Josiah Henson Special Park Facility Plan
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Project Description
Background
Status/Project Update
Calendar and Meeting Notes
M-NCPPC Staff Contact
Project Description
The Josiah Henson Special Park is a 1.43 acre historic park property located at 11420 Old Georgetown Road in Rockville Maryland. It consists of a small portion of the original Riley plantation where Reverend Josiah Henson lived and worked as a slave from 1795 to 1830. Henson’s 1849 autobiography inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe's landmark novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin.
The Department of Parks intends to convert the site and historic buildings to a public historic/cultural park and house museum with an interpretive program to honor the man. After years of enslavement, Josiah Henson escaped to freedom in Canada on the Underground Railroad and later published his memoirs that were a key source for Mrs. Stowe’s story.
The Department of Parks is committed to excellent stewardship of this resource because of its historical associations with slavery and the slave experience in Montgomery County. The Park Development Division is working with a team of consulting architects, engineers, and interpretive program planners to complete a Facility Plan level of work to develop, preserve, rehabilitate, and restore the park site and buildings. Public input will be sought on several occasions during the project.
A Facility Plan project typically completes 30% of initial programming and design-related activities, including sub-phases called preliminary design, schematic design, and design development. Historic background and thematic material previously compiled in a Historic Structures Report and park Master Plan will be incorporated as appropriate into this project. Once complete, the Facility Plan requires approval by the Planning Board and County Council before additional funding can be appropriated in the Capital Improvement Program for subsequent final design and construction phases.
Visitation
The park is currently closed to the public; however, the Cultural Resources Stewardship Section of the Park Planning and Stewardship Division offers occasional seasonal openings of the house and site. To find links to the Josiah Henson autobiographies and other information, go to: www.JosiahHensonSite.org
Prior Projects
A Master Plan for the park was completed and approved by the Montgomery County Planning Board on December 2, 2010. For more information, go to Josiah Henson Special Park Master Plan.
A Historic Structures Report for the park was completed in June 2008. For more information on the HSR, go to Riley House / Josiah Henson Site Historic Structures Report.Background
The Josiah Henson Special Park (formerly called the "Riley Farm/Uncle Tom's Cabin Special Park”) is comprised of two parcels of land acquired from private citizens by Montgomery County for park use. The first parcel, at 11420 Old Georgetown Road, was in private ownership for its entire history until it was acquired in January 2006. It consists of the historic "Riley/Bolten House" (an 1800-1815 wood frame, two-story house) and the log kitchen (an 1850 one-story wing), both remodeled in 1936 by architect Lorenzo Winslow. The property also features a detached “non-contributing” one-car garage that postdates the historical significance of the site and landscaping and mature trees that primarily date to the second half of the 20th century. The site is designated as an individual resource on the Montgomery County Master Plan for Historic Preservation. As such, it is protected under local preservation law as a Historic Site where exterior changes require review by the Historic Preservation Commission. The Riley/Bolten House is also listed on the prestigious National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places. The second parcel, at 11410 Old Georgetown Road, was purchased in July 2009. Its house and garage were not historically significant. As envisioned in the approved Park Master Plan, they were demolished by Parks in June 2011 to make room for a future bus drop off, small parking lot, and visitor orientation building.
Status/Project Update
The facility plan project is the recipient of a $100,000 Save America’s Treasurer’s grant from the National Park Service (NPS). The grant requires the project to go through Section 106 review at the Maryland State Historic Preservation Office (MD-SHPO). The grant also requires an easement that the local Historic Preservation Commission will hold on the historic parcel at 11420 Georgetown Road.
The scope of work for architecture and engineering services was awarded to LSC Design of York, Pennsylvania. The scope of work for interpretive program planning was awarded to Experience Design of Boston, Massachusetts.
As of April 2012, the first one-third of the facility plan work, called Preliminary Design has been completed. The NPS and MD-SHPO will review the preliminary work in the spring. After their review, the schematic design phase will begin.
Calendar and Meeting Notes
Links to review meeting notes and Planning Board memos will be attached to each applicable calendar event as it is scheduled and completed.
| DATE/TIME | MILESTONES AND MEETING NOTES | LOCATION |
|---|---|---|
| January 2011 | Initiate facility plan | |
| March 2011 | Preliminary Design Phase (pre-design and site analysis) - Architecture/Engineering - Interpretive Program |
|
| May 26 - June 30, 2011 | Visitor Survey CLOSED | Online |
| June 26, 2011 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm |
Montgomery County Heritage Days Open House Meet the exhibit design team and comment on the interpretive program concepts for the future facility. Explore an archaeology dig with Parks’ archaeologists. Tours every half hour from noon to 3:30 pm. Click here to learn more about Heritage Days. |
Josiah Henson Special Park 11420 Old Georgetown Road Rockville, MD Park at the Montgomery Aquatic Center at 5900 Executive Boulevard |
| October 2011 | MCPS Teacher Survey (4th and 8th grade) CLOSED | Online |
| Spring 2012 | Preliminary Design Phase, Historic Regulatory Review - NPS/MD-SHPO - Historic Preservation Commission |
|
| Summer 2012 | Schematic Design Phase - Community Meeting #1 - NPS/MD-SHPO - Historic Preservation Commission |
|
| Fall 2012 | Design Development - Community Meeting #2 - NPS/MD-SHPO, Request approval - Historic Preservation Commission, Request approval |
|
| Winter 2013 | Finalize facility plan | |
| Spring 2013 | Request Planning Board
approval of the Facility Plan, including the proposal for the
future final design and construction scope and budget |
M-NCPPC Staff Contact
Eileen Emmet, Project Manager
Eileen.Emmet@MontgomeryParks.org
301-495-2550
Date of last update: April 9, 2012
Montgomery County Department of Parks