts to live in the Overseer’s House and likely constructed the duplex quarter for enslaved families.
The Whitehall Overseer’s Quarters is a 1½-story log structure that rests on a roughly coursed, cut stone foundation. Its style is referred to as a double-pen saddlebag, or duplex, and consists of two independent dwellings under one roof, which were separated by a central chimney with a partition wall and likely would have housed two families. This is a common vernacular architectural form in the mid-Atlantic and the South, though this is the only surviving double-pen log quarters in Anne Arundel County and one of only a few surviving double-pen log quarters in Maryland.
Surviving evidence indicates that the building was originally constructed as one story with an accessible attic/loft, arranged in two bays (each about 14’x12’), with doorways in each corner of the façade. Based on the evidence of the surviving fasteners and finishes, the building likely was constructed between 1840-1860. Remnants of whitewash survive on surfaces throughout the interior of the building, including both logs that were added to create the half-story and logs forming the walls below. The exposed end grain of the logs forming the dovetail corner notches is remarkably unweathered, suggesting that the building may always have been enclosed with siding.
The Whitehall Overseer’s Quarter, viewed from the northeast; the sheathing boards and the shingles are 20th century; the roof frame was replaced in the 19th century.
In the 1840 Census, Horatio S. Ridout II is documented as enslaving 24 individuals; by the 1850 Census the number of individuals he enslaved was 13, and in 1860 the count had dropped to nine.
There is only one recorded manumission by Horatio Ridout II: a man named John Wright in March of 1864 based on his service in the 30th Regiment of the US Colored Troops during the Civil War. Records referred to as the “Slave Statistics,” are particularly important due to their recordation of the full given name and surname of those persons who had been enslaved until the enactment of the Constitution, as well as their age, physical condition, and term of service. In reference to Horatio Ridout II, the statistics are as follows:
John Wright, 35, Male, Good, For Life, Enlisted in US services Thomas Kemble, 34, Male, Good, For Life Benjamin Simpson, 22, Male, Good, For Life Gilbert Calvert, 16, Male, 16, Good, For Life Moses Bullen, 16, Male, Good, For Life May Smith, 30, Female, Good, 8 Years to Serve Hester A. Simpson, 7, Female, Good, 28 Years to Serve Isaac Smith, 3, Male, Good, 32 Years to Serve
Benjamin and Nellie Ross were interviewed by George McDaniel about the log house they moved into in the 1880s in Charles County, Maryland:
“Everybody pretty much lived in log houses back then. There were very few frame houses, and let me tell you, White and colored lived in log houses.”
(McDaniel 1982:139)
The roofs of frame and log structures were typically covered with shingles, clapboards/planks, or thatch (made from grass and possibly straw in Southern Maryland).
Detail of the northeast corner of the log crib with well-carpentered full-dovetail joints exposed below the current wall covering.
Being located on private property, and now under the stewardship of relatively new owners, the team’s initial site visit was designed to develop a rapport with the new owners, and to gather previously unrecorded details about what we found to be a rapidly deteriorating structure. Dr. Dennis J. Pogue and MHT staff joined on some of the first visits to the site, working with the team to document and interpret this rare surviving building type. Pogue generously shared his extensive experience documenting enslaved housing for the last 15 years with the Virginia Slave Housing Project. The original MIHP form, last updated in 1976, sorely lacked architectural details, a clear statement of significance, and any consideration of possible archaeological value.
While the research design included developing measured drawings and taking photos for architectural documentation, the team also gained the trust and support of the new owners, who agreed to allow a limited Phase I archaeological survey around the Quarters. Excitement built as we began to realize the rare chance to see if there might be undisturbed and archaeologically significant deposits here, that might tell us about the families that had lived in the building during the last half of the 19th century. The team set to developing an achievable research plan for a brief one-to-two-day field session.
Having worked on other nearby sites in the area in previous months, we had also cultivated several points of contact within the local descendant communities, and knowing that they would be interested, and some had even received some limited archaeological training on other projects—we invited them to participate in the archaeological fieldwork. Our hope was that in addition to having their help with the dig, that their collective and individual memories shared through generations of their communities would also help to inform the interpretation of the site—and perhaps guide future research. In fact, we got so much more!
