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Hancock Family

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Upcoming:

OLD FASHIONED PICNIC AND LOCAL HISTORY DAY

July 12, 2026

JULY 19, 2026 – OPEN FOR TOURS

July 19, 2026

JULY 26, 2026 – OPEN FOR TOURS

July 26, 2026

AUGUST 2, 2026 – OPEN FOR TOURS

August 2, 2026

AUGUST 9, 2026 – OPEN FOR TOURS

August 9, 2026

DOCENT CENTER

Hello, all, 

Happy 4th of July. On Sunday July 5th they are calling for temperatures of 88 to 90 degrees, a breeze of 6 mph, and cloudy weather. Bill and Betty Ann will be there regardless. We will have a modified American Pride event. We plan on wearing red, white, and blue instead of period dress. The DeJohns cannot handle the heat, so they won’t be there. Betty Ann will play patriotic songs on the harmonium. We have patriotic quizzes, the USA puzzle, and the flag from the Capitol (to be unfolded and folded). There is a new booklet about the 4th of July. Please let us know if you will be there. Otherwise, we will assume that you cannot handle the heat.

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Our Annual Meeting was very pleasant. It was a perfect day for an outdoor meeting by the water. We would like to thank all the people who generously provided very delicious foods for us to eat. 
Leslie Brigette gave us a very interesting talk using the information learned from the artifacts found on the property about when the Indians were on the Hancock’s property and what they were doing on the property. Thank you Leslie.

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A note from Melanie Kincaid 

Office of the County Executive
Community Support Specialist,
Community Engagement & Constituent Services (CECS)

Melanie Kincaid from the County Executive’s office visited our table at the Riviera Beach Library. She will be attending our Old Fashion Picnic on Sunday July 12, 2026. 
She would like to meet with us to learn more about our community work and discuss any current opportunities or challenges we are navigating. 
I told her we would be happy to meet with her on July 12, 2026. 

Bill

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Sarah Wade sent us an update to the America250 project. 

Click here for the information: new partners and specials.

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Our Summer Newsletter mailing brought in $600 in memberships and donations.

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July and August Schedule

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Betty Ann

Email Betty Ann with QUESTIONS, UPDATES AND CHANGES 

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Split Rail Fence

The traditional “Snake and Cross” or “Zigzag” fence is based on remnants of the original fence. The 11 foot, hand split rails would have been constructed of chestnut. The chestnut blight killed most of the towering trees in the early 1900’s.

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Entrance

Hancock’s Resolution is now a Historic Park in the Anne Arundel County Park System. While farmsteads like this used to cover this county side (except this one was constructed with stone while the great majority were wood frame) this c. 1785 stone house and milk house are the last surviving authentic, restored but not renovated, farm structures left in the entire region. As such they are of singular importance. (1785 was four years before George Washington became President of the United States.

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Cook House

The owner of this two story farmhouse, Henry Alfred Cook, married Rhoda Virginia Hancock, who was born upstairs at Hancock’s Resolution. Constructed in the mid 1800s with an addition added later in the century, this house was originally located approximately a mile west of its present location. It was moved to the park in 1991 to serve as a care taker’s home.

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Bodkin Creek

In either one or both of June 12 and 14, 1608 (N.S.*) (the first date before going up the Bolus (Patapsco) River and the second date coming back down the river) Capt. John Smith and his crew entered and mapped Bodkin Creek, very probably looking for fresh water. (* “N.S” stands for “New Style”, meaning the Gregorian calendar presently in use and not the earlier “Julian Calendar”, in use at the time of his voyage.”

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Graveyard

The Hancock family graveyard contains at least 125 head and foot stones. The graves are marked with headstones made of the local sandstone, which was readily available. While many of the tombstone’s inscriptions have worn away, several from the 19th and 20th centuries are still readable including one marked “A. H.” and dated 1809, which marks the grave of Anne Hancock, third wife of Stephen. Stephen’s grave is some distance away to the left and the space between the graves may contain the graves of Stephen’s children and earlier wives.

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Farm Field

The farm field is an area where exhibition crops are planted and farming using historical methods is demonstrated.

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Bee Hives

Bee hives in boxes, baskets or even parts of hollow logs were a part of traditional farming practices. Beehives were documented on Francis Hancock’s 1832 probate inventory; honey and beeswax were important to both 17th and 18th century farms. The bees at the farm are tended by the farm’s master gardeners and housed in modern “Langstroth’s Hives.” These movable frame hives, patented in 1852, revolutionized bee keeping and are still preferred today.

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House

Stephen Hancock built the house in 1785 and Hancock descendents continued to live in the house until the 1960s. Lacking electricity, plumbing and central heating the house is largely unchanged since its construction. The house is constructed of native sandstone. Galleting is used on the entire wall surface of both the house and the adjacent milk house. It is the only known rural example of this technique in the Chesapeake region. The first floor contains one large room with plaster over hand-split lath. Original Federal period trim, including baseboards, chair rail, window and door surrounds, decorate the room as does the elaborate mantelpiece.

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Milk House

In the 18th and early 19th century dairy products were stored in the milk house. The Hancock family used the building as a grocery and dry goods store in the early 20th century until the frame building was later constructed. It also has the galleting that is also used on the house.

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Gardens

A “kitchen garden” located just outside the home consisted of both foods and herbs and ornamental plants. Kitchen gardens were common place into the 1900s. The current garden is a historically accurate reconstruction of the Hancock family garden. A grove of ancient Lilacs and a thicket of Chickasaw Plums (known to be utilized by the pre-Colonial Indian populations of Anne Arundel County) are found outside the gardens.

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Well

The well is believed to have dated from the 18th century when the house was constructed. The well remained in use until the 1950’s when the elderly Mamie Hancock could no longer manage the daily chore of hauling water for everyday use and a modern well with hand pump was installed closer to the house. Approximately 14 feet deep, the well is lined with stones “dry laid” and is untouched except for repairs at the frost line.

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Store

The Hancock family ran a dry goods and grocery store in the 20th century. The store served the local farmers, lighthouse keepers, fisherman, and oyster dredgers as well as the seasonal workers who were employed at the farm. This current building is a historically accurate reconstruction of the frame building and houses displays and a small gift shop.

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Barn Site

This is believed to be the site of an early barn. At some future date, we hope to reconstruct the barn and have farm animals.

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Trail

Self-guided Tour (map available at entrance)

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Trail

Self-guided Tour (map available at entrance)

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Bodkin Creek

War of 1812 Burning of Lion picture – wording to use: On August 24, 1814, a British raiding party, patrolling the Patapsco area in advance of their attack on Baltimore, entered Bodkin Creek and burned a “fine” American schooner they identified as being the “Lion of Baltimore”. That is the same name as one of America’s best privateers in the War of 1812 although, it turns out, there may have been more than one vessel of that name.