Owings

Owning a piece of history in Calvert County

Owning a piece of history in Calvert County

Calvert County, as with other counties in Maryland, is full of history. A lot of the homes were built in the 1700’s and remain today as a reminder of times past. Lower Marlboro is one of those areas in Calvert County. It was port on the Patuxent River where tobacco was loaded and shopped. The area thrived when river transportation was king, but when railroads and cars took over the area saw a decline.
I know you are thinking it’s just another historic area. There is a twist here…
a lot of the homes here are transplants. That’s right!  They were brought to the area centuries after they were built elsewhere in colonial America.
History buff and developer Perry Van Vleck discovered the area in the 70’s. Many of the historic homes had fallen to disrepair. So, he came up with a plan to save the homes in Lower Marloboro and others from Virginia.

One of those houses is Edmond’s Choice. The house was built in 1742 in Virginia. The home was brought to Calvert County by truck in 1974 from Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Vleck also brought several out-buildings including a blacksmith shop. You can see the home on Chaneyville Road.

Another historic home on Chaneyville Road survived rough waters on its trip to Lower Marlboro. Vleck paid for Willis Wharf to be brought over by barge from North Hampton, Virginia. The trip was delayed when Hurricane Agnes hit. The barge was beached but the home did not suffer any damage and was restored. The home was originally built in three sections in 1743, 1762 and 1795.  It still has the original floors and woodwork!

The oldest home in the area is the Harbor Master’s house. This house sits on the water’s edge with views of the Patuxent River. It was at one time the general store and you can still see the pickle barrel rings on the restored wide plank floors.