This is our sixth installment of looking at African American greats and places in Washington. So far we’ve taken a look at a church, a political leader, an abolitionist, a community builder and a pioneering activist.
Today we’ll take a break and have some fun by taking a look at a place of summer leisure that was located on the Maryland side of the Potomac. This is actually a piece on Notley Hall that I’ve been working on.
Since its opening in the spring of 2008, National Harbor has offered a special gathering place for those seeking an escape from the daily grind, somewhere to see a show or be entertained, a pleasure resort that offers a little something different.
Believe it or not, National Harbor is not the first such place there on the eastern shore of Potomac just south of Washington D.C. and below Oxon Hill, Maryland. In 1890, Notley Hall Amusement Park sprung up in almost the exact same spot as National Harbor.
Suburban sprawl has wiped away the entire footprint of this 26-acre site, but the great news a manor has survived. Notley Hall, a two-story brick Georgian manor built in the latter stages of the 18th-century, rests quietly under a grove of trees perched on a high point in the River Bend Estates neighborhood that rubs shoulders with National Harbor’s south side. I don't believe it was used as part of the amusement park, but it certainly has always been there.
Here is a map identifying the manor and the site of the amusement park properties. Please note Notley Hall is private property and not accessible. You can catch glimpses of it from River Bend Road, as I did with this photo. Fortunately, the MSA report has photos, although they are dated.
(Note: The Notley Hall Manor itself was not used as part of the park since it was away from the river and up on the hill. Along the river, a second Notley Hall property (no longer standing) was used by the amusement park. To distinguish between these two properties, they are sometimes referred to as Upper Notley Hall and Lower Notley Hall).
Please also note that some websites give the address as 8425 Fort Foote Road. This was the old address. The property is not on any road now and something like 200 yards west of Fort Foote Road.
The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission has produced “African-American Historic and Cultural Resources In Prince George’s County, Maryland.” It’s a 296-page treasure trove that presents information on 181 properties on 19 historic communities, as well as five essays.
The commission’s entry on Notley Hall touches on its years as a black-owned amusement park which opened in 1894 and operated until 1924. The Notley Hall Association worked with the Independent Steamboat and Barge Company to provide the excursions that brought folks from the 7th Avenue wharf in Southwest Washington. The riverside park offered a dancing pavilion, bowling alley, shooting gallery, and horse rides. Ads ran regularly in The Washington Post and Colored American. The fancy boat left the wharf at 7th and N streets, SW. Departure times in 1900 were 2:30, 5 and 6:30.
Lewis Jefferson, an African American real estate developer, and one of the area’s first black millionaires, ran the park. He added a roller coaster, carousel, penny arcade and fortune telling tent, and built a new wharf. The name was changed to Washington Park in 1911.
Searchers for historical information have a great friend in the historical trust community. In this case, the Maryland State Archives provides us with the story of Notley Hall (Not to be confused with Notely Hall in Upper Marlboro). Sadly, the Maryland Historical Trust was not able to recommend Notley Hall for historic status due to two factors. The original hip roof of the brick Georgian mansion was replaced with a mansard roof. The interior has substantial changes.
Nevertheless, the manor, built in the mid to late 18th-century, has significance as “one of very few surviving examples in PG County of a brick plantation in the Georgian-style.”
Admirathoria
The land Notley Hall is on is traced back to 1662 when it was first patented. It was given the name Admariothria (later changed to Admirathoria.) Notley Rozier came into possession in 1715. He built a house about 500 feet from the river (Lower Notley). When he died in 1727, his son inherited it and the farm.
Upper Notley’s origins are not certain. The MSA report notes that it was probably built around 1790, at the time of the marriage of Henry Rozier’s granddaughter Maria and Francis Hall. He adopted her surname and became Francis Hall Rozier. The manor and farm stayed in the family but it was evidently unoccupied during the Civil War. Daniel Seltzer of Pennsylvania purchashed the 246-acre site, which was then sold in 1890. The Independent Steamboat and Barge Company then began the operation of the Notley Hall amusument park in 1894.
Maryland History by the Object blog adds to our understanding of amusement parks in the area. During the era of Jim Crow, they were racially segregated. For African Americans, Carr Beach was popular in Annapolis and attracted entertainers such as Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald. Chesapeake Beach was also popular for Washington blacks. The era of these resorts came to an end in the 1960s.
Andrew K. Kahrl also adds to our knowledge of Notley Hall’s years as an amusement park with his book, “The Land Was Ours.” He points out that recent nostalgia-laden commemorations at places like Carr Beach, “hold a mirror on an America striving to become post-racial and color-blind.” Kahrl weaves the story. After a period of time when violence broke out, Notley Hall earned the nickname “Razor Beach.” But such characterizations were, of course, unfair. As Kahrl points out, this was yet another form of Jim Crow, what he called the “pathologization of black leisure” for prejudicial purposes. One steam liner owner oversold tickets in order to create unrest.
Preservation of historical assets comes in many forms. Private ownership is a both a blessing and a curse. In the case of Notley Hall, it is wonderful the manor was saved, breathes life and lives on. On the other hand, in these situations the historic place can be out of sight and out of mind, and wither from our memory.
Prince George’s County has done an excellent job with keeping stories alive. The new interpretive markers and history center at Tanger Outlets and the new ones at National Harbor are terrific. We’d like to see one or more erected there for Notley Hall and its associated history, and perhaps one in the neighborhood.
Note: It is my understanding that an historical marker was approved for Notley Hall, but apparently, it has not been erected. I can certainly understand the concerns residents of the neighborhood have.
Perhaps consideration will be given to placing it at a public space on Fort Foote Road.
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