<![CDATA[South Mountain Heritage Society

<![CDATA[South Mountain Heritage Society - Blog]]>Wed, 25 Feb 2026 19:41:03 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Preserving an Architectural Landmark ]]>Fri, 09 Oct 2015 14:20:56 GMThttps://www.southmountainheritage.org/blog/preserving-an-architectural-landmark

South Mountain Heritage Society (SMHS) works to serve our community in many ways, serving as a local repository for historical documents, photographs, and artifacts, hosting community meetings and events, and bringing visitors into town to explore our important and fascinating history. A major part of our work is also to preserve the historic Resurrection Reformed Church, the 186-year old structure we call home. Over the past two years, this work has been greatly aided by a grant from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority (MHAA) which was awarded in the summer of 2014. Now, one and a half years later, we have wrapped up our final project using this grant. In appreciation to MHAA for their support as well as the generous donors who have helped SMHS meet its matching requirements, we would like to provide a brief review of the projects completed.

Portico Floor Restoration

The first project completed after we received our grant from MHAA was to restore the flooring at the front door to the museum. As the main entrance used by visitors to the museum, it was vital to have the floor boards replaced as the existing floor had began to rot. The project was completed within a few weeks and provided a much safer as well as aesthetically pleasing entrance to the museum. Later grant project work also restored another element of the portico.

Drainage Ditch

SMHS' location on a downward-sloping lot presents a challenge when it comes to properly diverting rain drainage away from the building. In order to prevent water from laying against the clapboards on the 1894 wing at the back of SMHS (the part of the building which houses our exhibit room and archives), the earth was excavated back from the wooden siding and a gravel-lined ditch placed to help divert the drainage. A future project will be planned to repair and repaint the clapboards which were damaged from the poor water drainage.

Restoration of the East Windows

There are eight massive lancet windows which open into the historic sanctuary of the old Resurrection Reformed Church, four on each side. Dating from the renovations of 1860, these windows have survived the Civil War and a century and a half of weathering and other damage. Inspection of the windows on the east side of the building, which receives the most direct effect of the weather, revealed several loose panes and rotting of the sills and muntins. The restoration of these windows included the re-glazing of the displaced panes, the replacement of one pane which had been broken, and scraping and painting of the wooden parts of the windows. To further protect these integral parts of our historic building, an outer storm-window covering was added to each of the windows, carefully designed to align to the existing muntins in order to reduce the visual impact of the new outer windows.

Replastering the Interior East Wall

With the work on the east windows completed, our next project involved the replastering of the interior of the east wall which had been damaged by the water leaking through the rotted sills and loose panes of the windows. This project was saved to the end of the grant work in order to ensure that the repairs made to the windows had isolated our water problem. Once we were assured that the leaking had stopped, work started on fixing the bubbled and flaking patches of the wall. At the same time, the woodwork along the wall, window sills and baseboards were repaired and repainted.

Repainting the Belfry and Pediment

The last major project to be completed with our MHAA grant was the repainting of the most recognizable part of our building, the Queen-Anne styled belfry. Added to the church during renovations in 1896 and enclosing a 700-pound bell, the belfry is one of the most iconic images of Burkittsville's skyline and appears on the town seal and flag. Last painted during restoration of the church in 2000-2002, the wooden parts of the front pediment and the belfry were in need of fresh paint. This work was completed by the end of this summer following the scraping of old paint and application of a new coat.

A view showing the process of repainting. The belfry is finished but the workers had just started working on the pediment. (Taken on Sept. 15, 2015)

We hope you will join us this fall and check out the finished results of over two years of work to continue the preservation of our historic home!

]]><![CDATA[Embracing and Sharing a Common Heritage]]>Thu, 13 Aug 2015 01:09:25 GMThttps://www.southmountainheritage.org/blog/embracing-and-sharing-a-common-heritage

Richard Pry, one of the picnic's organizers, leads the picnic attendees in remembering those lost in the Coatsville Community over the past year. Photo by Jody Brumage

This past Sunday, August 9, 2015, I had the honor of addressing the Coatsville Picnic, an annual gathering of residents and families from Burkittsville's historic African American community. This tradition has a history of its own, bringing together a diverse community to share in conversation and reflect on the significant and fascinating history of Coatsville. This past weekend marked the event's 23rd year.

Coatsville grew organically as a community of freed and enslaved African Americans who, early on, were mostly associated with the Needwood Estate, the plantation of Maryland's second Governor Thomas Sim Lee. The community established by these foremothers and forefathers has continued right down to the present day. Those many generations of citizens have included many heroes who overcame tremendous odds in a segregated and discriminatory world to make real differences in the lives of their neighbors.

SMHS Historian and Curator Jody Brumage addresses the Coatsville Picnic. Photo by Carl Butler

In my short talk with the group, I highlighted a few of these significant figures and their impacts on our shared history. We began in the 19th century with Francis Thomas, Maryland's 26th Governor from Petersville who worked with the convention to produce the 1864 Constitution of Maryland which, upon ratification abolished the institution of slavery in the state. Around the time that Governor Thomas made this achievement, George Albert Whalen was born in Point of Rocks. Graduating from Storer Normal School in Harpers Ferry, Whalen went on to teach in area Black schools for over 40 years and gained the support of local industrialist Outerbridge Horsey to build a schoolhouse for Coatsville in the 1890s. Another family, the Bruners, included several generations of teachers and school administrators who worked to insure that African American children in Frederick County received a solid education despite a "separate-but-equal" approach to public education. We also discussed the movement in 2002 which successfully gained state recognition of the community of Coatsville and the placement of name signs along MD-17 at each end of the village.

The most important part of the afternoon for me was getting to speak to the many different people at the picnic and record their stories and memories. This is an effort that can never receive enough attention. For as much of our history is written down in documents or captured in photographs, much more is committed to memory. We owe it to our future citizens of Coatsville, Burkittsville, and all of our communities to take the time and record the history our elders have to share.

Click here to read the full presentation

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