Volunteers and Descendants Doing Fieldwork in April 2023
Over two days in April 2023, more than a dozen volunteers signed on to help excavate 21 close-interval shovel test pits on the lawns and terraces surrounding the Quarters. Everyone pitched in on every level of work that needed to be done, from paperwork to wielding a shovel, and their stories, laughter, and curiosity made the excavation days fly by. As volunteers from the first day shared this experience with their family and friends, the numbers swelled on the second day and cars packed in along the edge of this narrow dead-end end single-lane driveway. As they trickled in over the day, several shared that they had grown up in the area, and could connect their roots back to those who had been enslaved on the Broadneck Peninsula. Team members scrambled to monitor the digging, while also giving impromptu tours—explaining the history of the site and detailing the architecture of the building. One couldn’t help make the connection that their forefathers and mothers may well have lived in dwellings much like this one—yet most all traces of such old homes have been lost to time.
While some joined us just to see the site and spent a short time visiting, others were so intrigued that they stuck around, and jumped right in getting their hands dirty. In addition to two of our favorite volunteers April Chapman and Ann Green, we were visited by representatives from the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture, including Director Chanel Compton and Commissioner Elinor Thompson. Well-known local historians Janice Hayes-Williams and Bernadette Pulley-Pruitt, both of whom have direct and profound connections to Broadneck, the Whitehall properties, and the Ridout family were there. Members of several organizations that have missions to help raise up and celebrate this local history also joined us, including representatives of Rev. Samuel Green, Sr. Foundation, Inc., the Annual Fathers Day Foundation such as Devon Edwards and Rev. Randy Rowe Sr, as well as representatives from the Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Task Force at St Margaret’s Church.
The archaeology was successful. We found evidence of historic compacted living surfaces, likely indicating swept yard spaces to the east and south of the structure, and recovered domestic and architectural artifacts that could yield new information about the historic use and layout of the space, including lead glazed redware, cut nails, and coal slag. The work clearly demonstrated that the site has research potential and further archaeological work could provide important details of everyday life for those enslaved, and later tenant families, living in this building. The archaeology however was also important to better acknowledge and appreciate such a site for state and local history, including for generations of descendants.
For the descendants of those who resisted violence and coercive control by building families, and vibrant households that have survived through generations in the same area, the chance to discover and hold everyday items that had likely been part of their everyday lives during that process was very moving. Many of the descendants that we worked with us expressed feeling closer to their ancestors than ever before; though not necessarily peaceful, it was very meaningful to them. Black spaces are being erased from the landscape at an alarming rate throughout the state and county. It is through ongoing partnership building with descendant communities and landowners that these spaces can be more fully identified and documented through the Maryland Inventory of Historic Places forms. African Americans’ crucial contributions to the economic and cultural development of Anne Arundel County should be acknowledged and celebrated through their representation in the official documentation of local and state histories.
Volunteers, Supporters, and Descendants at Whitehall Overseer’s Quarters-April 2023
References Cited:
ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY COMMISSIONER OF SLAVE STATISTICS (Slave Statistics). 1867, MSA C142, pg 87, Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, Maryland.
Robert W. Johnson Community Center – Washington County ($150,000) | Sponsor: Robert W. Johnson Community Center, Inc.
Funding will help restore the Robert W. Johnson Community Center – founded as a school for Black children in 1888 before becoming a Black YMCA in 1947 – so it can continue to be a place for community events and educational programming. The RWJCC offers after school programming as well as adult education classes. Funding will support renovation of the community pool, plumbing and electrical upgrades, and other renovation efforts.
Hoppy Adams House – Annapolis ($245,000) | Sponsor: Charles W. “Hoppy” Adams Jr. Foundation, Inc.
