Mimi Liu/The Gazette
Prince George’s residents and state and federal officials gathered Dec. 15 at the 12th annual Friends of History awards ceremony, hosted at the residence of David A. Turner and Randy Crawford in Fort Washington, for the announcement that the Broad Creek Historic District had earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places. Pictured (from left) are Richard Krueger, chairman of the historic district’s Local Advisory Committee; Ken Salazar, secretary for the U.S. Department of Interior and this year’s Friends of History award recipient; District 26 state Sen. C. Anthony Muse of Fort Washington; and David A. Turner, chairman of Prince George's County's Historic Preservation Commission.
The first historic district to be established in Prince George’s County has earned another prominent title, paving the way for historical preservation work in south county.
In December, the Broad Creek Historic District in Fort Washington earned a spot on the U.S. Department of Interior’s National Register of Historic Places.
The registry is the official list of the nation's historic places worthy of preservation, and is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate and protect America's historic and archaeological resources.
As a nationally registered historic site, Broad Creek would be eligible for a 20 percent income tax credit for certified rehabilitation projects and a number of grants and loans, according to the National Park Service website.
The district, located off Livingston Road between Oxon Hill and Fort Washington roads stretching along the Potomac River, considered to be the area first settled by colonists in the Washington, D.C., region, currently is recognized by the county as a historic site and includes Harmony Hall, a Georgian country house dating to the 18th century.
David A. Turner, chairman of the Prince George’s County Historic Preservation Commission and a resident of Broad Creek, said the Broad Creek Historic District is the first historic district in the southern part of Prince George’s County to receive the national designation.
Turner said the federal designation applies to only 350 acres of the approximately 850-acre historic district.
The Broad Creek area was home to the Piscataway Indians in the early 17th century and later English shipbuilders and planters and African-American laborers and their families after the first European settlers arrived in the area in 1634.
Turner said there also is evidence of American Indian archaeological remains dating as far back as 10,000 B.C.
“The designation has now put a spotlight on us,” he said. “We are not a bonanza for property developers nor are we an enclave of a few people.”
According to the Maryland Historical Trust website, Prince George’s County has nine historic districts listed in the National Register of Historic Places. More than 86,000 properties nationwide are listed in the register, according to the National Park Service.
In July 2009, the county’s Planning Board granted a request by the Broad Creek Historic District to make its way toward becoming a national historic site. With approval from the county, the request was reviewed and approved by the Maryland Historical Trust and then the National Park Service.
Broad Creek also is the former site of the town of Aire, one of six towns established by the Maryland General Assembly in 1706 as ports for the shipping of tobacco, and St. John’s Episcopal Church, established in 1692, with the present building dating to 1766.
Richard Krueger, chairman of the Broad Creek Historic District Local Advisory Committee, which is composed of residents in the greater Fort Washington area who help to maintain the district’s historic quality by advocating for and working with county and state officials on preservation measures for the district, said Broad Creek is the only rural historic district in the county.
Krueger said there also are about 10 to 12 residences in Broad Creek.
In March 1984, the Historic Preservation Commission voted to establish the Broad Creek Historic District, which was upheld by the Prince George’s County Council in July 1985.
Krueger said the historic designation presents many archaeological opportunities for Broad Creek, which he says has a rich African-American and American Indian historical significance.
Krueger said parts of Broad Creek were identified by John Smith during his first trip up the Potomac River in historic documents.
“We have been trying to get academic anthropologists and archaeologists interested in exploring what we believe to be two burial Native American sites [on the grounds of Harmony Hall],” he said. “This will allow us some funding to make it possible for university graduate programs to conduct such an archaeology.”
Krueger said he was part of a group of people that pushed for preservation of Broad Creek in the 1980s, when many of the old structures were beginning to deteriorate.
“There were no historic districts in Prince George’s County at the time,” he said. “There were no definitions of historic districts. We had to write the basic legislation to create it and get it passed.
“We felt it was the whole environment, not just the buildings, that needed to be preserved.”
Turner said the district’s local advisory committee is interested in developing a master plan for future archaeological surveys that would be open to the public.
“There’s no place like this [in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area],” he said. “The county needs to bite the bullet, and the state needs to bite the bullet to fund these projects.”
Krueger said one rehabilitation project they want to address is to stabilize the ruins of Want Water House, a manor house built in the 1690s or early 1700s.
“It fell into not only disrepair, but eventually the roof collapsed and the whole structure caved in,” he said. “At that point, the realization was that unless somebody did something, we would lose it completely.”
State Sen. C. Anthony Muse (D-Dist. 26) of Fort Washington, whose legislative district includes Broad Creek, said the new designation will open up new funding sources for preserving Broad Creek, and will allow the area to establish itself as a historic tourist attraction to people outside of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
“[The national historic site designation] shows our efforts in Prince George’s County to preserve historic diversity and the history of all persons,” Muse said. “I’m excited that this will be the first one in the 26th legislative district, and we were able to see that come to fruition.“
The Broad Creek Historic District’s Local Advisory Board also presented its annual Friends of History award to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar at a Dec. 15 ceremony to acknowledge his work in getting the district on the national registry.
Krueger said the award recognizes individuals for leadership in historical preservation work in the county. The award is given to a county resident every other year, with the award given to a county or state official during alternate years.
Krueger said Salazar was the first federal official to receive the honor.
In his acceptance speech, Salazar said sites such as Broad Creek will help the nation recognize and preserve its diversity. He said less than 3 percent of national historic landmarks are designated for minority groups.
“It’s making sure we tell the story of all Americans,” he said.
mliu@gazette.net
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