BGuthrie Photos: MD -- Bladensburg -- Bostwick

MD -- Bladensburg -- Bostwick:

Bruce Guthrie Photos Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie Photos home page.

Recognize anyone? If you recognize specific folks (or other stuff) and I haven't labeled them, please identify them for the world. Click the little pencil icon

underneath the file name (just above the picture). Spammers need not apply.

Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

Accessing as Spider: The system has identified your IP as being a spider.
IP Address: 3.144.172.115 -- Domain: Amazon Technologies
I love well-behaved spiders! They are, in fact, how most people find my site. Unfortunately, my network has a limited bandwidth and pictures take up bandwidth. Spiders ask for lots and lots of pages and chew up lots and lots of bandwidth which slows things down considerably for regular folk. To counter this, you'll see all the text on the page but the images are being suppressed. Also, some system options like merges are being blocked for you.
Note: Permission is NOT granted for spiders, robots, etc to use the site for AI-generation purposes. I'm sure you're thrilled by your ability to make revenue from my work but there's nothing in that for my human users or for me.
If you are in fact human, please email me at guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can check if your designation was made in error. Given your number of hits, that's unlikely but what the hell.

Help? The Medium (Email) links are for screen viewing and emailing. You'll want bigger sizes for printing. [Click here for additional help]

Share: Facebook Twitter Digg
[1] BOSTWK_160823_04.JPG	[2] BOSTWK_160823_07.JPG	[3] BOSTWK_160823_13.JPG
[4] BOSTWK_160823_15.JPG	[5] BOSTWK_160823_19.JPG	[6] BOSTWK_160823_22.JPG
[7] BOSTWK_160823_28.JPG	[8] BOSTWK_160823_32.JPG	[9] BOSTWK_160823_34.JPG
[10] BOSTWK_160823_39.JPG	[11] BOSTWK_160823_42.JPG	[12] BOSTWK_160823_46.JPG
[13] BOSTWK_160823_51.JPG	[14] BOSTWK_160823_56.JPG	[15] BOSTWK_160823_59.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. BOSTWK_160823_04.JPG: Bostwick Star Spangled Banner National Historic Trail Preserving the Past Bostwick House is an important, but fragile, historic resource with many community, local, and statewide partners engaged in collaborative planning to restore this significant structure. One of the first efforts at preservation was in 1936 when the structure was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), which eventually let to listing on the National Register for Historic Places in 1975. In 1997, the Town of Bladensburg purchased the site from the last private owners, the Christofane Family, with funding help from the State of Maryland. Through the efforts of the University of Maryland's Historic Preservation Program and the Maryland Historical Trust, multiple studies of the historical, cultural, and material context have been undertaken to understand the past, as well as plan for the future. Major structural work on the chimneys, damaged in an earthquake August 23, 2011, was completed in 2014 amid ongoing efforts to stabilize the buildings and landscape. Ongoing Monitoring: This image shows a crack monitor used to measure and access any movement in the building. Monitoring of the fragile state of the structure is ongoing.
2. BOSTWK_160823_07.JPG: Bostwick Star Spangled Banner National Historic Trail An Evolving Landscape The 7.7 acres that comprise the landscape of Bostwick House provide a welcome respite of open space from the surrounding dense urban environment. The most prominent manmade feature of the land is the wide west lawn that is divided into four broad terraces leading up to the main house. The first three were constructed with the in 1746, and the upper-most terrace was added in the early 20th century as a part of major renovation. A historic orchard and remains of a windmill stand on the eastern portion of the site, elevated above the house. Undulating ground connects the orchard with small ponds fed by a spring, and a meadow, now the site of a nursery for trees and plants ued to restore the Anacostia River ecosystem. To the south of the main house and adjacent to the chicken coop, is a kitchen and house garden, where some of the historic boxwood hedges remain intact. View to the East: This photo, taken ca. 1910 from the top of the windmill (partially demolished), shows a view to the east, including the house, the barn, and the banks of the Anacostia River beyond.
3. BOSTWK_160823_28.JPG: Star Spangled Banner National Historic Trail British Stopover British officers stopped at Bostwick House on August 24, 1814, then home of prisoner of war agent Col. Thomas Barclay. From Lowndes Hill, behind the house, British commander Robert Ross observed the American defensive lines. Bostwick House was built in 1746 for Christopher Lowndes, a local shipyard owner. It was later the home to his son-in-law Benjamin Stoddert, American's first Secretary of the Navy. In Friendly Hands: "The agent for British Prisoners of War very fortunately residing at Bladensburg I recommended the wounded Officers and Men to his particular attention and trust…" -- British Maj. Gen. Robert Ross, August 30, 1814. This 1806 watercolor suggests how Bladensburg appeared when British troops arrived in 1814. The wooden bridge shown below was the first point of British attack.
4. BOSTWK_160823_32.JPG: In Friendly Hands: "The agent for British Prisoners of War very fortunately residing at Bladensburg I recommended the wounded Officers and Men to his particular attention and trust…" -- British Maj. Gen. Robert Ross, August 30, 1814.
5. BOSTWK_160823_34.JPG: Bostwick Star Spangled Banner National Historic Trail A Workplace of Many Generation Although never part of an extensive agricultural plantation, the Bostwick House property was the workplace of many people over the centuries. The earliest residents, the Piscataway Indians, left some evidence that the area was used for hunting and fishing along the Anacostia River. During the 18th century, Bostwick was home to both enslaved and indentured workers who built the house and outbuildings, tended the gardens and livestock, and performed domestic duties; some of these workers may have also worked in Lowndes' shipbuilding and mercantile enterprises. In the 1820s, the Stephen Family owned the Bostwick property along with 17 enslaved workers ranging in age from a newborn to a man of 75 years, these workers tended to the small gardens and orchard, and provided the labor to run the household. By the 20 century, the property had become a rural retreat amid the growing metropolis of Washington, D.C., and served as a private residence with a small kitchen garden, horses, and a few cattle tended by family members and some hired hands. Ran away... As described in the Maryland Gazette (right), Christopher Lowndes, a major importer of enslaved Africans, supplied slave labor to industries like his rope walk in Bladensburg as well as plantations across Maryland. -- Maryland Gazette, September 13, 1764. Ran away from the Subscriber at Bladensburg, on the first of this instant September, a Negro Man named Joe, about 35 Years old, of a low Stature, and has a very wide Walk. His Breeches are red; but the other Part of his Dress is not certainly known. His is by Trade a Ship Carpenter or Caulker, and when he lived with some former Mafter, he was allowed to look for Work in different Rivers. Whoever will bring him to his Mafter, shall have Twenty Shillings more than the Law allows. All Mafters of Veffels and Others are defired not to employ or entertain him. He is very artful, and probably may endeavour to pass as a Freeman. Should he be brought any confiderable Diftance, Satisfaction will be made in Proportion. It will be neceffary to tie him frecurely. Christopher Lowndes.
6. BOSTWK_160823_39.JPG: Ran away... As described in the Maryland Gazette (right), Christopher Lowndes, a major importer of enslaved Africans, supplied slave labor to industries like his rope walk in Bladensburg as well as plantations across Maryland. -- Maryland Gazette, September 13, 1764. Ran away from the Subscriber at Bladensburg, on the first of this instant September, a Negro Man named Joe, about 35 Years old, of a low Stature, and has a very wide Walk. His Breeches are red; but the other Part of his Dress is not certainly known. His is by Trade a Ship Carpenter or Caulker, and when he lived with some former Mafter, he was allowed to look for Work in different Rivers. Whoever will bring him to his Mafter, shall have Twenty Shillings more than the Law allows. All Mafters of Veffels and Others are defired not to employ or entertain him. He is very artful, and probably may endeavour to pass as a Freeman. Should he be brought any confiderable Diftance, Satisfaction will be made in Proportion. It will be neceffary to tie him frecurely. Christopher Lowndes.
Wikipedia Description: Bostwick (Bladensburg, Maryland)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bostwick is a historic home located a short distance, below Lowndes Hill, the present-day property, of Bladensburg Elementary School, in Bladensburg, Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. According to its date plaque, it was built in 1746 by Christopher Lowndes (1713-1785). The house was later the home of Lowndes’ son-in-law, Benjamin Stoddert (1751-1813), first Secretary of the Navy. Colonel Thomas H. Barclay (Tory in the American Revolution; brother-in-law of Lt. Colonel Beverly Robinson; first British consul appointed in New York after the peace of 1783; British agent for prisoners of war in War of 1812) resided at "Bostwick," the oldest surviving structure at Bladensburg. Located nearby is the Market Master's House, also built by Lowndes.