Known for spreading soul and R&B music to Black and white audiences, Charles “Hoppy” Adams Jr. was a celebrated African American radio broadcaster with WANN Annapolis. Adams hosted popular concerts at Carr’s Beach, an important venue on the Chitlin Circuit during segregation. In 1964, Adams built this expansive brick ranch-style home within the tight-knit Black community of Parole, on land passed down by his family since 1880. Adams lived in the house until his death in 2005. Funding will support ADA compliance efforts, electrical upgrades, and structural support.
American Hall – Washington County ($250,000) | Sponsor: The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge, Free And Accepted Masons Of Maryland And Its Jurisdiction, Inc.
The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge, Free And Accepted Masons Of Maryland And Its Jurisdiction, Inc. , aims to restore American Hall, which was the meeting place of Lyon Post #31 G.A.R. Making it one of the last surviving meeting places of an African American G.A.R. post in the country. Originally built in 1883, American Hall used to house the fraternal lodge, community meeting space, and a school in the basement. This project aims to rehabilitate the building for further community use with the addition of an exhibit. Funding will support structural repairs, architectural drawings, and a bathroom addition.
Upton Mansion – Baltimore City ($250,000) | Sponsor: Afro Charities, Inc.
Upton Mansion, located in the Old West Baltimore Historic District, was once the home of Robert J. Young, one of Baltimore’s most successful African American real estate developers in the early 20th century. This project aims to restore the mansion as the headquarters for Afro Charities, Afro Archives, and the AFRO American Newspapers. The archives include approximately three million photograms, several thousand letters, back issues of the newspaper’s 13 editions, and personal audio recordings of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. The Upton Mansion will serve as the permanent home and research center for this collection, allowing it to be available to the public. Funding will support new construction of an annex and windows and doors repairs.
Henry’s Hotel – Worcester County ($250,000) | Sponsor: Henry Hotel Foundation, Inc.
Built in the late 1800s, Henry’s Hotel, formerly known as “Henry’s Colored Hotel,” is one of the oldest hotels in Ocean City. It was also the last hotel that allowed African Americans access to the beach during Jim Crow-era restrictions. This project aims to turn the building into a museum and learning center that will educate the public on how African Americans contributed to the town’s development, yet suffered from discrimination under segregation. Funding will support a new foundation, staircase, and porch.
Historic Oliver Community Firehouse – Baltimore City($247,000) | Sponsor: African American Fire Fighters Historical Society, Inc.
Built in 1905, the historic firehouse in Baltimore’s Oliver neighborhood, Truck House #5, is a two-story structure with two truck bays that will be acquired from the City through the Vacants to Value program and restored as the International Black FireFighters Museum & Safety Education Center. Funding will support exterior rehabilitation including window repairs as well as carpentry and masonry repairs.
Brown’s UMC Multi Cultural Heritage Center – Calvert County ($250,000) | Sponsor: Brown’s UMC Multi Cultural Heritage Center, Inc.
Built in the 1890s, the one-room Brown’s United Methodist Church (UMC) serves as a reminder of the days of segregation and is one of the oldest African American churches in Calvert County. Once completed, the UMC Multi-Cultural Heritage Center will have an exhibit showcasing local history within. Rehabilitation of the cemetery will allow for self-guided as well as guided tours of the cemetery. Funding will support foundation repairs, flooring repairs, and a roof replacement.
Buffalo Soldier Living History Site – Wicomico County ($250,000) | Sponsor: Buffalo Soldier Living History Site Co.
Formerly known as the “Colored Settlement,” the Buffalo Soldier Living History Site will be established on a site, bought in 1898, of former Buffalo Soldier Thomas E. Polk. The site aims to revitalize this dwelling by establishing a museum. Exhibits will include preserving local and state African American military history and holding reenactments. Funding will support selective demolition, structural repairs, and door repairs.
Brewer Hill Cemetery – Annapolis($250,000) | Sponsor: Brewer Hill Cemetery Association, Inc.
