Category Archives: Local History

Local History, Montgomery County, Maryland

Black Baseball in Norbeck

Leave a comment
James "Dudey" Offord (left), Thomas "Babe" Snowden (on the ground), and Allison "Pickles" Claggett (right). Members of the Sandy Spring All-Stars, 1940. Courtesy of the Sandy Spring Museum. 1999.0040.0024
James “Dudey” Offord (left), Thomas “Babe” Snowden (on the ground), and Allison “Pickles” Claggett (right). Members of the Sandy Spring All-Stars, 1940. Courtesy of the Sandy Spring Museum. 1999.0040.0024

The community of Norbeck, in Montgomery County, is centered around the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Norbeck Road, and nearby Muncaster Mill Road. In the late nineteenth century, after the end of slavery, it became home to an African American enclave known as Mt. Pleasant. Like many of the African American communities scattered throughout the county, it was anchored by a church, a school and a fellowship hall. These institutions united the community by answering their critical needs – spiritual, educational, and charitable.

There was another need that was fulfilled in this community – recreation and entertainment. It was a need for freedom to do things for sheer enjoyment away from the scrutiny of White society which excluded them during segregation. According to Allison Claggett, who played for the Sandy Spring Stars in the 1930s and 1940s, “Baseball was the only main activity open to African Americans at that time. You couldn’t play golf. You could caddy, but you had no place to play.” Stanley Snowden, the Mount Pleasant church custodian, said “Baseball was the Black sport. Every boy you saw along the road had a ball glove tied to his belt.”

Read more about Black baseball in Norbeck here:

Mangin, Julianne, “Black Baseball in Norbeck,” The Montgomery County Story, v. 66(1) Spring 2023, p. 10.
https://mchdr.montgomeryhistory.org/items/c7a9980e-dd2a-4208-b320-d31d8d8f47b4

Local History, Montgomery County, Maryland, Music

Joe Lee of Norbeck, Maryland

1 Comment

In 1952, Mike Seeger recorded a blues guitarist from Norbeck, Montgomery County, Maryland named Joe Lee. Mike included a tune he learned from him on his album “Early Southern Guitar Sounds.” He called it “Joe Lee’s Tune.” I have been researching the former African American community in Norbeck called Mount Pleasant for several years now. On August 6, 2025, I had the pleasure of meeting Joe Lee’s family and played Mike’s field recording of their grandfather. Last week, I visited Joe Lee’s grave in a cemetery in Aspen Hill and played this recording over it, in his honor.

Local History, Montgomery County, Maryland

History of the Montgomery County Poor Farm and Almshouse

Leave a comment
Cover, The Montgomery County Story, vol. 68, no. 2, Spring 2025
Cover, The Montgomery County Story, vol. 68, no. 2, Spring 2025

Just published! Parts 1  and 2 of the history of the Montgomery County Poor Farm and Almshouse.

For nearly 160 years, the Almshouse at the Montgomery County Poor Farm was the last resort for poor people who were unable to take care of themselves due to physical, mental, and developmental disabilities. A look at some of their stories, including how they lived and died, sheds a light on conditions there. Despite the oversight of county officials and the efforts of reformers, the Almshouse was a place where the poor were neglected, abused, and exposed to unsafe conditions until it closed in 1948.

DOWNLOAD PARTS 1 AND 2:

The Montgomery County Poor Farm & Almshouse: Its History and People. Part 1: Origins through the Nineteenth Century

The Montgomery County Poor Farm & Almshouse: Its History and People. Part 2: The Poor Farm in the 20th Century

Local History, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland, Music

Will Adams, Fiddler of Ken-Gar

10 Comments
Detail from Frank H. M. Klinge, Atlas Of Montgomery County, Maryland, Landsdale, Pa.: 1949.
Detail from Frank H. M. Klinge, Atlas Of Montgomery County, Maryland, Landsdale, Pa.: 1949.

Video of virtual talk from February 15, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GULm_6pTFM

Introduction

In 1953, two people from different worlds met in Ken-Gar. Will Adams was an elderly African American man from Ken-Gar, a predominantly Black neighborhood wedged between Kensington and Garrett Park in Montgomery County, Maryland. Mike Seeger was a young White man from upscale Chevy Chase, the son of two prominent music scholars. His older half-brother was Pete Seeger, the famous folk singer and banjo player. Mike Seeger made field recordings of Will Adams playing the fiddle, and old-time music history was made.

I wanted to know more about Adams, where he came from, and how he might have learned his music. While doing this research, I realized that his ancestry offers a glimpse into African American life in Montgomery County from the final years of slavery into the mid-twentieth century. In addition, the musical legacies of both men – Will Adams and Mike Seeger – live on to this day. Continue reading Will Adams, Fiddler of Ken-Gar →

Local History, Montgomery County, Maryland

Sanctified Sisters of Colesville: The Hidden History of Commonwealth Farm

2 Comments
"A Sanctified Sisterhood," The Washington Times, April 6, 1902, section three, pp. 1, 4.
“A Sanctified Sisterhood,” The Washington Times, April 6, 1902, section three, pp. 1, 4.

Watch the video: “Sanctifed Sisters of Colesville: The Hidden History of Commonwealth Farm” (YouTube)

Commonwealth Farm was a 119-acre property in Colesville that was owned by a women’s commune formed in the 1870s in Belton, Texas. They were called the Sanctified Sisters or Sanctificationists at first, but eventually became known as the Woman’s Commonwealth. Their beliefs were based on divine revelations received by their leader which espoused sanctification, non-sectarianism, and celibacy. They were economically self-sustaining, pooling their financial resources and living communally. In 1898, the commune moved from Texas to Washington, D.C. In 1903, they purchased the Colesville farm, where they raised dairy cattle, chickens, and pigs, and grew vegetables, fruit trees, corn, and wheat. For over four decades, the commune ran the Commonwealth Farm Inn and restaurant on the property, which became a popular spot for members of high-society and influential Washingtonians.
>> Read more

 

Local History, Montgomery County, Maryland

Commonwealth Farm, Colesville, Maryland

18 Comments
Stone retaining wall visible from New Hampshire Avenue. (J. Mangin, January 24, 2021)
Stone retaining wall visible from New Hampshire Avenue. (J. Mangin, January 24, 2021)
Watch: “Sanctifed Sisters of Colesville: The Hidden History of Commonwealth Farm” (YouTube)

Introduction

Late last year, stuck at home, my activities hampered by the pandemic, I found myself intrigued by a posting in a Facebook group.  Someone asked if anyone knew the history behind a stone retaining wall he’d seen on the east side New Hampshire Avenue, while heading north toward Good Hope Road. I didn’t know, but having nothing better to do, I set about to find the answer. I knew I had the research skills; for the past few years, I have scoured photograph archives, land records, digital newspapers, and maps to write the history of the Aspin Hill Pet Cemetery. Even so, when it comes to historical research there are times when, no matter how hard one looks, there’s nothing to go on. But this time, I was in luck. Continue reading Commonwealth Farm, Colesville, Maryland →