Charles County has its share of historic sites. Forty are listed on the National Register. According to Cathy Thompson, program manager for the Charles County Department of Planning and Growth Management, there are more than 1,000 properties listed on the Maryland Historic Trust. Thompson said many are under the assumption that because a property is on one of those lists it is somehow protected.
“In a lot of cases there are no means of preservation for property owners,” she said.
Thompson met with the Charles County Commissioners Tuesday, February 25 to go over properties deemed relevant for preservation. They include the old Waldorf School, La Plata, Bel Alton School and Pomonkey.
Pomonkey was originally a Native American settlement. In colonial times it was known as Bumpy Oak before being renamed after the Indian tribe.
“This is an under-documented community,” Thompson said. “In the 1920s, the first school for people of color was built there, the first school for African-Americans in Charles County. There was a spoon factory located there from 1946-70. They made wooden spoons and other types of wooden tools.”
Thompson noted the high school and Elks Lodge were both built in 1933.
“The Friends group has received grant funding to begin restoration of the high school,” Thompson said.
Another longstanding Pomonkey tradition is the annual shad bake, where the fish is staked on cedar planks for a smoky flavor. “It’s an annual event that’s been ongoing for a century,” said Charles County Commissioner Vice President Reuben B. Collins II.
Thompson said further surveys and documentation needs to be undertaken in the community. Other recommended sites for preservation include the old Waldorf School, Bel Alton School, with historical district designations for Bryans Road, Benedict, La Plata and Marbury.
La Plata became county seat, Thompson explained, when there was a courthouse fire at the former county seat of Port Tobacco. The railroad came through west of the old port town and so the county seat was relocated nearer to the railway at the new town. The town, with its Victorian architecture, became a “pretty sizable commu