Brewer Hill Cemetery is the oldest Black graveyard in the City of Annapolis. Judge Nichols Brewer originally owned the cemetery and used it to bury those he enslaved, his servants, and other employees of the Black community. Among the interred are people with significant stories, such as Mary Naylor, who maintained her innocence until her hanging in 1861 for allegedly poisoning her master. Funding will support overall cemetery conservation efforts including fence repairs and masonry repairs.
The Bellevue Passage Museum – Talbot County($250,000) | Sponsor: Mid-Shore Community Foundation, Inc.
The Bellevue Passage Museum aims to shed light on African American culture and heritage by showcasing the untold story of Bellevue’s self-sufficiency and how they thrived and contributed to the state’s economy. Bellevue was once a self-sufficient African American community that initially was centered around employment provided by the W.H. Valliant Packing Co., established in 1895. The museum is on a mission to conserve the African American maritime story that is largely being erased and to become a center of entrepreneurship to the younger generation and a place for community gatherings. Funding will support construction of a new annex, site work, and accessibility improvements.
The Fruitland Community Center – Wicomico County($203,000) | Sponsor: Fruitland Community Center, Inc.
The Fruitland Community Center is housed in the former Morris Street Colored School, constructed in 1912. Since 1985, the building has been used as a community center that assists low-income youth in Fruitland by providing an after school program that seeks to provide educational activities and teaching African American history. Funding will support structural repairs, carpentry and metal repairs, as well as mechanical and electrical upgrades.
Grasonville Community Center – Queen Anne’s County($250,000) | Sponsor: Grasonville Community Center
Grasonville Community Center aims to connect and share the African American experiences in the community by providing a place where one can go to engage in programs that offer mentorship, physical and mental health guidance, and other resources. Future plans include providing an after school and summer program that will use the Center’s Black History Library and Health Room to teach history to young visitors. Funding will support kitchen upgrades, interior and exterior rehabilitation, and window repairs.
Malone Methodist Episcopal Church – Dorchester County ($250,000) | Sponsor: Harrisville/Malone Cemetery Maintenance Fund, Inc.
Free-born families began settling in Malone in the late 18th century. Malone Methodist Episcopal Church began serving this African American community when it was built in 1895. The church and community have links to Harriet Tubman’s extended family, who lived in the area and are buried in the cemetery adjacent to the church. Funding will support floor and roof repairs, exterior rehabilitation efforts, and finishes and painting.
Bryan’s Chapel and Cemetery – Queen Anne’s County ($250,000) | Sponsor: Bryan’s United Methodist Church, Inc.
Bryan’s Chapel was founded in the 1800s and is the second oldest African American Methodist Episcopal Church in the United Methodist Peninsula-Delaware Conference. The Bryan’s Church congregation helped establish a school, a beneficial society, and the county’s NAACP Chapter. Shortly after the Civil War, the congregation helped establish an African American school in 1866 that a Rosenwald school later replaced. Funding will support ground penetrating radar, headstone conservation, and foundation and masonry repairs of the Chapel.
Locust United Methodist Church – Howard County ($233,500) | Sponsor: Locust United Methodist Church
Locust United Methodist Church was founded in 1869 by a group of formerly enslaved people in what was then called Freetown (Howard County). The predominantly African American congregation has been active for more than 150 years and in its current structure since 1951. This project will renovate and add an addition to serve as the home of the current history collection and stories of community members descended from the church’s founders. Funding will support selective demolition, new construction of a pavilion, and interior rehabilitation efforts.
Two Sisters’ Houses (Caulkers’ Houses) – Baltimore City($250,000) | Sponsor: The Society For The Preservation Of Federal Hill And Fell’s Point, Inc.
Built around 1979, the Two Sisters’ Houses (or Caulkers’ Houses) are the only extant survivors of a wooden building type that was once the predominant housing stock for the lower and middle classes in Baltimore. These once-common buildings were vitally important to the early architectural and physical character of the port city of Baltimore. The buildings housed many working Baltimore residents, including African-American ship caulkers Richard Jones, Henry Scott, and John Whittington from 1842 to 1854. Funding will support fire safety improvements, carpentry and masonry repairs, and mechanical and electrical upgrades.
