Biscoe Gray Heritage Farm Master Plan: A Comprehensive Design and Implementation Plan for a Unique, Public Cultural Heritage Destination

Poole Design, LLC

From overview: "The 196-acre Biscoe Gray Heritage Farm is part of the Calvert Creeks Rural Legacy Area and is predominated by beautiful, rolling agricultural fields that are edged by primarily hardwood forest—a fitting model of historic, bucolic Calvert County farm land. The site is located on the southern side of Grays Road in Prince Frederick, Maryland. Almost the entirety of the site’s other three sides are edged by water: Battle Creek on the west and an unnamed creek on the east, the two water bodies converging at the site’s southernmost, triangular tip. The site is replete with steep slopes on highly erodible soil as well as numerous drainageways and perennial streams. The resulting landform is a highly dissected landscape that has development potential on only the central ridge line of the property and a few tangential peninsulas and isolated pockets, a condition corroborated by decades of aerial photography that shows the geographic limitations of farming and homesteading. Consequently, of the site’s 196 acres, its developable area is extremely limited, totalling only approximately thirty-five acres... Calvert County purchased the 196-acre property with the assistance of the Rural Legacy Program with the expressed purpose of developing Biscoe Gray Heritage Farm to promote tourism and heritage education. The farm will provide opportunities for the public to learn about and participate in education about cultural resources and environmental stewardship. Young people will be able to explore and experience farming in programs that will encourage agricultural preservation and sustainable agricultural practices... This report documents the development process undertaken by the County to engage Calvert County citizens and County staff in developing the Master Plan. Its Mission Statement demonstrates the ambitious yet also grounded nature of the Master Plan’s development. The primary body of this report describes, in detail, the Master Plan Design rationale and underlying concepts, as well as their outgrowths: the specific proposals for uses, structures, programs, and experiences. The report also includes Performance Guidelines that should be followed in realizing the Master Plan Design. The report concludes with an Implementation Plan that describes specific actions and the associated phasing and budget planning needed to accomplish them." Project funding was provided in part by a 2008 Preserve America grant to Calvert County (grant number 24-08-AP-4120) administered by the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Biscoe Gray Heritage Farm Master Plan: A Comprehensive Design and Implementation Plan for a Unique, Public Cultural Heritage Destination

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