Prince George's County Highlights Historic Sites, Small Museums for Visitors

1. Broad Creek National Register Historic District

The Broad Creek district spans more than 455 acres and ties together 18th‑century architecture, archaeology and landscape. Its core sites, Harmony Hall, Want Water Ruins, St. John’s Church and Piscataway House, offer visible threads back to the colonial era and help explain land use patterns that shaped the modern county. The district’s county designation (July 1985) and National Register approval (12/08/2011) mean projects here are subject to preservation review and often require coordination between county planners and stewards.

2. Harmony Hall (Broad Creek)

Harmony Hall (c. 1769) is one of Broad Creek’s signature buildings and is a tangible example of colonial domestic architecture in southern Prince George’s County. As a county‑designated historic site within a larger National Register district, it illustrates how individual houses anchor larger conservation landscapes. Visitors encounter period architecture and a preserved setting that still informs local cultural events and interpretation.

3. Want Water Ruins (Broad Creek)

Want Water Ruins (c. 1708) are among the county’s oldest recorded built remains and help tell the story of early European settlement and economy on the Patuxent. The site’s archaeology complements nearby standing structures and offers researchers and visitors material evidence of 18th‑century household life. As part of Broad Creek’s protected acreage, Want Water is managed within county preservation frameworks.

4. St. John’s Church (Broad Creek)

St. John’s Church (c. 1766–1768) stands within Broad Creek as an 18th‑century ecclesiastical landmark that reveals continuity of worship and community gathering over centuries. Churches like St. John’s are often anchors for interpretation about colonial parish life, burial practice and local leadership. Its preservation contributes to understanding the region’s social and religious geography.

5. Piscataway House (Broad Creek)

Piscataway House, built around 1750 and relocated circa 1932, is another Broad Creek constituent that illustrates historic movement and conservation of significant buildings. Its documented relocation underscores how stewardship decisions in the early 20th century shaped the physical record visitors see today. The house is part of Broad Creek’s narrative about changing land ownership, preservation attitudes and landscape conservation.

6. St. Thomas Episcopal Parish Historic District

“The St. Thomas Episcopal Parish Historic District includes approximately 44 acres that encompass four county designated historic sites: St. Thomas Episcopal Church & Cemetery, Old St. Thomas Episcopal Church Rectory, Croom Industrial and Agricultural School/Croome Settlement School, and St. Simon’s Mission Chapel Site and Cemetery.” The parish district is especially important for visitors interested in African‑American religious life and education: its sites “reflect the pioneering efforts of the St. Thomas Church congregation to provide for the religious and educational needs of local African‑Americans during segregation.” Expect both standing architecture and fragile archaeological or cemetery sites; St. Simon’s Mission Chapel itself was demolished circa 1972, though its cemetery remains.

7. St. Thomas Episcopal Church & related Croom schools

St. Thomas Episcopal Church and its rectory anchor a parish history that spans Anglican origins through 19th‑ and 20th‑century community organizing. The Croom Industrial and Agricultural School (also called Croome Settlement School) embedded education within a faith community during Jim Crow, making the district a crucial place to explore intersections of race, religion and pedagogy. Preservation here helps safeguard stories of community resilience in an era of segregation and limited state support.

8. University Park and Old Town College Park historic districts

University Park’s historic district captures an early‑20th‑century, middle‑class “automobile suburb” that reshaped the western edge of the county into part of the Washington metropolitan area; the district was largely platted and developed by a single developer and contains a noteworthy collection of vernacular buildings that document early 20th‑century domestic architecture. Old Town College Park is also listed among county designated historic districts and ties directly into College Park’s institutional history. The published descriptions stop mid‑list on styles; if you’re researching architecture, consult M‑NCPPC inventories for the complete stylistic breakdown.