The Yellow/Hearse House – Kent County($200,000) | Sponsor: Kent County Public Library
The Yellow/Hearse House was originally built in 1906 and served most of its existence as the only funeral parlor for those of African descent in Kent County. The Hearse House represents the rich history of Kent County’s African American-owned businesses. This project aims to increase heritage education and tourism in the Calvert Street business and residential corridor, highlighting the Walley family and the neighborhood in which their business, the funeral parlor, existed. Funds will support insulation installation, bathroom and kitchen upgrades, and framing repairs.
Jones & Moore Luncheon/Bambricks Cards & Gifts – Dorchester County($138,000) | Sponsor: Alpha Genesis Community Development Corporation
The Jones & Moore Luncheon/Bambricks Cards & Gifts aims to renovate a two-story commercial property located at the corner of Cannery Way. The rear parking lot of the building is now the viewing area for the nationally acclaimed “Take My Hand” mural of Harriet Tubman. Rehabilitation of the building will help bring new arts and cultural programming as well as other business ventures into the district. Funding will support gutter and downspout repairs, window and door repairs, and roof replacement.
Mt. Calvary United Methodist Church – Meeting Hall and Cemetery – Anne Arundel County($186,000) | Sponsor: Mt. Calvary Community Engagement Incorporated
With grant funds supporting both cemetery and building preservation efforts, Mt. Calvary United Methodist Church will establish a heritage center in its Meeting Hall to share the histories of the local African American community in Arnold. The Hall served as the original Meeting House for the African American community between 1832-1842. By preserving the cemetery, where Civil Rights activists and veterans are buried, the church can provide further educational opportunities in addition to programs in the Meeting Hall. Funding will support ground penetrating radar, site work, and foundation and masonry repairs.
Ridgley Methodist Church and Cemetery – Prince George’s County ($111,000) | Sponsor: Mildred Ridgley Gray Charitable Trust, Inc.
Ridgely Methodist Church is one of only two buildings that remain in the small rural African American community of Ridgely, founded by freedmen around 1871. Historically, the church also functioned as a school for the local Black children. By undergoing rehabilitation efforts, the church hopes to increase the awareness of African American history through special programs, lectures, and tours. Funding will support cemetery conservation efforts, ground penetrating radar, and a fence installation.
Scotland African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Zion Church – Montgomery County($104,000) | Sponsor: Scotland A.M.E. Zion Church
Scotland A.M.E. provides an opportunity for the public to continue to learn the local history of the predominantly African American Scotland community that has persisted for over 115 years as a congregation and 150 years as a community. The project will provide an opportunity for the public to continue to learn the local story of the predominantly African American Scotland community through interpretive panels and stories shared by congregants in public programs Funding will support foundation repairs, lifting the building, and stabilization efforts.
Bushy Park Community Cemetery – Howard County($63,500) | Sponsor: Bushy Park Community Cemetery, Inc.
Bushy Park Community Cemetery was historically part of farmland worked by the enslaved populations of Howard County. The cemetery is the burial location of many enslaved and freed individuals, United States Colored Troops soldiers, and Civil Rights leaders. The cemetery’s restoration, supported by grant funds, will allow for educational opportunities centered on those interred there. Funding will support cemetery conservation efforts, ground penetrating radar, and vegetation removal.
James Stephenson House, Enslaved Quarters – Harford County($119,000) | Sponsor: Maryland Department of Natural Resources
The James Stephenson House, and its associated dwellings, was originally built at the turn of the eighteenth century. The house and quarters are located within Susquehanna State Park. When the quarters building was originally surveyed in the late 1970s, it was mistaken for a smokehouse. The building, now one of the few documented freestanding quarters on public land. Funding will support roof, window, and door repairs, carpentry and masonry repairs, and chimney and shutter repairs.
