The hope of getting a new deal for an old space is why Preservation Howard County comes out with an annual list of the top 10 historic places they feel are endangered, sites that have borne witness to much of Howard County's past.

The nonpofit PHC's recent list included several sites in western Howard County and Ellicott City, among them the old Ellicott City post office that was itself a New Deal project, built by the Public Works Administration during Franklin Roosevelt's administration.

Shoring up legacies

Sykesville's South Branch Recreational Area is on PHC's list. The area was the original site of the town of Sykesville. There are six buildings at the site that the Maryland Historic Trust notes represent the industrial heritage of the area. In this case, PHC's concern is the deterioration of the buildings.

Sykesville Town Manger Matthew Candland said that the town has a long-term lease with Howard County and has secured $200,00 to stabilize and do some renovations on the buildings.

"Howard County has been an excellent partner so far," he said. The town, which straddles Howard and Carroll counties, received $100,00 from Howard County and the other $100,000 from a state bond.

They were slated to hold a workshop Aug. 11, in Sykesville, to develop a master plan for the site, after which work should begin. Candland explained that founder James Sykes modeled the town after an English village, with his house on a hill, a church, and then the existing mill and village situated below, along the river. Candland's pleased that to help keep the town's legacy it's been given some assistance to at least abate the site's deterioration.

"Howard County Rec and Parks did a very good job stabilizing the house on the site. A couple years ago they put a roof on it," Candland added.

Fred Dorsey, Preservation Howard County's second vice president, said that more attention is paid now to the historic properties left in Sykesville, as a couple of years ago the old creamery across from the listed site was lost to a fire.

18th century spaces

The No. 1 property on PHC's list, this year and in 2007, is Doughoregan Manor, a Carroll family estate, and a site that brought the movers and shakers of colonial America -- visitors such as George Washington -- to pay calls on Charles Carroll, himself a Founding Father and signer of the Declaration of Independence.

The well-maintained Doughoregan is a national historic landmark, built and lived in by the Carroll family since about 1725. Carroll family members were important players in the history of not only the county and state, but of a young nation.

"It's an important site because Carroll lived here. He was someone from this county who signed the Declaration of Independence," Dorsey said.

To historian Joetta Cramm, it's Doughoregan that's the most "fascinating" site on the list.

"Doughoregan is top of the line for Howard County and most of Maryland," she said.

The threat to the estate, according to PHC, is development, now that the Maryland Historic Trust Easement has expired.

Carroll was the wealthiest man in America at the time of the Americans' revolt against the British, with much to lose should Britain win. He was also the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Not only is the estate unique in that it is still owned by the Carroll family, Carroll himself is described by Cramm as a "unique character."

"He owned lots of land in Frederick and Howard counties. He laid the corner stone to the B&O and gave land for St. Charles College and many other places. Carroll was very philanthropic," Cramm said. Carroll lived to be 95 years old and was the last living signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Also unique, though not as an estate but as a long-time established rural area, is Highland. It was about 25 years after the Carrolls established themselves up in Doughoregan, in Howard County (then Anne Arundel County), that the Highland community was established in 1759, at what is now the routes 108 and 216 area near Clarksville. Today that community is in Howard County's Rural Residential District Zone, an area PHC says is threatened by in-fill and over development.

"The problem in Highland, is that people in the eastern part of the county are selling developing rights to developers in the Highland historic district," Dorsey explained.

PHC board member and Highland resident Susan Scheidt said that the density exchange zoning is in conflict with the county's general plan for the area, especially for an area on wells and septic systems.

"Also, with joint septic when the power goes off for any man-made or natural disaster, thousands will be without septic use," Scheidt also pointed out.

Sparking interest

As any "Top 10" list's job is to garner interest, PHC's naming Mt. Hebron's stone barn was done in the hopes that the early19th century barn will be rescued by a buyer who will resote it, or dismantle it and move it to another location.

"It's in the interest of the community to save the stone barn. There is a quick time line on this. We're hoping we will spark interest from some entrepreneur who could adapt it for use, maybe as a meeting place for the community," he said.

Along with bringing attention to the sites with its annual list, PHC often testifies before Howard County Recreation and Parks and at county council meetings in support of keeping money in the budget for historic sites in some danger. But Dorsey admits PHC's work is often frustrating.

"One year, by the time the top 10 list came out, the Stevens Road School, which was on our list, had already been demolished," he said.

But there are some successes, like the Lisbon Hotel, once slated for demolition by a developer.

"We worked with the owner and the community," said Dorsey, who added that at a meeting concerning the property also in attendance were Mary Catherine Cochran, current president of Preservation Howard County, a representative from Howard County Planning and Zoning, and Cramm. At the meeting, the developer was given a tour of the site and was informed of its historic significance. In the end, he decided not to demolish the property.

"That was two years ago, and so far it's still there and all is quiet," Dorsey said.

Though many sites on PHC's annual lists are already owned by one government organization or another, privately owned sites also appear on their lists.

"But," said Dorsey, "we recognized and respect the fact that some sites are private property and the owners have the right to do with it what they will. We just try to ensure all options are open for them, like tax credits and that other options to save the sites are looked at."

He continued, "We feel that since we started the list, we've raised some awareness in the community of historic sites and what's threatening them, because once they're gone, we can't get them back."

Tourists going postal?

Meanwhile, in Ellicott City, as the county tourism office already resides in the basement of the post office building on Main Street, PHC hopes that the entire building can be used as a tourism center. The site also includes two murals by Peter Paul DeAnna, though his commission to paint them in 1942 came not from the WPA, but from the U.S. Treasury Department. Tourists would have the added bonus of getting a look at Ellicott City's past through DeAnna's murals: "Building of Ellicott Mills" and "Landscape of Ellicott City.

"Before the post office was built during the Depression, post offices were in grocery stores," Cramm said. "Back in the 30s there were many WPA projects going on. We were a poor county back then and not making headlines about being the richest county!"

According to Jim Irvin, Howard County's director of public works, the contract between the postal service and Howard County for sale of the building is still being negotiated.

An additional Ellicott City site that made the list is the Ellicott City Jail, also known as Emory Jail, or Willow Grove. This 1878 architecturally unique structure across from the courthouse no longer holds prisoners, but is a receptacle for sheriff's department storage.

Preservation Howard County, which encourages nominations for its list from the public, thinks there may be alternative uses for the old jail, perhaps as another tourism site giving people a glimpse at small town, 19th century law and order.

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