Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary Josh Kurtz and Maryland Park Service Director Angela Crenshaw meet with descendants of former enslaved workers of the Colonial-era Catoctin Furnace. A re-discovered cemetery where these skilled workers were buried lies within Cunningham Falls State Park. Maryland DNR photo.
The primary mission of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources is to protect our natural environment, but as stewards of a half million acres of property, DNR is also custodian of our state’s rich history.
Almost every Maryland State Park contains some historic feature that came along with the property, but some allow you to literally trace the footsteps of Maryland’s many contributions to the American story.
A good place to start is St. Clement’s Island State Park in the Potomac River off the shore of Colton’s Point in St. Mary’s County. This island is where the Ark and the Dove landed with Maryland’s first English settlers on March 25, 1634. Just like those first settlers, you can only reach the island by boat
Moving ahead to the French and Indian War, you can follow signage to walk in the path of the 1755 Braddock Military Road Expedition along an unimproved trail in Savage River State Forest in Garrett County. The original trail was built under the command of British General Edward Braddock along with the Virginia Militia – including a young officer named George Washington – to access the Ohio Valley and remove the French from Western Pennsylvania. Spoiler alert – it didn’t work; the war lasted several more years.
As the war progressed, Maryland’s colonial government built the stone-clad Fort Frederick in 1756 to protect settlers. The fort saw service during the American Revolution as a prison for British soldiers. During the Civil War, Union troops were often stationed near the fort to guard the C&O Canal. Built in 1756, the fort’s stone wall and two barracks have been restored to their 1758 appearance. The park hosts historic re-enactment and education events all year.
Maryland was a key player in the American revolutionary period. Smallwood State Park preserves Smallwood’s Retreat, the plantation home of former Continental Army officer and governor of Maryland, Major General William Smallwood. The outbuildings surrounding the house represent structures known or believed to have existed on the property to illustrate daily life on an 18th-century tidewater plantation.
Earlier this year DNR accepted the donation of land including a historic African American cemetery that is the final resting place of enslaved, skilled workers at the historic Catoctin Furnace in Frederick County. Catoctin Furnace was founded in 1776 by Thomas Johnson and three of his brothers. Johnson would also serve as Maryland’s first elected governor. The Furnace produced iron for Washington’s army, including cannonballs fired in the Revolutionary War’s final battle at Yorktown, Va. This site is now operated as part of Cunningham Falls State Park, with the promise that Maryland will protect this ground with dignity and ensure that these stories are celebrated and shared with honesty.
During the War of 1812, Maryland was a focus of British forces all around the Chesapeake Bay, as Maryland valiantly resisted the invaders. North of Baltimore is North Point State Park,where you can walk the Defenders Trail, which was used by soldiers during the War of 1812.
In the early years of our republic, transportation was the lifeblood of America’s growth, and once again Maryland played a central role. The National Road was the first highway built entirely with federal funds. Construction began in Cumberland in 1811 and closely paralleled the old Braddock Road. Eventually the road was pushed through central Ohio and Indiana reaching Vandalia, Illinois in the 1830s where construction ceased due to a lack of funds, according to the National Park Service. One significant remaining part of that road is the Casselman River Bridge, now part of the eponymously named state park. At the time of its construction, the 80-foot span was the largest of its type in America. Today, DNR is refurbishing the bridge, which will be reopened in the next few years.
Maryland’s maritime history is preserved in the historic lighthouses at Turkey Point in Elk Neck State Park and Point Lookout State Park in St. Mary’s County.
The nation’s first major steam railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio, oversaw construction of the still-used Thomas Viaduct. Completed in 1835, the viaduct is the world’s largest multiple arched stone railroad bridge with an arc. During the Civil War, Thomas Viaduct was a major strategic point along the B&O Railroad. Today this impressive structure rises above Patapsco Valley State Park near Ellicott City.
Civil War sites dot the landscape of Maryland. South Mountain State Battlefield is the site of the first major Civil War battle to take place in Maryland, three days earlier than Antietam. Fought in September 1862, these Union victories formed a turning point that encouraged President Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. The state battlefield, located along the gaps of South Mountain, is the only major Civil War battlefield to intersect the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.
In Southern Maryland, Point Lookout State Park commemorates the location of a camp which imprisoned as many as 52,264 Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. Despite its peaceful surroundings, the site is a stark reminder of the cost of that very dark period.
Many of our public lands reflect an essential discussion in Maryland’s early history – slavery. Historians have called slavery our nation’s “original sin” because it was an injustice that fundamentally shaped the nation’s economic growth, culture, and politics. Several of our parks share the stories of enslaved Marylanders and their struggles, while also celebrating the freedom fighters, and the triumph of African-Americans who experienced emancipation.
On the Eastern Shore, Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad and Visitor Center immerses visitors in the harrowing deeds of Tubman and others seeking freedom.
One of our newest state parks tells the story of an African American family that overcame enslavement to become a prosperous and influential family in northern Montgomery County. At Freedman’s State Park you can explore the story of emancipation through the life of Enoch George Howard, the intrepid spirit of his family, and the community that grew around them. The Howard family’s contributions to our shared history and struggle for freedom is an inspiring addition to the Park Service’s stewardship of our natural, historical, and cultural heritage.
These are just a few of the innumerable historical events and milestones that can be found in our public lands. Walking in the footsteps of our past, these sites and stories remind us how far we’ve come in securing the blessings of liberty, and how much is yet to be done.
May they remind s that America’s story isn’t just carved in stone and marble, it is still very much alive and growing.
Josh Kurtz is Secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