American Legion Mannie Scott Post 193 Building – Caroline County($250,000) | Sponsor: The American Legion, Department Of Maryland, Mannie Scott Post #193, Incorporated
Mannie Scott Post No. 193 was chartered in 1947 by the American Legion – a United States veteran association and nonprofit organization created to enhance the well-being of American veterans, their families, military members, and their communities. Post No. 193 is Caroline County’s only African American active post dedicated to those who have served in active duty military in all branches of America’s Armed Forces. Post No. 193 offers programming to the local community that promote justice, freedom, and democracy. Funding will support insulation installation, bathroom and kitchen upgrades, and siding repairs or replacements.
Dr. Susan Buck taking samples from the cornice at Brice House (Photo: David Hildebrand)
Today is International Women’s Day and we are shining a spotlight on world-renowned conservator and paint analyst, Dr. Susan Buck! Susan has worked in the field of paint and finishes analysis since 1991 and completed her PhD in Art Conservation Research at the University of Delaware in 2003 where she won an outstanding dissertation award from the College of Arts and Sciences. Her private conservation work includes analysis and treatment on objects and architecture for many institutions including the World Monuments Fund Qianlong Garden Conservation Project in The Forbidden City in Beijing. Susan has conducted paint analysis on numerous buildings throughout Maryland and MHT is lucky to have worked closely with her on major restoration projects such as the Maryland State House, the old Treasury Building, and the James Brice House.
Susan Buck examining a sample at 10X prior to taking it to her lab for analysis (Photo: David Hildebrand)
Paint is one of the most prominent features of any given space, whether it is on the exterior covering of the dome of the State House or the interior finishes of the main rooms of the Brice House. Proper analysis of paint layers is essential, therefore, to understanding the original colors as well as the pigments and various ingredients used in each layer. During the State House dome restoration, Susan constructed a full chronology of paint layers from the most recent all the way to its original construction. Her analysis concluded that the dome was painted approximately 20 to 30 times in 235 years—and identified the soft, creamier color now visible on the dome. Her analysis also helped to determine proper preparation of surfaces and makeup of the paint ensuring a successful restoration. Her work at the Old Treasury has helped to determine the earliest window configurations as well as identifying a redwash that covered the brickwork.
L-1. NW side, inner surface, top of post, just below railing. Image expanded for details. Visible Light Lower layers 100X. This sample fractured apart, so the cross-section included here has the paints beginning with Generation 4; the other portion of this sample includes the original cream color and slightly later pinkish-peachy color, as well as later resinous and cream-colored paints.(Cross-section photos: Susan Buck)
Susan worked both inside and out at the James Brice House collecting samples from the interior plaster finishes and walls, the woodwork, the exterior cornice, and even a yellow wash on the brick masonry. Based on her analysis, paint and plaster conservators are able to recreate painted finishes throughout. For example, she discovered 16 layers of paint in the entry, beginning with a deep yellow distemper on top of a sanded plaster which gave the appearance of stone. There are three different generations of modern plaster skimcoats sandwiched between the 16 generations of surviving wall paints in this cross-section, some of which can be related to later paints on the cornice. Conversely, the door leading to the study only had six generations. It is likely that all the woodwork in this room was originally painted blue, and in the cross-section below it is possible to see that the distinctive blue paint became discolored and degraded before it was painted over with the tannish grain-painting sequence in the second generation. Generation 3 is a tan paint, which is followed by later paints that can be aligned with woodwork paints in the entrance hall. The photomicrograph of the paint stratigraphy shows that the earliest three paint generations became quite dirty before being painted over, so considerable time elapsed between those repainting campaigns.
This sample was taken from the front hall and photographed at 40X. The tiny flake of paint and plaster in the cross-section confirms that the walls were originally painted with a deep yellow distemper paint
This cross-section sample is from the protected interior of the cupboard door in the office and was photographed at 200X. The paint sequence begins with a coarsely ground, oil-based blue paint made of a traditional combination of Prussian blue, lead white and calcium carbonate.
Dr. Susan Buck has been leading the way in paint analysis and conservation for over 30 years, and MHT cannot wait to continue working on projects across the state with her and other visionary women in preservation. Keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram pages throughout the rest of the month as we highlight projects from the National Park Service Underrepresented Community Grant project that is just wrapping up. This project is documenting sites related to the women’s suffrage movement, and the first post was about 817 North Charles Street in Baltimore.
