pending French and Indian War. An
early European explorer, Captain
Henry Fleet, observed, “The place
is, without question, the most
healthful and pleasant place in all
this country, and most convenient
for habitation, the air temperate in
summer and not violent in winter.
It aboundeth with fish...deer, buf-
faloes, bears, turkeys, the woods
do swarm with them…”.
With the arrival of English
colonists in the 1700s came awards
of large land grants to favored set-
tlers. While many property owners
were absentee landlords, by the
middle of the century families
bearing historic names such as
Allnutt, Peter, Dawson, and Darby
began to make their homes in the
Seneca region. Some built summer
homes here while others estab-
lished farms growing tobacco, rye,
corn, and wheat. The waterways
were harnessed to provide power
for mills and transportation. The
ruins of several mills can still be
seen, standing as a reminder of
Seneca’s industrial past.
George Washington traveled
to Seneca in 1785 while planning
the Patowmack Canal, an early at-
tempt to improve the river for boat
traffic. Washington’s step-grand-
daughter, Martha Custis Peter, lived
nearby with her husband, Thomas.
In 1811, the Patowmack Canal saw
1300 boats transporting flour,
whiskey, iron, and other produce
traveling up and down the river.
Construction of the larger
C&O Canal in 1828 added to the
prosperity of the area. Red Seneca
sandstone quarried near Riley’s
Lock was shipped via the canal for
use in construction in the capital
city of Washington D.C., including
the Smithsonian Castle. Locally,
the stone was used to build hous-
es, barns, and walls that can still be
seen throughout the region.
In the later 1800s, the mule-
and-water-powered route to trade
in Ohio was surpassed by the
steam engines of the B&O Railroad.
Portions of the stone-cutting mill,
the canal turn basin, and the quar-
rymaster’s house remain today, as
do lockhouses, locks, and archi-
tectural features all along the canal
towpath.
The Civil War brought troops
from both the North and South to
the district. J.E.B. Stuart crossed
the Potomac here at Rowser’s Ford
with 5,000 Confederate cavalry-
men; they seized locks 23 and 24
before marching on to Rockville
and Gettysburg.
Before the war, Seneca was
home to African American fami-
lies, some enslaved, others freed.
Most worked on farms, at mills, or
along the canal, which provided a
link to the Underground Railroad.
With emancipation in 1864, African
Americans bought land, formed
communities, and established a
Top: The remains of the Seneca
stone cutting mill which cut stone for
hundreds of buildings in Washington
and Baltimore before closing in 1901;
above: the one-room Seneca School-
house on River Road, built in 1865.
neighborhood clustered around
the Seneca Community Church.
Early homes are often still
set amongst the original farm
outbuildings and the forests are
penetrated by meandering trails
past ruins and waterways that
feed the Potomac.
The Seneca area continues
to offer pastoral vistas of farm
fields, forests, and Sugarloaf
Mountain and remains largely
unchanged since the 1800s.
Sarah Rogers, Executive Director of Heritage Montgomery, is an interpretive planner,
designer, and executive in the areas of resource protection and development. She
provides leadership in the areas of education, outreach, and stewardship to natural,
cultural, and historical sites, parks, and museums at a federal, state, and local level.
plenty I autumn harvest 2019
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