Endangered Maryland

Today, the hall is slowly coming back to life, thanks to joint efforts by the Silesia Citizen’s Association Inc. (SCA) and the National Park Service (NPS). The two linked forces to renovate the property and to properly highlight the site’s significant agricultural, cultural, and natural history, hoping that the manor won’t fall to the same fate as the Lyles house, which is located on this same property. That circa-1600s home (or rather, its ruins) was once the oldest dwelling in the Washington area. And near that house is perhaps the oldest manmade canal in the country. At the canal’s end was once an entire village, called Ayres, which was part of the British system designed to tax tobacco before it was loaded onto ships sailing to England, explains Frederick Walzel, president of the SCA, whose group nominated the site for this year’s Endangered Maryland list. (Walzel has personal ties to the property. His father settled there in 1910, and he still owns a portion of what used to be Harmony Hall.)

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980, the manor serves as a key landmark for the Broad Creek Historic District. Acquired by the NPS during the 1960s, the house has been vacant since 1999. “This is an important historical resource that depicts early American life,” says Walzel. “This area was a frontier of the U.S., and it should be preserved for generations to come.”

Bill Clark, NPS manager, has been instrumental in gaining grants, as well as in bringing in staff and volunteers, like members of the Student Conservation Association, to make vast improvements to Harmony Hall. “We have begun quite a bit of work repairing the facility and property,” says Clark, who has been at Fort Washington for 14 years. “Besides painting interiors and doors, stopping the roof from leaking, repairing the electrical system, re-establishing wiring, and removing three old outbuildings that had completely fallen in, we’ve created some really nice walking trails.” He adds, “It’s really nice, because now that the kids have removed the vegetation and debris created from 30 years of dumping, we’ve spruced up the grounds so you can see the house from the street.”

Despite the $1 million in renovation that has already been spent, Clark estimates that about another $4 million is needed, mainly for major structural renovation.

For more information, call 301-763-4600.

For National Park Services listing of the Harmony Hall site click here

The National Park Service's article - History and Culture of Harmony Hall