We are pleased to announce this year’s African American Heritage Preservation Program (AAHPP) grant recipients! Jointly administered by The Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture and the Maryland Historical Trust, the AAHPP promotes the preservation of Maryland’s African American heritage by funding construction projects at significant 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.
Mount Auburn Cemetery – Baltimore City ($100,000) | Sponsor: Mount Auburn Cemetery Company
Dedicated in 1872 and originally known as “The City of the Dead for Colored People,” Mount Auburn Cemetery was one of the first—and now only remaining—cemetery owned and operated by African Americans in Baltimore. It is a unique representation of the values and burial traditions of this community from the late 19th century to the present. Grant funds will support repairs to damaged decorative and security fencing, as well as resurfacing inner roadways.
Hoppy Adams House – Annapolis, Anne Arundel County ($100,000) | Sponsor: Charles W. “Hoppy” Adams Jr. Foundation, Inc.
Celebrated African American radio broadcaster for WANN Annapolis, Charles “Hoppy” Adams Jr was widely known for spreading soul and R&B music to Black and white audiences. Adams hosted popular concerts at Carr’s Beach, an important venue on the “Chitlin Circuit” during segregation. This project will rehabilitate the home Adams built for himself in 1964, which was left to the elements when he passed in 2005. Future phases of work will convert the space into a museum and event space to celebrate the life of Hoppy Adams and the unifying effect of R&B music during this divisive era.
Mt. Calvary United Methodist Church – Arnold, Anne Arundel County ($86,000) | Sponsor: Mount Calvary United Methodist Church
Mt. Calvary United Methodist Church began gathering on this site between 1832- 1842, making it the oldest African American congregation in Arnold. Grant funds will support the replacement of the 40-year-old roof and repairing the deteriorating handicap ramp that is currently causing moisture intrusion for the church, as well as adding a second ramp.
Eastport Elementary School, 3rd Street – Annapolis, Anne Arundel County ($100,000) | Sponsor: The Seafarers Yacht Club, Inc.
Originally built in 1918 as Eastport’s school for African American children, Eastport Elementary School closed when Anne Arundel School finally integrated, nearly a decade after Brown v Board of Education. Today, the building is owned by the Seafarers Yacht Club, Inc., formed in 1959 by a group of Black men with a shared interest in boating. They purchased the vacant building in 1967 after they were inspired to form their own club in response to marinas that routinely refused Black boaters to dock at their piers, as well as yacht clubs that denied membership to Black captains. This grant project will fund interior and exterior repairs and security improvements.
The club officers in dress whites, honoring a recently deceased member. Courtesy: Seafarers Yacht Club
Old Wallville School – Prince Frederick, Calvert County ($27,000) | Sponsor: Friends of the Old Wallville School, Inc.
A representation of the segregated educational facilities of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Old Wallville School is a one-room wooden schoolhouse that was used to educate African American students in the unincorporated village from 1880-1934. In 2006, the building was moved and placed adjacent to Calvert Elementary School. Now restored to its appearance in the early 1930s, it is used as a popular heritage tourism destination. This grant project will fund rot and roof repairs, structural signage replacement, and painting to protect the building from the elements and heavy use.
Parren J Mitchell House and Cultural Center – Baltimore City ($100,000) | Sponsor: Upton Planning Committee, Inc.
Originally built 1880, this rowhome is probably best known for its resident Parren Mitchell, the Black Congressmen to represent Maryland. This renovation project will return the long-vacant building to its historic role as a center of political and social life for the community and region as the new Parren Mitchell Center, which will serve as an events and retreat center. Grant funds will support exterior masonry restoration and repointing, window restoration, and accessibility improvements.
Boyds Negro School – Boyds, Montgomery County ($50,000) | Sponsor: Boyds Clarksburg Historical Society, Inc.
