Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Slave Cabin in Maryland to be Restored: Will be surrounded by affluent African-American Community
UPPER MARLBORO, Maryland (AP) -- A tumbledown shack believed to be the only slave cabin left in Prince George's County will be restored in the field where it was found.
And surrounding it will be a neighborhood of million-dollar homes, most of which will probably be owned by African-Americans.
The shack, which dates to the mid-19th century and is known as the Molly Berry Cabin, was hidden until recently in a whorl of brush.
Local historians and planners say slaves who worked the surrounding tobacco fields may have lived and toiled there.
Prince George's County, just southeast of Washington, D.C., was once home to thousands of slaves.
As part of a plan to build 20 upscale homes on the site, a developer has agreed to restore it.
Over the next several months archaeologists will dismantle the building, excavate its foundation in a hunt for artifacts and clues to its occupants, then rebuild it on the spot.
C.R. Gibbs, a historian who studies Prince George's black heritage, said refurbishing the cabin will serve as a reminder of the slaves who helped build the county that today is home to one of the nation's most affluent black communities.
"There would not be a Prince George's County without black folk," he said. "Through this cabin we can take another step on the road to completing the historical memory."
The land was once part of a plantation owned by Thomas Brooke, a slave-owning physician in the 1700s.
It was later sold several times, and many owners listed slaves among their holdings. After the Civil War the building was used to house chickens and was later abandoned.
A historic reminder
About 18 months ago developer Haverford Homes came up with plans to build "estate homes" on a 116-acre portion of the tract, each on lots of five acres or more, over the next few years.
But while the land was being surveyed, a couple who lived in the former planter's house told the company about the cabin.
Haverford Homes hired an architectural firm to study the building. Preliminary excavation uncovered glass, pottery shards, pipes and bones that appeared to predate the Civil War.
Thomas Barrett, a project manager with Greenhorne & O'Mara, the firm excavating and rebuilding the cabin, estimated that eight to 10 slaves probably lived in the 20-by-16-foot structure.
Its bowed and cracked wooden slat walls are embraced tightly by poison ivy. The roof and second story have collapsed, as has the brick chimney.
Excavators working with trowels and buckets have cleared away a stone front stoop. There is no door.
"We got to it at the very end of its life architecturally," Barrett said. "It was amazing that it was still standing."
The firm plans to rebuild the house with any boards or other building materials they can salvage from the ruins.
The project will probably cost up to $200,000, Barrett said.
Sevag Balian, president of Haverford Homes, said the rebuilt cabin may be used as a community center.
But he said just having the cabin in the middle of a wealthy neighborhood made up mostly of black homeowners carries enormous symbolism.
"Here we have African Americans who were slaves, and now it will be an estate community inhabited predominantly by African Americans," he said.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
And surrounding it will be a neighborhood of million-dollar homes, most of which will probably be owned by African-Americans.
The shack, which dates to the mid-19th century and is known as the Molly Berry Cabin, was hidden until recently in a whorl of brush.
Local historians and planners say slaves who worked the surrounding tobacco fields may have lived and toiled there.
Prince George's County, just southeast of Washington, D.C., was once home to thousands of slaves.
As part of a plan to build 20 upscale homes on the site, a developer has agreed to restore it.
Over the next several months archaeologists will dismantle the building, excavate its foundation in a hunt for artifacts and clues to its occupants, then rebuild it on the spot.
C.R. Gibbs, a historian who studies Prince George's black heritage, said refurbishing the cabin will serve as a reminder of the slaves who helped build the county that today is home to one of the nation's most affluent black communities.
"There would not be a Prince George's County without black folk," he said. "Through this cabin we can take another step on the road to completing the historical memory."
The land was once part of a plantation owned by Thomas Brooke, a slave-owning physician in the 1700s.
It was later sold several times, and many owners listed slaves among their holdings. After the Civil War the building was used to house chickens and was later abandoned.
A historic reminder
About 18 months ago developer Haverford Homes came up with plans to build "estate homes" on a 116-acre portion of the tract, each on lots of five acres or more, over the next few years.
But while the land was being surveyed, a couple who lived in the former planter's house told the company about the cabin.
Haverford Homes hired an architectural firm to study the building. Preliminary excavation uncovered glass, pottery shards, pipes and bones that appeared to predate the Civil War.
Thomas Barrett, a project manager with Greenhorne & O'Mara, the firm excavating and rebuilding the cabin, estimated that eight to 10 slaves probably lived in the 20-by-16-foot structure.
Its bowed and cracked wooden slat walls are embraced tightly by poison ivy. The roof and second story have collapsed, as has the brick chimney.
Excavators working with trowels and buckets have cleared away a stone front stoop. There is no door.
"We got to it at the very end of its life architecturally," Barrett said. "It was amazing that it was still standing."
The firm plans to rebuild the house with any boards or other building materials they can salvage from the ruins.
The project will probably cost up to $200,000, Barrett said.
Sevag Balian, president of Haverford Homes, said the rebuilt cabin may be used as a community center.
But he said just having the cabin in the middle of a wealthy neighborhood made up mostly of black homeowners carries enormous symbolism.
"Here we have African Americans who were slaves, and now it will be an estate community inhabited predominantly by African Americans," he said.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
# posted by The Alabama Hammer @ Tuesday, May 10, 2005 
