Piscataway Park: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Piscataway Park

Strickland, Scott; King, Julia

Inventory Unit Description: Piscataway Park is a natural and cultural landscape located on the southern and northern shores of Piscataway Creek and the southern shore of the Potomac River in both Charles and Prince George’s County, Maryland. In 1966 a National Register Nomination was submitted for the entirety of Piscataway Park. It was approved and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The period of significance for the park is 1750-1799, due to its association with the Mt. Vernon viewshed and the conservation of land to protect the 18th-century views of the Potomac during the life of George Washington (1732-1799). Two component cultural landscapes, Marshall Hall and the Accokeek Creek site, within Piscataway Park are separately listed in the National Register. Marshall Hall was submitted and listed in 1976. The period of significance for Marshall Hall is 1700 to 1874. Marshall Hall meets National Register requirements under Criterion B, C, and D. It is eligible under Criterion B because of its association with the prominent Marshall family. Thomas Marshall II (1731-1801) was a representative of Charles County in the Continental Congress and Provincial Conventions during the American Revolution. Thomas Marshall II also held a close personal relationship with George Washington. The manor house lived in by the Marshall family is a unique, being the largest brick dwelling house pre-dating 1740 in southern Maryland. The house is a unique architectural example. The Accokeek Creek site, located at Mockley Point, includes areas excavated by Alice Ferguson (1880-1951) in the 1930s. Alice Ferguson was the owner of Hard Bargain Farm and founder of the present-day Moyaone Reserve community. Ferguson identified several palisaded settlements and other native occupations dating as far back as 3000 BC. Three major loci of settlement within the Accokeek Creek site complex were identified. The largest of which, Alice Ferguson initially identified as the 17th-century Piscataway capital of Moyaone. Later examinations of her work had altered this interpretation, with the site likely being a pre-Contact iteration of Moyaone. The other loci include the Moyaone South and Susquehannock Fort sites. The Susquehannock were an Iroquoian-speaking people who originated from present-day Pennsylvania along the Susquehanna River. Throughout much of the 17th century, the Susquehannock were a thorn in the side of both the Piscataway and the English. The Susquehannock Fort site was occupied by the Susquehannock from 1674 to 1675 and was the site of an infamous siege by members of the Virginia and Maryland militias and their Piscataway allies. The siege in 1675 would help to ignite tensions leading to Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia a year later. The siege of the Susquehannock Fort was a pivotal moment in the history of Anglo-Native relations in North America Further, the CLI finds that the broader Piscataway Park boundary contains additional elements and periods of significance than those given for the aforementioned National Register listings. The period of significance for a fishery landscape of statewide importance would be 1786 to 1930 and would be eligible under Criterion D – having the potential to yield information important to this period of history. A fishery at Bryan Point was in operation as early as 1793, contributing to one of Piscataway Park’s previously identified periods of significance (1761-1799). The fishery was in operation throughout the 19th century and up to approximately 1930. Nearby Mockley Point also was the site of a fishery and lumber inspection port. A fishery at Mockley Point may date as far back as 1786 and it too was in operation prior to the property’s acquisition by Alice and Henry Ferguson in 1922. A proposed period of significance of 1786 to 1922 also partially falls within the overall park’s period of significance.

Piscataway Park: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Piscataway Park

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