9. Glenn Dale Tuberculosis Hospital & Sanatorium Historic District

The Glenn Dale Tuberculosis Hospital & Sanatorium Historic District is a named county historic district that preserves the built environment of public‑health care from an era when municipal responses to TB shaped facilities and landscapes. As visitors tour or study the site, consider how public‑health design, segregation policies and post‑war medical changes influenced hospital planning and community health outcomes. Interpretive work here can link preservation to contemporary health equity conversations.

10. War of 1812 sites across the county

“Prince George’s County was directly affected during the War of 1812 by the British invasion of Washington. As the British marched north and west through the county, their impact was felt at several important sites:” The county list includes Mount Calvert on the Patuxent near Upper Marlboro, Bellefields, St. Thomas’ Church in Croom, Trinity Church and Darnall’s Chance in Upper Marlboro, Melwood Park, The Woodyard, Mount Lubentia, Addison Chapel, Bostwick, the Market Master’s House and the Hilleary‑Magruder House in Bladensburg, Riversdale, Magruder Spring, Crawford’s Adventure Spring, and Fort Washington (Warburton Manor). These places form a network for walking or driving tours that trace military movements, local defense, and wartime civilian experience.

11. Riversdale / Calvert Mansion

Riversdale (Calvert Mansion) appears on county lists both as a museum destination and as a site affected by the War of 1812. As a painted‑frame house and museum, Riversdale provides programming and archival links for visitors researching early republic household economies and the Calvert family’s role in regional politics. It’s a model for house‑museum interpretation tied to broader county narratives.

12. Social history sites: Bladensburg dueling grounds, Marlboro Hunt Club, St. Mary’s Beneficial Society Hall

“Social History, The theme of social history is represented in its many facets in Prince George’s County historic sites.” Examples include the Dueling Grounds at Bladensburg, the Marlboro Hunt Club and St. Mary’s Beneficial Society Hall, which illustrate leisure, conflict, and mutual aid across social classes and racial lines. Pay attention to how benevolent societies and fraternal halls served as providers of social welfare especially for African‑American communities after emancipation.

13. Bland Family Cemetery (Jordan’s Point)

“Bland Family Cemetery is near the site of the family home on Jordan’s Point. Believed to be the burial site of Richard Bland along with thirty‑eight other family members. The cemetery is owned and maintained by the Prince George County Regional Heritage Center.” The Heritage Center notes the cemetery is “open daily” with basic directions: Jordan Parkway, first right turn inside Jordan on the James. As a preserved burial ground, Bland Family Cemetery is both genealogical resource and public history site that requires sensitive visiting practices.

14. Flowerdew Hundred and riverine plantation history

“Founded with a 1618 land grant to Sir George Yeardley, Flowerdew Hundred was the site of the first windmill in North America. In 1864, forty percent of the Union Army crossed the river here using a pontoon bridge and landing at Windmill Point.” Flowerdew Hundred and similar plantations on the James River illustrate how tobacco economy, land grants and wartime logistics shaped regional development. Note that many plantation sites are privately owned; confirm public access before visiting.

15. Chester Plantation, Lee’s Mill Pond and related Civil War sites

“Built by Williamson Simmons on Second Swamp near present day Disputanta, Chester Plantation’s architecture of Greek Revival was unique to the county in 1845. It was later owned by local philanthropist and business leader, Remmie Arnold.” Lee’s Mill Pond was the site of a Civil War skirmish in 1864. These places document 19th‑century architectural trends and wartime mobilization that continue to influence local memory.

16. Bland, Lee’s Mill and other private‑property cautions

Many plantation and private historic properties are not open to the general public. “Note: Unless noted otherwise, sites are privately owned and not open to the public. Please contact the Heritage Center for more information.” Respect private property and use Heritage Center or museum contacts to arrange visits or to request research access.

