A packed room of save-the-land stalwarts listened to stories and received some much anticipated news Feb. 15 at Calvert Library in Prince Frederick.
The discussion sponsored by the American Chestnut Land Trust highlighted the ongoing work of the Parkers Creek Heritage Trail Research Team.
The trust, which was started in 1986 by landowners in the Port Republic community of Scientists Cliffs, is the first of its kind in Maryland. The aim was to preserve the rural area and spare it from being purchased by developers.
As outlined in 2020 by Greg Bowen, former Calvert County director of planning and zoning, and, for the last few years, executive director of the local land trust, the cultural history of the Parkers Creek watershed has had five eras. The Feb. 15 discussion began with the rural intensification of the land.
It was noted in a slide show narrated by Carl Fleischhauer, a member of the research team, that in 1864 Joseph Wallace, a former enslaved man, joined the Union Army.
After the Civil War, Wallace came to Parkers Creek and bought 300 acres amid a growing African American community. Until the 1930s, a substantial amount of Calvert’s farmland was owned and operated by Black families.
The Feb. 15 presentation was hosted by Darlene Harrod, who is also a member of the research team. She called the Parkers Creek watershed, “One element within the Southern Maryland National Heritage area.”
Harrod said the history of the Parkers Creek area is told on signs along the trail.
The region’s heritage area, which includes land in Calvert, St. Mary’s and Charles counties as well as segments of Southern Prince George’s, was certified last year and is seen as a mechanism, according to its mission statement, “to promote heritage tourism, conserve natural landscapes and enhance the local economy.”
Having a designated heritage area makes the region’s “Destination Southern Maryland” oversight organization eligible for federal, state and private resources.
During the discussion after the slide presentation, Gladys L. Jones of Port Republic announced the project she has been involved in for several years — converting the old Brown’s United Methodist Church into a “multi-cultural heritage center,” which will be receiving state funding.
Last month, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) announced $5 million in grants to 24 organizations statewide from the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture and the Maryland Historical Trust.
The Port Republic project was awarded a $250,000 grant.
In 2005, Jones earned a master’s degree when she wrote her thesis about the church’s forgotten history. In 2019, leaders of the United Methodist Church’s Baltimore-Washington Conference deeded the church building and cemetery on Parkers Creek Road to Jones.
Her aim is to convert the property into a local history museum.
Jones told Southern Maryland News after the event she is hoping to obtain more grant funding for the project.
“Many of us have roots there,” Jones told the audience.
A followup session on what the library has billed the “unsung achievements of African American woman of Calvert County” is scheduled for March 11 starting at 6:45 p.m. at the Fairview Branch.
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