Rockville
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Poolesville's economy depended on farming and slavery from its founding in the late 1700s, through the Civil War. Its white population was almost entirely Confederate, and in part because of this and because of its strategic location near White's Ferry, it became a Union encampment of about 12,000 soldiers during the war. In 1862, the Second Confiscation and Militia Act allowed Black men to serve in the Army, which attracted self-emancipated and free Black men from Maryland and Virginia.
In April 1865, when the war ended, some of the Black soldiers from Maryland and Virginia who had served there stayed and helped form some of Poolesville's Black communities. Other communities were begun by Black families who had been enslaved nearby.
Alabama | Jerusalem | Jonesville | Montevideo Road | Seneca | Sugarland | Texas | Poolesville HBCs Today
Alabama
Poolesville, Md
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This community existed somewhere on West Willard Road, but only fields and woods can be found today.
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If you know anything about this community, please let us know!
Poolesville, Md
Jerusalem was started by former soldiers from the U.S. Colored Troops of the Civil War. Early residents included Robert Williams, Wallace and Dennis Hamilton, John Harper, William Robinson, and Frank and Mollie Dorsey.
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More recent famous residents include Noah Clarke, who campaigned for and raised money for the Rosenwald school on Jerusalem Road, for George Washington Carver High School (later called Lincoln High School) in Rockville, and for bringing about racial integration in the school system. His niece, Nina Honemond Clarke, and granddaughter, Tina Clarke, continued his activism in the Montgomery County school system.
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Jerusalem
Jonesville
Poolesville, Md
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Richard and Erasmus Jones founded this community in 1866 after the Civil War, when Erasmus was 22 years old. By 1870, a community had grown up around them, including Peter and Cristy Davis, George and Louisa George, Jerry and Caroline Jackson, Leven and Ruth Hall, Thomas and Elizabeth Harper and their families.
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"When I was a little girl,” says Chanell Kelton, “I used to tell my friends that my house is one of the oldest houses in Maryland.” (Keyes)
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A log cabin built by the Jones brothers in about 1874, is an important part of an exhibit on Reconstruction at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Montevideo Road
Poolesville, Md
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It's not clear whether there was a small community here, but there may have been residents who were formerly enslaved by the owners of the farms nearby, owned by the Peters and Allnutt families.
Seneca
Seneca, MD
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The first church, Potomac Grove Colored Church, was built on Violettes Lock Road in 1893 by a community formed by workers at the local stone quarry (see photo), near the C&O Canal. Although the church was eventually moved to Berryville Road, the cemetery is still beautifully maintained.
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Early residents included Sandy R. Beckwith, Henrietta Jackson, Stella Thomas, and Ollie Alfonso Jackson.
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More about Seneca (coming soon)...
Sugarland
Poolesville, Md
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“When I was a child coming up to visit my maternal roots, I just thought we were going to my grandfather’s house. I did not know that it was a whole town with a church and a school and a post office and a store—and all these people working together to promote their well-being and their families’ well-being.”
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—Suzanne Johnson, President,
the Sugarland Ethno-history Project
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Texas
Poolesville, Md
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The community of Texas was located on Peach Tree Road near Jerusalem and Jonesville. The children from these communities first traveled seven miles to Sugarland for schooling. In 1912, they moved to an Odd Fellows Hall on Peachtree Road, which they called Old Union, until 1927 when the Rosenwald school on Jerusalem Road opened. Dedicated parents made sure that their children had a place to go to school up through the eighth grade.
In 1927, the first high school for Black students, the Rockville Colored High School first accepted about 40 students for grades 9-11. It was replaced in 1935 by Lincoln Junior/Senior High School, and in 1943, 12th grade was offered for the first time to Black students in the county.
Poolesville HBCs today
Poolesville is part of the Montgomery County Agricultural Reserve, and so has received less pressure from developers to tear down historic communities in order to build new suburban housing. However, many HBC descendants have left the area and moved downcounty or to Baltimore in search of non-farming employment. Some families moved away because taxes were too high. Communities began to shrink or disappear. Fortunately, there are still many descendants in the county, and dedicated volunteers keep some of the bigger communities active and key buildings standing.
References
​Clarke, Nina H., and Lillian B. Brown. 1978. History of the Black Public Schools of Montgomery County, Maryland, 1872-1961. D.C., Washington: Vintage Press.
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Keyes, Allison. 2016. “For Nearly 150 Years, This One House Told a Novel Story About the African-American Experience.” Smithsonian Magazine, (Sep).
Maryland National Park & Planning Commission. 2025. “Clarksburg Heights Historic District: Clarksburg, Montgomery County, MD. Master Plan Historic District Designation Form.” Maryland: MNPPC.
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Smithsonian Institution. 1978-1979. “Historical Records related to the Jones-Hall-Sims House.” Smithsonian Institution.