Looking Back, Looking Forward: A New Look at the Historic Resources of the Maryland Port Towns

Abstract

During the fall of 2008, the historic preservation studio of the University of Maryland’s Graduate Program in Historic Preservation developed a heritage resource study for the Maryland Port Towns, a group of four individual municipalities located on the Anacostia River in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The client, the Port Towns Community Development Corporation, made it clear from the beginning that the study was to dovetail with their already extensive efforts for social and economic development in the Port Towns. The study that follows is the culmination of the efforts of the nine-member studio team. Titled Looking Back, Looking Forward: A New Look at the Heritage Resources of the Maryland Port Towns, the study initially developed from two principal questions:

• What existing historic resources are located in the Port Towns? • What can be done to preserve, enhance, and highlight the existing historic resources located in the Port Towns to meet the socioeconomic goals set by the Port Towns Community Development Corporation?