Melford (Mitchellville, Maryland)

Melford is a historic plantation house located on the grounds of the Maryland Science and Technology Center, near the intersection of U.S. Route 301 and U.S. Route 50, at Bowie, Prince George's County, Maryland. The house is multi-part, gable-roofed, brick and stone dwelling house constructed probably in the mid-late 1840s, with elements of the Greek Revival style.[2]

Melford
Melford, December 2008
Melford (Mitchellville, Maryland) is located in Maryland
Melford (Mitchellville, Maryland)
Melford (Mitchellville, Maryland) is located in the United States
Melford (Mitchellville, Maryland)
LocationScience Drive in Maryland Science & Technology Center, Bowie, Maryland
Coordinates38°57′35″N 76°42′34″W
Builtmid-late 1840s
Architectural styleGreek Revival
NRHP reference No.88000271[1]
Added to NRHPApril 6, 1988

History

The land that made up the Melford plantation was part of a tract, originally called Howerton's Range which was a 400-acre parcel that John Howerton obtained in 1670.[3] It is part of Prince George's County and had historically been inhabited by the Piscataway people, an Algonquin language speaking tribe, as well as the Patuxent people and other Native American groups.[4][5]

Melford was built by Dr. Richard Duckett in 1810, replacing a previous structure.[3] Dr. Richard Duckett was the brother of Allen Bowie Duckett, and the son of Thomas Duckett, who in 1796 was judge of the Prince George's County Court, and one of the principal slaveholders in the area.[6]

Melford was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.[1]

Grounds

The grounds include three outbuildings: a three-bay gable-roofed slave quarter probably dating from the 18th century; a pyramidal-roofed meat house also dating from the late 18th century; and a 20th-century pyramidal-roofed pump house. The landscape consists of terraced gardens, falling away from the house on three levels. Melford was home for 140 years to two prominent local families, the Ducketts and the Hardestys.[2]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. Christopher Owens (September 1974). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Melford" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved 2015-08-01.
  3. "Belair-at-Bowie Flight to Freedom: Case Studies". Maryland State Archives. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  4. "Native American Heritage - Prince George's County Memorial Library System".
  5. "Prince George's County Tricentennial".
  6. Thomas, William G. Question of Freedom: The Families Who Challenged Slavery from the Nation's Founding to the Civil War. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2022, p. 75.


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