17. Directory of small museums and cultural sites

Prince George’s County’s museum directory includes dozens of small institutions: Airmen Memorial Museum; Belair Mansion & Belair Stable Museum; Calvert Mansion (Riversdale); Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum; College Park Airport Museum; Darnall’s Chance; Fort Washington Park; Greenbelt Museum; Howard B. Owens Science Center; Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum; Laurel Historical Society; Marietta Mansion; Montpelier Mansion (M‑NCPPC); NASA/Goddard Visitor Center & Museum; National Colonial Farm, Accokeek Foundation / Piscataway Park; Prince George’s County Hall of Fame; Surratt House Museum & Visitor Center; W.H. Duvall Tool Museum; and the William Sydney Pittman Museum & African‑American Historical [fragment]. These sites offer focused exhibits on aviation, plantation life, railroad history, science education, colonial farming and African‑American heritage.

18. Aviation history: College Park Airport Museum and Airmen Memorial Museum

College Park’s aviation legacy is represented by the College Park Airport Museum and the Airmen Memorial Museum; local material also references an aircraft called the Ercoupe produced in the 1960s, “initially developed for military purposes and later adapted for civilian aviation.” Visitors interested in technological history will find aircraft, exhibits and stories about early military‑to‑civilian aviation transitions at these sites, though the research excerpt leaves manufacturer details incomplete, museums can provide fuller technical and archival context.

19. Jefferson Patterson Park & National Colonial Farm (Accokeek)

Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum and the National Colonial Farm (Accokeek) offer archaeological, environmental and living‑history programming. Both institutions are hubs for regional research and public programs that connect visitors to indigenous history, colonial agriculture and landscape stewardship in Piscataway Park.

20. House museums: Montpelier, Belair, Marietta and Darnall’s Chance

Historic house museums like Montpelier Mansion, Belair Mansion & Stable Museum, Marietta Mansion and Darnall’s Chance interpret elite domestic life, enslaved labor and changing landscapes across centuries. These sites combine architectural tours, curated collections and interpretive programming; consult each site for current hours and public‑program offerings.

21. Archival and research resources

Researchers should consult local repositories for deep dives: FDML, PGCHS (Prince George’s County Historical Society), PGCML (Prince George’s County Memorial Library), HPCL, M‑NCPPC, AFF (Alice Ferguson Foundation) and UM holdings. Pghistory lists many unpublished papers and theses (for example, The Rossborough Inn Report and Rinn’s survey of 17th and 18th‑century buildings) that support long‑form research and community history projects.

22. Preservation law and community equity

“These properties have been determined to meet the architectural and historical criteria of Prince George’s County’s Historic Preservation Ordinance (Subtitle 29 of the County Code) and are protected by the Historic Preservation Ordinance.” Preservation protections matter not only for heritage tourism but for community health and equity: safeguarding places of worship, school sites and cemeteries preserves resources central to African‑American cultural survival and public memory, and it influences redevelopment decisions that affect housing, environmental health and access to green space.

23. Practical visiting notes and access

Many sites are privately owned or have restricted access, contact hosts before visiting. For cemetery visits, Bland Family Cemetery is “open daily” with on‑site directions at Jordan Parkway; for other properties, check museum or Heritage Center contact pages for tour arrangements. When planning visits, factor in transportation across a geographically large county and look for grouped itineraries (Broad Creek/Riversdale, College Park/University Park, Accokeek/Jefferson Patterson) to maximize time.

24. Name caution: Evergreen in Virginia vs. Prince George’s County, MD

The guide title includes “Evergreen,” but a National Register entry “Evergreen (Hopewell, Virginia)” is listed for July 24, 1979 (#79003070) and lies east of Hopewell on Ruffin Road. Do not confuse Prince George’s County, Maryland sites with Prince George County (Virginia) NRHP properties; this guide focuses on Prince George’s County, Maryland.

25. How preservation supports public health and community resilience

Historic hospitals, churches and schools in Prince George’s County, like the Glenn Dale sanatorium and the Croom school, tell parallel stories about public health, segregated service provision and community responses to limited state resources. Interpreting these sites through a health equity lens links preservation to contemporary policy conversations about access to care, environmental justice, and the built features that shape wellbeing.