The Butler House is a historic home of importance to local African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 history and located at Oxon Hill

Oxon Hill, Maryland

Oxon Hill is part of the Oxon Hill-Glassmanor census-designated place in southern Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Oxon Hill is a suburb of Washington, DC located southeast of the downtown district and east of Alexandria, Virginia...

, Prince George's County

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....

, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Henry Alexander Butler, a free African American man from Charles County

Charles County, Maryland

Charles County is a county in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Maryland.As of 2010, the population was 146,551. Its county seat is La Plata. This county was named for Charles Calvert , third Baron Baltimore....

, moved with his family to the property in 1853, and the property has been continuously associated with the Butler family. Henry Butler became a Reconstruction era community leader, serving as trustee of the nearby Freedman's Bureau school. The Butler House is a -story, one room deep wood-frame and log residence covered in cast stone

Cast stone

Cast stone is defined as “a refined architectural concrete building unit manufactured to simulate natural cut stone, used in unit masonry applications”. In the UK and Europe cast stone is defined as “any material manufactured with aggregate and cementitious binder, intended to resemble in...

. It sits in a secluded, forested area, adjacent to the Oxon Hill Children's Farm

Oxon Cove Park and Oxon Hill Farm

Oxon Cove Park and Oxon Cove Farm is a national historic district that includes a living farm museum operated by the National Park Service, and located at Oxon Hill, Prince George's County, Maryland...

. As of December 2010, the house is in a severely dilapidated condition.

The Butler House 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

• Butler House, Prince George's County, Inventory No.: PG:76A-14, including photo in 2004, at Maryland Historical Trust website
• M-NCPPC Inventory of Historic Sites (Prince George's County); Butler House, entry 76A-014, p. 119
• M-NCPPC African-American Heritage Survey, October 1996: Other Historic Properties; Butler House, entry 76A-14 p. 130