History found at Uncle Tom’s Cabin

County closer to opening historic North Bethesda site to the public

The property known as the Isaac Riley Farm, located on Old Georgetown Road bordering the Luxmanor neighborhood, was once home to Josiah Henson, a slave owned by Riley. Henson’s life and escape to freedom was the basis for Harriet Beecher Stowe’s classic novel, ‘‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”

The county purchased the property for $1 million in 2006, and last May began a Historic Structures Report outlining the architecture and history of the site in coordination with John Milner Associates, a historic restoration firm.

To date, more than 550 artifacts have been found on the property, and the date of the house was pinned to a late 18th century or early 19th century construction, the Department of Parks reported at an April 7 briefing on the findings.

‘‘So many tales of African Americans can be told at this site, not just Henson’s,” said Joey Lampl, cultural resources manager for the parks department. ‘‘People don’t realize how prevalent slavery was in Maryland, and Montgomery County.”

While the results of the report were announced last week, Lampl said the site will not be permanently open to the public until 2010 or 2011. The parks department does offer private tours of the house occasionally, she said, and will open its doors to the public June 29.

Lampl said she hopes the County Council will appropriate ‘‘several hundred thousand dollars” for the restoration of the cabin to its original design. Prior to the county’s purchase of the home in January 2006, the building was used as a private residence, and had been modernized.

She added that the parks department will soon form an advisory committee of local historians and community members to try to determine what would be the best use of the site. Options include fixed exhibits and even living history, with employees acting as the property’s original owners.

Lampl also said the parks department is looking into private and federal grants to help offset the renovations, which include a new roof.

For area history buffs, the cabin is an important piece of the county’s history.

‘‘It’s a tremendous opportunity to show and tell the story of slavery in Maryland,” said Maude McGovern, the office manager for Peerless Rockville, a nonprofit group that helps to preserve historic buildings in the Rockville area. ‘‘Even if Josiah Henson hadn’t been identified [as the basis for ‘‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin”] we’d be telling people about him because of his exciting story.”

Henson escaped slavery on Riley’s 500-acre, 20-slave farm in 1830, eventually traveling to Canada and starting a freed slave colony.

For the Luxmanor neighborhood, which borders the property, the restoration of the house is a step in the right direction.

‘‘Many people who live here know the family who lived in the house [until 2006], and are protective of it,” said Paula Bienenfeld, president of the Luxmanor Citizens Association. ‘‘They want to see it in the best shape possible.”

Members of the community were able to tour the home this past weekend as part of Luxmanor’s 70th anniversary, Lampl said.