WASHINGTON, D.C. – The campaign to designate Southern Maryland as a National Heritage Area got a big boost last week. Congressman Steny Hoyer introduced a bill in Congress on October 1st to designate Charles, Calvert, and St. Mary’s Counties as NHA. The bill would authorize $10 million in federal money for the SOMD NHA.
Our region would join 55 other National Heritage Areas across the United States, including Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area, Baltimore National Heritage Area, and Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area which spans Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Senator Ben Carden joined Hoyer on Monday to announce the proposed legislation. Senator Chris Van Hollen was an original co-sponsor of the legislation.
What is a National Heritage Area?
According to the National Parks Service, National Heritage Areas are “Places where natural, cultural, and historic resources combine to form a cohesive, nationally important landscape.”
The National Park Service supports National Heritage Areas but they are not considered National Parks. The NPS provides federal funds and technical assistance to encourage development, cleanup and restoration projects, and educational activities.
The areas remain under state, local, or private ownership.
Designation Will “Spark Growth”
“A Southern Maryland National Heritage Area will boost awareness and federal support of a part of the state whose resources need to be better protected, whose story needs to be comprehensively told, and whose beauty needs to be more widely appreciated,” said Senator Cardin. “This new legislation will help direct federal seed money to spark the growth of programs and partnerships designed to boost a wide range of tourism and historic and cultural preservation initiatives.”
This is just the first step towards the official designation. The legislation will first need to be considered by a committee. If it meets approval, it will move on to the House or Senate for a vote.
Historic Importance
The largest site of the original Maryland colony, St. Mary’s City was the seat of colonial government until 1708. Religious freedom was first codified in 1649 with “An Act Concerning Religion” (or, the Toleration Act) that provided the foundation for the religious liberty clauses in the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
In addition, the area holds historic significance as the location where the first person of African descent served in a legislature in the U.S. (Mathias de Sousa, 1642); the first woman petitioned for suffrage (Margaret Brent, 1648); UNESCO designated a Slave Route Site of Remembrance; and the Piscataway Conoy Tribe gained recognition of their ancestral home.
This heritage area is also the location of the National Religious Freedom Byway, Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail, Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, and sites related to the American Revolutionary War, War of 1812, American Civil War, WWI and WWII, and the Project Mercury human spaceflight program. Most recently, the area includes Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary.