By Jeremy Cox

An effort to map sites important to African American history in the Chesapeake Bay region has uncovered dozens of previously undocumented examples and shed new light on many more — many with close ties to waterways and the Bay itself.

State preservation offices, the National Park Service’s Chesapeake Gateways Network and the National Trust for Historic Preservation collaborated on the five-year, $400,000 project, known as the Chesapeake Mapping Initiative.

The effort centered on documenting places associated with influential Black people and important historical events involving African Americans — before those locations fade into history themselves.

“Even just finding one more historic site that we didn’t know about before was a win,” said Lawana Holland-More, director of grantee impact and engagement for the trust’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. “African American history is American history, and these places are our tangible contributions to it.”

In many cases, researchers learned they were 5-10 years too late: An old structure had been demolished, for instance, or decay had taken its toll, or the human repositories of vital information were no longer alive.

Holland-Moore said she hopes that the project helps communities protect more sites important to the story of African Americans in the Chesapeake region.

“Being able to formally recognize these sites is so important to their preservation,” she said.

The initiative focused on three Bay states: Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Because of budget and time constraints, team members narrowed their surveys to portions of each state’s geography.

Many of the featured places and people are connected to the Chesapeake Bay and the region’s rivers, but not all.

In Virginia, where researchers focused on African American watermen, the effort documented 97 sites overall. In Maryland, team members focused on Calvert, Kent and Somerset counties and identified 350 sites. In Pennsylvania, the effort added 52 places to the state’s catalogue of historical sites, added information to more than 50 other sites and identified locations for potential archaeological research.

Here is a look at a few of those sites with ties to the woods and waterways of the Bay region.

Kings Landing Park (MD)

Along a gentle bend in the Patuxent River, Kings Landing Park in Maryland’s Calvert County presents a full plate of recreational amenities: a 200-foot pier for fishing, horseback-riding trails, tree-enclosed hiking paths, a swimming pool and a paddle craft launch within easy reach of the sinuous Cocktown Creek.

The park also offers a window into how young African Americans interacted with nature during the Jim Crow era and beyond.

The 260-acre park was once the setting of a summertime camp for Black youth from Baltimore. The YMCA in the city’s Druid Hill neighborhood purchased the property in 1946 and transformed it into Camp Mohawk. Campers enjoyed swimming, tennis, canoeing, archery, nights around the campfire and other outdoor activities.

The camp operated until 1980. Four years later, the state bought the property, and today the Calvert County Department of Parks & Recreation manages it with the Calvert Nature Society.

Camp Mohawk’s history can still be glimpsed at the park. Seven of the original cabins remain, and they have been restored to bring back their original atmosphere — including authentic camper-scrawled graffiti.

Outlaw blacksmith shop (VA)

For decades, Samuel D. Outlaw served as a vital cog in his community’s economy. In the days before big box hardware stores, farmers, watermen and others turned to him when they needed metal tools for their work.

The small building stands on the outskirts of Onancock, VA, a quaint town on the state’s Eastern Shore. Outlaw opened his blacksmith shop there in 1927 and ran a successful operation for more than 60 years.

Through the Chesapeake Mapping Initiative’s efforts, the site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2023.

“Unlike many blacksmiths who learned their trade as apprentices and journeymen, Outlaw attended the four-year blacksmithing program at the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute’s Armstrong-Slater Memorial Trade School,” notes the site’s National Register application.

Outlaw used a forge, cast-iron vessels, vises and planers to fabricate metal tools and parts. He contributed to the region’s seafood industry by supplying and repairing crab dredges, clam rakes, oyster tongs, rudder shafts and other items.

Outlaw scaled back operations in 1972 but continued repairing hand tools until his retirement nearly 20 years later.

What distinguishes the privately owned site from many of its brethren in the database is that it’s open to the public. A nonprofit operates the building as a museum, touting it as a “rare surviving example of an African American-owned industrial site.”

Wednesday tours can be arranged by calling 757-656-3460.

Seagull Beach (MD)

An advertisement published in 1956 in the Washington Afro-American newspaper proclaimed to readers that this resort was “catering to the DISCRIMINATING YOU.”

Was that a coded message? Racial discrimination had led to segregated beaches throughout the Bay region. In answer to “whites only” beaches, other locations sprang up that furnished Black audiences with shoreline outlets for fun, music and relaxation. Places like Seagull Beach.

Nestled along the Patuxent River near Prince Frederick, MD, Seagull Beach’s heyday was from the late 1940s to the late 1960s. It drew African American families, church groups, schools and fraternal organizations from across the Mid-Atlantic region.

They were attracted by activities such as swimming in a pool, boating, dancing and fishing. They could buy picnic baskets filled with food or purchase meals at the clubhouse.

The site was also part of the Chitlin Circuit, a network of venues that showcased Black talent during the Jim Crow era. James Brown and Ray Charles were among the acts that performed there.

Michael Kent, a local historian and former president of the Calvert County NAACP, contributed a report to the mapping initiative. He included Seagull Beach, he wrote, to spark memories and renew interest in that chapter of history.

“Having oral histories attached to various places may hopefully inspire younger generations to preserve certain parts of property that relate to local oral history,” Kent wrote.

Seagull Beach and most of the surrounding area are now mostly given over to suburban homes and gated homesteads. But public access is afforded just slightly upriver at the Hallowing Point Boat Ramp and Beach at 6904 Hallowing Lane in Prince Frederick.

Available activities include boating, kayaking/canoeing and fishing along the beach.

About the Author: Jeremy Cox is a Bay Journal staff writer based in Maryland. You can reach him at jcox@bayjournal.com.

Publishers Note: This piece printed in part with permission of the Chesapeake Bay Journal. For the entire write up, log on to the bayjournal.com.