SOUTHERN MARYLAND HISTORIC ST. MARY’S CITY • St. Mary’s City Chesapeake Beach St. Edmond’s United Methodist Church 3000 Dalrymple Rd, 20732 410-257-7311 Served the African-American community as a school and church beginning in 1857. Burned in 1893. The present building dates from 1970. umc.org/find-a-church/ church/79746 Dameron St. Jerome’s Hall 17765 Three Notch Rd, 20628 301-872-4566 Built in 1885 by the local chapter of the Knights of St. Jerome, the oldest Catholic fraternal organization in the Archdiocese of Washington. In the late 1880s, the hall served as the first parochial school for Black children in St. Mary’s County. Hollywood Historic Sotterley 44300 Sotterley Ln, 20636 301-373-2280 1-800-681-0850 The plantation has an 1830s slave cabin that exemplifies typical slave housing in the Tidewater region. The history of slavery at Sotterley is told through the cabin and related artifacts, as well as through the story of the Kane family that lived on the plantation. sotterley.org Coltons Point St. Clement’s Island-Potomac River Museum 38370 Pt Breeze Rd, 20626 301-769-2222 Mathias de Sousa, often noted as the first individual of African descent to settle in Maryland, was part of the first group of colonists to land at St. Clement’s Island in 1634. The little that is known about de Sousa is included in the museum’s display. stmaryscountymd.gov/ Recreate/Museums/ StClementsIsland Drayden Drayden African-American Schoolhouse 18287 Cherryfield Rd, 20630 301-994-1471 One of the best preserved African-American schoolhouses in the country. This structure still occupies its original site and has not been significantly altered. stmaryscountymd.gov/ Recreate/Museums/Drayden Maryland’s Underground Railroad & African-American Heritage Travel Guide 27
African American Heritage Guide 2025 African American Heritage Guide: Page 27
