Located at 11420 Old Georgetown Road, next to the Aish center, the Henson Park is a part of the National Park Service National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program. The site is the only site in America associated with Josiah Henson’s life. PBS did a video about the site, which can be found here, video.pbs.org/video/2365243972/.
Born in 1789, Henson was enslaved for a time on the Riley Farm in Montgomery County. He later escaped to Canada by using the Underground Railroad, and wrote an autobiography, The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself. Many believe that his story was the inspiration for Harriet Beecher Stowe’s landmark novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. There is evidence to suggest that he lived on the site now designated as Josiah Henson Park.
Rapid growth
Montgomery County first acquired the property with the Henson House in January 2006, paying $1 million for the one-acre lot that includes the historic house with log kitchen. Since then, the Luxmanor Citizens Association has sponsored several community art shows on the site (2009, 2010). The County has also acquired several adjoining properties, including the “Rozier Property” immediately to the south for $720,000 in July 2009, the “Beamer Property” on Tilden Lane (0.63 acres) for $925,000 in August 2013, and the “Murphy Property” on Tilden Lane (0.59 acres) for $875,000 in October 2014.
As these purchases imply, the Parks Department has been working for several years to expand and improve the site. The 2010 White Flint Sector Plan notes the site as a major heritage destination. The county has also held a series of community meetings at Tilden Middle School, in June and August 2010, and in February 2013. The Planning Board also approved a “Master Plan” for the site in December 2010, and a “Facility Plan” in June 2013.
Indeed, the plans for the site are ambitious. The Parks Department envisions a theater, a visitors’ center with a “green roof” and room for exhibits, a gift shop, a walking trail complete with a “portal” that will offer a walk-through experience that will create “an emotional and palpable connection to the story line,” and an outdoor amphitheatre. There will also be archaeological activity on the site for years to come.
The Parks Department anticipates that a site of this scope could attract approximately 1,000 visitors per month. To accommodate that level of traffic, they are looking at constructing an above ground three-story parking deck across Old Georgetown Road next to the Shriver Aquatics Center, on the parking lot where the farmer’s market is now held on weekends.
