Have you been out to the new Royce Hanson Park yet!? It is a stunning place to enjoy the magic of the Ag Reserve and take in the changing color of the leaves.
The history of the park land is fascinating and important, stretching back to the period immediately following the Civil War. The late 1860s were a time of significant change for America, and that was no different here in the Ag Reserve. As young men returned to their family’s farms after experiencing the horrors of the war, formerly enslaved people were grappling with the opportunities and challenges presented by their newfound freedom. Thomas White, a member of the prominent and local White Family, was one of the young men returning home.
Having served as a personal courier and scout to Gen. Robert E. Lee, Thomas’ war experience ended in 1863 when he was captured by Union forces and spent the remainder of the conflict as a POW held at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, DC. Thomas’ father, Joseph, was a successful farmer in the area and gave Thomas a large parcel of land (much of which is now the park land) that he had purchased in 1856 and located off of what we now refer to as Club Hollow Rd. It was on this land that Thomas built his home at some point before 1871.
Based on census data from 1880, we know that Thomas and his wife Mary had six children living in the home in addition to his wife’s sister, three servants and a number of farmhands who may have been formerly enslaved on the property.
Thomas lived in the home until at least 1897 when he defaulted on his mortgage. However, when the home went up for auction, it was purchased by other members of the White Family, who may have allowed Thomas to remain in the home. We do know for sure that Thomas died in 1930 at the age of 99 and the home remained in the White family until the 1940s.
The historic home fell into a state of disrepair over the last few decades and sadly needed to be torn down completely in the last few years (you can still see the piles of stones from the home on the park land near the parking lot).
So, when you go to visit the beautiful new park, consider the lives of those who walked this land long before you.
And if you were wondering, who is Royce Hanson?
Dr. Hanson started his life as an orphan on the Depression-era plains of Oklahoma and achieved great heights through discipline, hard work, and education that led to decades of exemplary public service. Dr. Hanson is an academic, a pioneering Commissioner/Chairman of a major U.S. jurisdiction, an author, teacher, urban planner of distinction, and an advocate for wilderness and wild places.
Dr. Hanson served two terms as Chairman of the Montgomery County Planning Board of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, first from 1972 to 1981, and again from 2006 to 2010. Under his tenure, one of the greatest planning successes was the creation of the Agricultural Reserve. The Agricultural Reserve covers almost a third of the county and is a national model of agricultural preservation in a densely populated area. Dr. Hanson also helped design an easement program limiting development on agricultural land and transferring density to target receiving areas, a concept that has been replicated in many parts of the world.
Dr. Hanson was a champion for natural and cultural resources and outdoor recreation and education, serving previously as the President of the Maryland Environmental Trust and Chairman of the Montgomery County Department of Parks Legacy Open Space Advisory Group. Dr. Hanson served on the Board of the Montgomery County Parks Foundation from 2009-2022. As an academic, his research spans urban planning and politics, constitutional law, and the ethics of political campaigns. He has authored multiple books and has an award named after him from the Montgomery Countryside Alliance.
