Heritage Programs, Rehabilitation Projects, Local Groups, and Individuals Honored with Annual Preservation Awards

Annapolis, MD – The Maryland Historical Trust (MHT) celebrated the state’s best efforts in historic preservation during the 44th annual Maryland Preservation Awards, held in Annapolis this afternoon. The MHT Board of Trustees recognized outstanding education, restoration, and revitalization projects, as well as organizational and individual leadership.

“In Maryland, we celebrate our proud cultural traditions, our diverse resources, and our heritage from the Eastern Shore to the mountains in Western Maryland,” said Governor Larry Hogan. “These awards honor and celebrate significant achievements to those who protect, promote, share and give continued life to the historic places that make Maryland a great place to live.”

The following people, places and programs were recognized with 2019 awards

The Tale of the Lion: Our Stories, Our Voices (Frederick County) – The Tale of the Lion: Our Stories, Our Voices is an oral history of 21 local African Americans between the ages of 90 and 105. Through childhood, school segregation, personal triumphs, and repressed economic opportunity, these individuals share powerful glimpses of their lives in their own words.
(Excellence in Media and Publications)

Montgomery County Cemetery Inventory Revisited – Montgomery Preservation Inc. surveyed and inventoried every cemetery in Montgomery County as part of a massive volunteer effort to support two new ordinances designed to preserve cemeteries and burial sites. Their planning department now uses the 322-site inventory in the development review process.
(Excellence in Community Engagement)

Historic St. Mary’s City Adults Only Tours (St Mary’s County) – By comparing and contrasting 17th-century and 21st-century lives, Historic St. Mary’s City Adults Only Tours touch on basic aspects of human behavior. Utilizing period court records, the tours illustrate how Maryland society has changed over time and, perhaps more importantly, how it has not.
(Excellence in Public Programming)

Town of Bel Air for Armory Marketplace (Harford County) – Following the adaptive reuse of an L-shaped bank of garages behind the 1915 Bel Air Armory, the town promotes these business incubator suites for new and emerging businesses, toward the goal of moving to a conventional Bel Air storefront.
(Project Excellence: Community Impact)

Rackliffe House Trust for Improvements to Grounds and Visitor Amenities (Worcester County) – This project combines preservation stewardship, sustainable design and universal access to provide ADA compliant parking, a pathway and a ramp to access the historic plantation house kitchen garden and grounds, located within an archeological and environmentally sensitive area.
(Project Excellence: Sustainable Design)

The Walters Art Museum for One West Mount Vernon Place (Baltimore City) – Refurbishing this 1850 house has been guided by a commitment to treat the historic building as a work of art in its own right. With historic details carefully restored or preserved, the Walters Art Museum now shares the stories of the artisans who constructed the house, the families who inhabited it, and the enslaved who served them.
(Project Excellence: Institutional Rehabilitation)

Bugeye Edna E. Lockwood (Talbot County) – Built at Tilghman in 1889, the Edna E. Lockwood is preserved as the last Chesapeake Bay log-bottom bugeye still under sail. The nine-log bugeye was restored to sailing condition following a two-year restoration project in full public view in the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum’s restoration shipyard.
(Project Excellence: Project Partnerships)

Anne Arundel County for Fort Smallwood Concession Stand – This project brought a circa 1930s recreational building back from the brink of collapse at this historic county park. Carefully restored to its period appearance, the concession stand illustrates how buildings once thought lost can return to useful service.
(Outstanding Stewardship by a Government Agency)

Maryland Military Department for Fifth Regiment Armory WWI Memorial (Baltimore City) – To coincide with the centennial of World War I, the 1925 Hans Schuler sculpture at the entrance to the Fifth Regiment Armory was spectacularly restored. Laser technology removed old coatings, followed by a protective acrylic coating to enhance and protect the original colors and patinas of the metals.
(Outstanding Stewardship by a Government Agency)

Belva King (Frederick County) – Motivated to share cultural history with current and future citizens, Belva King has worked for many years gathering and sharing historical information about the Frederick black community through DVDs, articles, and “Belva’s Museum Artifacts”, a monthly newsletter she founded.
(Outstanding Individual Leadership)

The Friends of Stanley Institute, Inc. (Dorchester County) – With the long-term guidance and stewardship of the Friends of Stanley Institute, Inc., an 1865 one room schoolhouse, 1875 church and cemetery, the oldest surviving remnants of the historic African American Christ Rock community, will serve future generations.
(Outstanding Organizational Leadership)