Bostwick is a 2 1⁄2-story brick structure laid up in Flemish bond. A basement and ground level lies under the entire house. The gable roof, with dormer windows, is slightly belled at the eaves. The main (west) facade is five bays with a central doorway. A one-story porch extends across the front, and the pedimented central bay of the porch projects forward. "C.L. 1746" in wrought lead painted black is embedded high in the south chimney. Also on the south side is a distinctive buttress added about 1800 by Stoddert, who was concerned about a crack in the wall on that side of the house. At the base of the buttress are two dungeons or cells. A gable-roofed common bond brick detached kitchen stands northeast of the house. Southeast of the house are several 19th century outbuildings and a barn.

Bostwick was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. The house suffered damage to the north chimney and roof in the August 2011 east coast earthquake. In 2012, Preservation Maryland placed Bostwick on its list of threatened historic properties.
Bigger photos? To save server space, the full-sized versions of these images have either not been loaded to the server or have been removed from the server. (Only some pages are loaded with full-sized images and those usually get removed after three months.) I still have them though. If you want me to email them to you, please send an email to guthrie.bruce@gmail.com and I can email them to you, or, depending on the number of images, just repost the page again will the full-sized images.
Connection Not Secure messages? Those warnings you get from your browser about this site not having secure connections worry some people. This means this site does not have SSL installed (the link is http:, not https:). That's bad if you're entering credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal information. But this site doesn't collect any personal information so SSL is not necessary. Life's good!
Photo Contact: [Email Bruce Guthrie].