Built in 1895, Boyds Negro School is Montgomery County’s only remaining one-room schoolhouse for African American children that is regularly open to the public. This project will focus on engineering and site work to protect the building and grounds from flooding. It will also add a handicap ramp to make the building ADA accessible.
Richard Potter House – Denton, Caroline County ($50,000) | Sponsor: Fiber Arts Center of the Eastern Shore Inc.
Richard Potter published a book in 1866 – The Narrative of the Experience, Adventures and Escape of Richard Potter – documenting his experiences from when he was kidnapped in Greensboro, Maryland, enslaved in Delaware, and eventual escape and return to Caroline County to what is now known as the Richard Potter House (c.1810). The site is included as part of the National Park Service’s Network to Freedom. This project will restore the first floor of the home to its 1855 interior, using it as a museum and classroom space.
Mt. Zion Memorial Church– Princess Anne, Somerset County ($86,000) | Sponsor: Somerset County Historical Trust, Inc.
Mt. Zion Memorial Church survives as one of the few late-19th century African American churches in Somerset County and its intact condition enhances its architectural significance. Inside, one of the most distinctive features of the building — the early-20th century bead board ceiling – is at risk due to a leaking roof. While Mt. Zion is no longer used to hold regular church services, it does reflect the lasting influence of Methodism on the African American community in Somerset County. Grant funds will repair severe water damage.
New Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church – Berlin, Worcester County ($67,000) | Sponsor: New Bethel United Methodist Church, Inc.
Founded in 1855, New Bethel is the oldest African American Methodist congregation in Worcester County. Known as the Godfather of gospel music, Rev. Charles Albert Tindley was a member of the church in boyhood, and attended when he would visit from Philadelphia as an adult. The grant project will fund roof replacement and carpentry repairs.
Ridgley Methodist Church – Landover, Prince George’s County ($50,000) | Sponsor: Mildred Ridgley Gray Charitable Trust, Inc.
Built in 1921, the Ridgley Methodist Episcopal Church is in its original form and features memorial stained-glass windows with pointed frames. The building was relocated by the State Highway Commission in 1990. The cemetery, which dates to 1892, occupies the west end of the property. There are a number of unmarked graves, and about 20 gravestones dating from the 1910s to the 1940s. Most of the stones are hand-carved and many feature a carved flower and vine motif. The grant project will fund exterior repairs to the church and conservation of the cemetery.
Information in this section has been updated since publication.
St. James African Union First Colored Methodist Protestant Church – Towson, Baltimore County ($30,000) | Sponsor: St. James African Union Methodist Protestant Church, Inc
In 1881, the St. James African Union First Colored Methodist Protestant Church was built on property believed to be the first documented African American landholding in Towson. The church began as a one-story wood-frame building and was raised to two stories in 1906 to accommodate the congregation’s growth. This project will fund structural repairs to the roof framing and chimney, as well as full roof replacement.
Buffalo Soldier Park – Eden, Wicomico County ($74,000) | Sponsor: Greater Washington Dc Chapter Of The Ninth And Tenth (Horse) Cavalry Association, Inc.
Named “Buffalo Soldier House” for his time in the United States 9th Cavalry Regiment Company C, Thomas Polk, Sr. built a two-story home on his property sometime in the late 1920s and rebuilt it in 1962-63 after it was destroyed in a fire. This project will focus on the pre-development and renovations needed to convert his home into the Buffalo Soldier Living History Site, which will include a visitors’ center and exhibit space.
Adams Methodist Episcopal Church and Cemetery – Lothian, Anne Arundel County ($80,000) | Sponsor: Adams U.M. Church
Adams Methodist Episcopal Church site contains two church buildings: the original 1883 church, a simple weatherboard-sided late-Victorian structure; and a more modern brick church, completed in 1968. Work for this project will focus on the brick church and on the graveyard on site.
If you are planning to apply for funding for an AAHPP project, the FY2024 grant round will begin in the spring of 2023, with workshops in April and applications due July 1. For more information about AAHPP, please visit our website or contact Ivy Weeks, Capital Programs Administrator, at ivy.weeks@maryland.gov.
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.
Our History, Our Heritage 