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Abraham Hall (Beltsville, Maryland)
Encyclopedia
Abraham Hall, constructed in 1889, is located on the northeast side of Old Muirkirk Road in the center of the historic African American community of Rossville, a section of Beltsville
in Prince George's County, Maryland
.
It was constructed by the Benevolent Sons and Daughters of Abraham, an African American society that was established for the social welfare of its members. Originally known as Rebecca Lodge #6 of the Benevolent Sons and Daughters of Abraham, the building was constructed by John W. Jackson in 1889 in the burgeoning community of Rossville. Abraham Hall, an excellent example of a multi-purpose building associated with African Americans, served as a meeting hall, a house of worship, a school, and a social hall for African Americans living in a segregated society. The lodge hall functioned as the community school, until a Rosenwald School
was built in 1922.
The structure is set back from the road on a 3.85 acres (1.6 ha) grassy lot with mature trees. It is a three-bay, two-story gable front frame lodge building with a brick foundation, wood lap siding with cornerboards, and a shake roof with a boxed cornice. A brick chimney rises from the northwest slope of the roof. Both the interior and exterior of the building were carefully restored between 1986 and 1991 using original materials or in-kind replacements.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 2005.
Beltsville, Maryland
Beltsville is a census-designated place in northern Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 15,691 at the 2000 census. Beltsville includes the unincorporated community of Vansville.-Geography:...
in Prince George's County, Maryland
Prince George's County, Maryland
Prince George's County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland, immediately north, east, and south of Washington, DC. As of 2010, it has a population of 863,420 and is the wealthiest African-American majority county in the nation....
.
It was constructed by the Benevolent Sons and Daughters of Abraham, an African American society that was established for the social welfare of its members. Originally known as Rebecca Lodge #6 of the Benevolent Sons and Daughters of Abraham, the building was constructed by John W. Jackson in 1889 in the burgeoning community of Rossville. Abraham Hall, an excellent example of a multi-purpose building associated with African Americans, served as a meeting hall, a house of worship, a school, and a social hall for African Americans living in a segregated society. The lodge hall functioned as the community school, until a Rosenwald School
Rosenwald School
A Rosenwald School was the name informally applied to over five thousand schools, shops, and teachers' homes in the United States which were built primarily for the education of African-Americans in the early twentieth century. The need arose from the chronic underfunding of public education for...
was built in 1922.
The structure is set back from the road on a 3.85 acres (1.6 ha) grassy lot with mature trees. It is a three-bay, two-story gable front frame lodge building with a brick foundation, wood lap siding with cornerboards, and a shake roof with a boxed cornice. A brick chimney rises from the northwest slope of the roof. Both the interior and exterior of the building were carefully restored between 1986 and 1991 using original materials or in-kind replacements.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 2005.
External links
- Abraham Hall, Prince George's County, Inventory No.: PG:62-7, including photo in 2004, at Maryland Historical Trust website
- M-NCPPC Inventory of Historic Sites (Prince George's County); Abraham Hall, entry 62-023-07, p. 31
- African-American Heritage Survey, October 1996: Properties Within or Closely Associated with Historic Communities; Abraham Hall, entry 62-023-07, p. 19
- Abraham Hall, 7612 Old Muirkirk Road, Beltsville, Prince George's County, MD: 5 photos and 5 data pages, at Historic American Building Survey