Prince George's County Historical Society

09/19/2026

Step inside a house that's stood since the 1740s, and you're standing where Lettice Lee lived for nearly thirty years — an unusual woman for her century, in the decades just before the Revolution. The tour is built around her, and other women who lived and worked alongside her.

The grounds hold more than one story. There's an 18th-century underground brick burial vault. The site sits on the War of 1812 Star-Spangled Banner Trail — and on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, marking the enslaved men and women here who sought their freedom.

On Sept. 19, from 11–2, Darnall's Chance opens for History Community Day. Take the tour, walk the grounds, get your Southern Maryland Passport stamped, and stay for free activities for all ages.

Pack a picnic. Bring your people.
📍 Darnall's Chance Historic Site & Museum, Upper Marlboro
🗓 Saturday, Sept. 19 | 11 a.m.–2 p.m.
🎟 Free

More info: https://www.pgparks.com/event_list/dchsm-history-community-day

09/19/2026

Join us for an amazing Sunday afternoon!

09/19/2026

Our Speaker Series returns next Thursday, September 24 with a special hybrid presentation by Kevin Leonard of the Laurel History Boys on Laurel's Centennial Celebration!

Thursday, September 24 | 6:00 to 7:00 PM
Cost: FREE (advanced registration required)
Location: Laurel Pool Room and Zoom (hybrid event)
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/speaker-series-laurels-1970-centennial-celebration-tickets-1997019692659?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

In an extraordinary display of community involvement, Laurel’s Centennial Celebration in 1970 spanned eight days, was managed by a Who’s Who of the Laurel business community, staged events in every corner of the city, raised tens of thousands of dollars from local businesses who lined up to sign checks and be sponsors, and, most impressively, produced a massive stage play about Laurel’s history that included a cast of almost 400 residents.

Image: Laurel Centennial Parade, Circa 1970. The passing float reads "Laurel Shopping Center Salutes Laurel Centennial". Laurel Historical Society Collection.

09/03/2026

Bowers–Sargent House
📍 9312 Rhode Island Avenue, Daniels Park
🏛️ Built: 1909
As one of the first homes constructed after the 1906 subdivision of Daniels Park, the Bowers Sargent House showcases a bungalow form enhanced with rich Queen Anne–style decorative details.
Its distinctive design features include:
🔹 A hipped roof with four large engaged gabled dormers, one on each roof plane
🔹 German siding on the lower half
🔹 Diamond shaped wood shingles on the top half

09/03/2026

The DeMarr Library will be closed on Saturday, September 5, 2026. We apologize for the inconvenience.

08/24/2026

08/24/2026

in 1814, the Battle of Bladensburg took place not far from Riversdale. Mrs. Calvert wrote to her sister a few days later, about her "state of continual alarm." She also described seeing "several cannonballs with my own eyes" from her window at Riversdale. At the battle, the Americans were defeated by the British, who went on to ransack the White House and other public buildings in Washington, DC.

Rosalie's oldest son, George Henry Calvert, also wrote of accompanying his father, George Calvert, and individuals enslaved at Riversdale to bury the dead and tend to the injured of both armies on the battlefield.

Francis Scott Key wrote "The Star Spangled Banner," which would become our national anthem, while he was detained aboard a British ship in Baltimore harbor within view of the attack of Fort McHenry on Sept 13, 1814. The [congreve] "rocket's red glare" was the same phenomenon that Rosalie witnessed from her window at Riversdale. 🎇

08/24/2026

Also August 24, 1814: After a victory at nearby Bladensburg, Maryland, British soldiers marched on Washington, D.C., destroying the U.S. Capitol and many other public buildings. President James Madison sent word to his wife, Dolley, to flee the President's House.

As the British approached the city, the first lady, with the help of her enslaved people and aides, fled with as many treasures as they could. The British arrived at the White House about 11 p.m. After nearly an hour of eating and taking souvenirs, they torched the structure, leaving only a roofless stone shell. For Americans, August 24, 1814 was one of the darkest days of the .

"In the [President's House] not an inch, but its crack'd and blacken'd walls remain'd. That scene...which when I last visited it was so splendid...was now nothing but ashes..." —Margaret Bayard Smith letter, August 30, 1814

The White House and President's Park



📸 illustration a group of people standing around a large framed portrait, NPS/(c) Gerry Embleton