Where did the 6,700 free and enslaved Black citizens of the county go as the Civil War ended, post-Emancipation? Some left in search of new opportunities, but many remained, and others came here from Virginia and other former slave states—more than 7,400 Black persons were recorded in the 1870 census.

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A number of communities, such as Sugarland in Poolesville and Brownstown in Germantown, were formed by emancipated enslaved persons post-Civil War.

 

But we also find several earlier communities such as Davis Corner, in Olney, which was founded in 1793, as the Quakers freed their enslaved.

 

And more were formed post-Reconstruction, between 1882 and 1936, as job opportunities opened up in the county. ​

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Who were they and how did they live in this segregated county? What are their stories? Let's find out!