A Self-Guided Tour of African American Heritage
in Western Montgomery County
By heritage Montgomery
T he landscape looks much as it did when European settlers first arrived here in the late 1600s . With them came Africans from the Gold Coast and Senegambia regions of Africa , and later from the Caribbean . Many cultures merged in Maryland bringing skills from their homelands in agriculture , animal husbandry , metalworking , and domestic trades .
Montgomery County was host to both free and enslaved Blacks . On the eve of the Civil War , the county was home to approximately 5400 enslaved and 1500 free Blacks , nearly one third of the county population . In Maryland , a border state between North and South , slavery continued until after the Civil War . While a number of free Black communities were built in the early 1800s , the time immediately following emancipation in 1864 saw the greatest increase in community building . By the early 1900s , over 40 self-sufficient rural African American settlements had been founded in the county .
The legacy of African Americans here can be seen in the remains of houses and churches , mill ruins , roads , fields , woodlands , and waterways . These are the places where people worked and prayed , hunted , fished , farmed , and raised families .
This tour offers stories of home and community life as well as experiences of African Americans interfacing with large institutions during times of restriction and segregation – all while pursing the promise of freedom . The sites included are organized geographically rather than in the chronological order of their histories .
While there are many significant Black history sites in the county , we are focusing on those that are open to the public or visible from the road . Most have limited hours , so please check the websites provided before you visit .
For an overview of Montgomery County ’ s rich African American history , please download the Heritage Montgomery brochure , “ Crossroads and Cultures : African American Heritage ,” at HeritageMontgomery . org .
Top : Button Farm ; above : heritage breed pigs .
n BUTTON FARM LIVING HISTORY CENTER 16820 Black Rock Road Germantown • ButtonFarm . org ( Please check for hours and programs .)
“ I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs .”
~ frederick douglass
THEME : Slave plantation life during the 1850s and the heroic story of the Underground Railroad .
BACKGROUND : Set on 40 rural acres , the history center interprets the period when enslaved labor shaped the landscape and modern agricultural technology had not yet been developed . This unique project revives the sensory experiences of the 1850s to provide a tactile understanding of slavery and the lives of enslaved Marylanders . THE FARM : Set on 40 rural acres ,
30 plenty I Spring sowing 2021