[RP TownTalk] community history

[Dwight Holmes]

and please keep TownTalk updated with news and event announcements.
this is really cool stuff!

On Tue, May 5, 2009 at 11:17 PM, Adrienne Allegretti
<adgealleg at hotmail.com> wrote:
> Not to distract from Dwight's question about what to name our local trail
> (by the way... how about OPT (Old Post Trolley) Green Trail) but it allows a
> great segway for me to tell you about a cool project going on in our
> neighboring community of Bladensburg.  At least I think it's cool, but I
> will admit to my biases since it's my husband's project.
>
> Anyway, the State Highway Administration (SHA) and the Center for Heritage
> Resource Studies (CHRS) at the University of Maryland are conducting
> archaeological investigations on the Market Master's House, the Magruder
> House, and the George Washington House/Indian Queen Tavern. The hope is
> that they will help find evidence of the old Bladensburg town square,
> uncover information on the Battle of Bladensburg, and find remains of the
> Indian Queen Tavern.
>
> Bladensburg (est. 1742) is one of the oldest towns in the area next to
> Georgetown (est. 1751) and Alexandria (est. 1779) and is often woefully
> overlooked in its historical significance. Originally called Garrison's
> Landing, the town was renamed to honor Thomas Bladen who was the governor or
> MD from 1742-1747. It is most famously known for being the place where
> American troops were defeated on August 24, 1814 in the WAR of 1812 -
> a defeat that cleared the way for the British to burn Washington. It was
> also known for being a busy port, shipping out flour and tobacco, until the
> Anacostia river silted up by 1800. The town square is where most of this
> trading activity is thought to have taken place and as I mentioned already,
> it is the site of the Bostwick house (c.1747) and Indian Queen Tavern, also
> known as George Washington House (c.1732).
> With archaeology, they hope to reveal unknown information on these
> properties and aid a more fuller understanding of the site's history and
> contribute to a renewed public preservation ethic for these and other
> historic properties in the community. Historical research will also commence
> on the transportation of goods and people on the Anacostia River, railroad,
> and various historic and modern roads. Ultimately, this data will be
> incorporated into an interactive website that profiles the history of
> Bladensburg, the Battle of Bladensburg, and transportation routes within a
> historic and cultural landscape.
>
> They are initiating public history workshops. The first of which took place
> on 4/29 at the George Washington House thanks to the Anacostia Watershed
> Society graciousness to host the event.  The next workshop will be in July.
> Please stay tuned, spread the word and read more about the project on their
> blog at http://bladenarch.blogspot.com/.
>
> ~ Adrienne Allegretti
>
> ________________________________
> Hotmail® has ever-growing storage! Don’t worry about storage limits. Check
> it out.
> _______________________________________________
> TownTalk mailing list
> To post to the list, send mail to TownTalk at riverdale-park.org
> TownTalk-request at riverdale-park.org is for automated subscription processing
> only
> http://riverdale-park.org/mailman/listinfo/towntalk
>
> For more information about Riverdale Park, visit
> http://www.riverdaleparkmd.info
>
>



-- 
“[I]f these factors are not related to the quality of education, why
are the richer districts willing to spend so much for them?”
                                --New Jersey Supreme Court in Abbott v. Burke