PGParks History

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PGParks History

History Lives in Prince George's County! Follow us & find out about upcoming programs & what's new!

Prince George's County was named for Prince George of Denmark, the husband of England's Queen Anne, and is steeped in notable history. History buffs can learn more about the county's intriguing past by visiting historic sites and museums that have been restored and preserved for public use by M-NCPPC. Special events and programs bring history alive for visitors and allow guests to experience histo

ry with hands-on activities, geocaching, lectures, workshops, guided tours, living history encampments, African American heritage site tours, teas, scavenger hunts, period dinners and archaeological explorations.

06/01/2026

From the M-NCPPC Paleontology Unit, Happy Dinosaur Day!

In Prince George's County, over 7 different species have been identified from both Dinosaur Park and elsewhere in the county.

Dinosaur Park in particular has the fossils of Astrodon ( the Maryland State Dinosaur and largest dinosaur on the east coast) Acrocanthosaurus (largest predatory dinosaur found on the east coast), Priconodon (a giant armored herbivore), Deinonychus, Richardoestesia (a small fish eating predatory dinosaur), a small horned dinosaur, and an ostrich-like dinosaur.

Come celebrate our local dinosaur heritage at Dinosaur Park on June 6th from 10 am to 2 pm!

https://www.pgparks.com/parks_trails/dinosaur-park

05/31/2026

Come commemorate Juneteenth with stories of resistance, resilience, and the ongoing pursuit of freedom for the Jackson, Duckett, Brown, and Butler families who lived and labored at the Marietta Historic Site & Museum.

📅 Thursday, June 18 – Sunday, June 21, 2026
🎟️ Free
📍 5626 Bell Station Road, Glenn Dale, MD
🔗 https://www.pgparks.com/event_list/self-emancipators-history

05/30/2026

The bone bed dig at Dinosaur Park has made good progress this spring. Starting in April, the Paleontology Unit team and our Dig Day participants have uncovered a number of new and fascinating fossil specimens and we have a new significantly size bone (over 10 cm wide) just starting to be uncovered. More work will be needed to uncover this fossil as we move into the summer dig sessions.

Come join us for our Dig Day adventures (for ages 8 and up) and help us discover our ancient natural history at Dinosaur Park!
More info: pgparks.com/dinosaurpark

05/28/2026

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! Darnall’s Chance wants to get the word out – the printed word!

Sign your young learners up for the program How Colonial America Got the Word Out to learn how early Americans spread the news through newspapers, broadsides, and pamphlets.

Participants will design their own block print and use it to create personalized note cards to take home.

- For ages 6-14
- Pre-registration through Parks Direct is required.
- Fee is $10; chaperones free.
- Register: https://tinyurl.com/GotTheWordOut

05/27/2026

The Riversdale Staff are in the final stages of design for our new exhibition A Story of Their Own: Voices of the Enslaved Community of Riversdale opening at the end of the summer.

An important component of the exhibition is a list of all known individuals who labored at Riversdale. While the exhibition centers the experiences of enslaved people, this list reflects the full workforce at Riversdale: free and enslaved, white and Black.

Compiling this list was no small task. Using sources such as Rosalie’s letters, Adam’s diary, and the papers of Charles Benedict. Most recently, staff reviewed six full daybooks, entry by entry, to identify free laborers and enslaved individuals “hired out” from other enslavers to work at Riversdale.

Including more than 250 names this list will not be exhaustive, it offers a meaningful snapshot of those who labored at Riversdale between 1801 and 1864.

Subscribe to Riversdale’s newsletter to stay up to date on our exhibit. https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/QzUZWLW/Riversdale2021?mode=preview

05/26/2026

Montpelier is honored to present (in collaboration with the Braxton Institute for Sustainability, Resiliency, and Joy) Dr. Joanne Braxton’s moving photography of her odyssey to Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal.

The exhibit explores an unexpected, very personal story and an encounter with ancestral memory. As a descendant of African people enslaved at Montpelier, she hopes that you will see and feel some of what she saw and felt as she journeyed to discover the meaning of the words of her grandmother, Emma Harrison: “My father always said that we have a home over there.”

Through her photography, she honors her enslaved great-grandfather, William Harrison, and “diasporic Africans, unwilling immigrants to the Chesapeake in the 17th and 18th centuries.”

Exhibition Details:
- Open from June 11 through November 1, 2026
- Visiting hours: Thursday-Sunday, 10 AM-4 PM (normal museum hours)
- Location: Montpelier Historic Site & Museum, 9650 Muirkirk Road, Laurel, Maryland 20708
- Cost: FREE! All ages are welcome
- More info: https://pgparks.com/event_list/the-african-odyssey-exhibition

05/23/2026

Get ready for Gather on the Green, a new monthly outdoor concert series hosted at Concord Historic Site! Set within the historic landscape of a former to***co plantation turned site of African American resilience and legacy, the series invites the community to gather for music, reflection, and connection in a welcoming outdoor environment.

Each evening features live performances by local musicians representing genres rooted in African American expressive culture, intentionally paired with Concord’s evolving interpretation of Black history, land stewardship, and community legacy.

Bring lawn chairs and blankets, enjoy light refreshments from local vendors, explore the grounds during extended evening hours, and engage with Concord’s history through rotating outdoor exhibits. Held on the third Thursday of each summer month from 5:00–8:00 p.m., Gather on the Green is guaranteed fun for the whole family!

For event info visit pgparks.com/concord

05/22/2026

Join us this June for our Archaeology Kayak Through History experience! Paddle alongside parks archaeologists on the Patuxent River and journey through 13,000 years of history—from ancient Indigenous villages to Colonial towns and War of 1812 shipwrecks.

Archaeology Kayak Through History
• Date & Time: June 16 | 10 am–2 pm
• Launch site: 16801 Mount Calvert Road, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772
• Single kayak provided
• Prior experience helpful, not required
• Register on ParksDirect https://bit.ly/archaeology-parksdirect

Space is limited—don’t miss this one-of-a-kind adventure through history!

05/20/2026

In May 1940, the Cloud Club was founded. A group of Black aviators in the DMV area formed the flying club, and later established Riverside Airfield in Croom, Maryland. This was later known as Columbia Air Center. It operated between 1940 and 1962 and was an unsegregated space where African Americans could learn to fly, share their love of airplanes, and enjoy a fun, welcoming, and safe community. This was the first licensed, Black-owned and operated airport in the nation.

Visit the "Columbia Air Center – Determined to Fly" exhibition to explore this amazing story and learn about African American aviators who flew out of Columbia Air Center through holograms, an interactive game, and personal stories.

More info: https://pgparks.com/facilities/college-park-aviation-museum

05/19/2026

Huge shout out to Mary, Heidi, Phyllis, and Greg!

Thank you all for being fantastic volunteers at the Marietta Historic Site and Museum. We appreciate everything you do.

Interested in volunteer opportunities? Visit https://pgparks.com/facilities/marietta-historic-site-museum

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Laurel, MD

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http://pgparks.com/history

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