HISTORY
Pictured: Hampton Mansion, at one time the largest building in the United States (Baltimore County)
All photos by Tyler Young, taken on iPhone SE, 2nd edition, 2020-2021
HARRIET TUBMAN & THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
Harriet Tubman's birthplace is not precisely known, but this mural of her stands in Cambridge, a town in Dorchester County. This is one of the sites where a station of the underground railroad was located, which connected the eastern shore of Maryland to locations in Pennsylvania, New York, and beyond. Tubman's influence, as well as the influence of the underground railroad, is certainly impressive-- court records suggest upwards of 1,000 enslaved people were able to escape per year of operation.
CAPTAIN AVERY MUSEUM
Located in Shady Side, this outdoor boat museum is tucked away in a small neighborhood in southern Anne Arundel County. Currently a historical and cultural preservation by the town's community, this museum contains remnants of Shady Side's past residents, and has the particular theme of, well, boats. Shady Side is right on the Chesapeake Bay, so the exhibits include the pictured George Daly Memorial Boat Shed, along with the preserved remains of some sailboats, and a cannon facing directly to the bay (pictured below).
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A view of the waterfront from the Captain Avery Museum.
DRAYDEN SCHOOLHOUSE
The "Drayden African-American Schoolhouse" is a small schoolhouse found in St. Mary's County. It was in operation for over 50 years in the early 20th century, and served grades 1-7 for African American children in the area. It was very cramped-- as many as 40 children would be taught in a single room, because there were only two other similar schoolhouses in the area. Recorded recollections of students include stories of the daily life, including operating a wood stove, singing spirituals, and staying late because 7 grades had to be taught. In 1934, a public high school that allowed black students to attend finally opened, but it wasn't for another 33 years that schools would be desegregated.
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A sign outside the schoolhouse details some of its students' stories of their everyday life, including the constant hardships that came with being isolated and cramped. Similar schoolhouses are found in other counties in the southern Maryland, where tobacco plantations were common.
OELLA
Oella is a small town in Baltimore County, just outside of Ellicott City. It was, at one point, home to cotton-mill workers, though only for a brief period in the early 19th century. It's notable for its hilly terrain and the brick houses that still stand from then, as well as the history behind its name. According to the Howard County Historical Society, "Oella" is the name of the first woman to use a cotton mill to spin cotton in America, right here in this village.
GLEN ECHO PARK
Glen Echo park is a recreational park in Montgomery County, and it is the site of a civil rights protest in 1960. Gwendolyn Greene, William Griffin, Michael Proctor, Marvous Saunders, and Cecil Washington Jr. were arrested for attempting to ride the carousel in the park-- protesting the segregation policies. They were successful in their protest, as in 1961, the park was desegregated.
CLARA BARTON HOUSE
Right next to Glen Echo Park is this house, which is the house Clara Barton moved into in 1897. Clara Barton was a humanitarian worker who, despite the fact that her rights were restricted as a woman, was able to accomplish many great feats as a diplomat, health worker, and equal rights activist. One of her many contributions came right before she was president of the American Red Cross, where she argued that the organization should respond not just to war but to natural disasters-- inventing the idea of disaster relief, which had not existed up until that point.
ANTIETAM
This is the Antietam battlefield. Located in Washington County, It's the site of one of the most important battles in the Civil War, not only because it was the bloodiest battle of the war, but also because of what it sparked. Up until this point, the war's expressed purpose was to preserve the union of the northern and southern states. But this battle was the north's first victory, even if casualties were quite high. This victory led to President Lincoln enacting the Emancipation Proclamation-- he deemed that it was finally the right time to do so. The proclamation legally set free all 3.5 million enslaved people in the confederate states, and was coupled with a reconstruction plan that would effectively enforce the process. The importance of this cannot be understated, as it influenced domestic and international politics at the time, while also playing a major role in the civil rights movements down the line. It didn't solve underlying inequality, far from it, but it was a catalyst which improved the lives of millions of people.
WASHINGTON MONUMENT
This is the Washington Monument. It's not the obelisk everyone's familiar with, but it's a legitimate monument to George Washington, located near the town of Boonsboro, in Washington County. This is the original-- it was built 20 years before the one in DC, making this its predecessor. It's currently surrounded by a state park, but during the civil war, its location was used by the north's army to survey and send signals. It's also only 10 miles away from Antietam battlefield.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS IN EASTON
This statue of Frederick Douglass, one of the most influential abolitionists in American history, sits in front of a courthouse in Easton, Talbot County-- the county where he was born. However, this statue in particular has some controversy surrounding it. On the other side of this courthouse is a statue of a confederate soldier, named "Talbot Boys". Activists in the past few decades have called for its removal, to no avail: the city council voted against its removal every time. In 2004, adding the Douglass statue was proposed as an alternative, and in 2011, it was installed, though under the condition that it could not be taller than the Talbot Boys statue. To this day, the Talbot Boys statue is contested--more now than ever in the wake of the removals of other confederate statues across the country--yet still, there is pushback.
IRON FURNACE
In Worcester County, there is a very large blast furnace that stands in the middle of a village. It's an outdoor museum that details the lives of ironworkers and artisans in the 19th century. It details all of the steps that were taken to operate the furnace, and features local history from the nearby town of Snow Hill. Reconstructions such as this town are one way that some history of the lesser-populated areas are preserved.
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A view of the furnace town, which consists of only a few houses in addition to the furnace itself, along with a visitor center.
ANOTHER FURNACE
All the way on the opposite end of the state, in northwest Maryland, is this furnace located in the town of Lonaconing, Allegany County. This blast furnace was created to serve the Georges Creek Coal and Iron Company, which operated for a little over a decade during the mid-19th century.
SPRINGFIELD HOSPITAL
Springfield Hospital, in Sykesville, Carroll County, has quite the backstory. It was a mental institution when it was first instated in the late 19th century, and its treatments originally involved its 1,300-acre size: patients would do farming activities and outdoor work as therapy. As time went on, legislation was passed that outlawed patients from doing these activities, and it became a more traditional hospital. Due to problems like overcrowding and poor working and living conditions, the hospital's reputation fell-- and reports of drunk hospital attendants made it reach the public eye. Many of the hospital's buildings fell into disuse over time. Today, it's still used as a mental hospital, though relatively few patients are admitted, and only on court order.
THURGOOD MARSHALL
In Annapolis, Maryland's capital, stands this statue of Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court justice. During his time as a justice, he ruled on cases such as Brown v. Board of Education, which desegregated schools across the country, along with other landmark rulings that pushed racial justice a very long way, ending many restrictions that still existed as a result of segregation.
WASHINGTON COLLEGE
Located in Chestertown, Kent County, Washington College is the oldest college in Maryland, being founded in 1782. It was named after George Washington, who endorsed it around that time. It's still a fairly small private liberal-arts institution, sitting at less than 1,500 students today, but it maintains its history.
Upon closer inspection, a lot of Maryland's history, what remains of it today, and the people involved, are all incredibly important and deserve recognition. In the past few centuries, the people who have lived in Maryland have played a big part in shaping the way the United States has progressed, for better or for worse-- and it's all interesting to look back and reflect on.
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Sources used: Carr 2013, National Register of Historic Places, Glen Echo Park, Howard County Historical Society, Jordan 2019, Washington Monument State Park, Furnace Town Heritage Village, Baltimore Sun 2020, Mongilio 2016.