Big Woods Historic Black Community, Dickerson, MD

Dickerson, MD

Big Woods Road, Dickerson, MD. Photo by Neile Whitney

The (Medley) district’s 67 free people of color lived both within white households and in independent households. Ten white households included residents who were free people of color. There were only nine independent free Black households. Of these nine households, just four Black men owned real estate. Census enumerator Josiah Faney classified only two of these four landowners’ occupations as ‘farmer’: Philip Spencer and Elijah Awkard. (Blair 2024, p. 42. Information from the 1860 U.S. Agricultural Census)

Located at the northern end of the Blue Ridge Mountain range, in the northwest corner of Montgomery County, one of the earliest historic Black communities in Montgomery County, Big Woods, on Big Woods Road in Dickerson, was founded in 1813. James Spencer bought 50 acres of land, then Rev. Elijah Awkard bought 37 acres in 1846, followed by the Onley, Brown, Owen, Diggin, Hutchinson, Lee and Mercer families. (McDaniel 1979, p. 53) Rev. Awkard was eventually one of the biggest Black landowners in the county, with 163 acres -- a remarkable achievement. 

U.S. Federal Census, 1860. Elijah & Ann Awkard, Barnesville, MD

From the census above, we can see that by 1860, Mr. Awkard already owned $800 worth of real estate. On this land, he and his wife support their six children and two farm workers.

U.S. Federal Census, 1860. Elijah & Ann Awkard, Barnesville, MD

But in the 1870 census, he is not noted as owning any property. (Which reminds us to be cautious with census information, as it was not always accurate.)

The table below shows the diverse agricultural output of two Black farms in Big Woods. By 1880, most of Awkard’s production had gone up on the same amount of land: the value of the farm had risen from $800 to $2,000; the number of sheep increased from 14 to 20, and the amount of wool from 50 pounds to 85; potatoes from 10 to 15 bushels; butter from 100 pounds produced to 150. 

Melissa F. Blair (2024) Working freedom: Black farmers building industrious landscapes in Maryland, 1814-1880, Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes, 44:1, 38-56, DOI: 10.1080/14601176.2024.2337532: 43. Used with permission of the author.

In spite of the industry of these farmers, and in spite of their active role in informal and formal marketplaces, most Black farms were not noted in the agricultural census because they were considered too small, owning one to ten acres, or because they rented their property.

Big Woods Rd., Carroll Lamb House. Year unknown. Archival photo courtesy of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC)

Big Woods families attended Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, founded in 1867. Like other Black communities, students in early Big Woods did their lessons in the church. The community built a one-room schoolhouse around 1900 and later expanded it to two rooms. (McDaniel 1979, p. 59) The community also enjoyed a lodge house. Now called West Montgomery United Methodist, the church supports the congregations of Mt. Zion as well as Elijah (Jerusalem) and Warren (Martinsburg).

In 1979, when George McDaniel was researching the area, approximately fifty descendant families lived on this 2-½ mile stretch of road. Some of the descendants still live there today, over 200 years later.

Resources

Blair, Melissa F. 2024. “Working freedom: Black farmers building industrious landscapes in Maryland, 1814-1880.” Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes 44, no. 1 (May): 38-56. https://doi.org/10.1080/14601176.2024.2337532 

Buglass, Ralph. 2025. Montgomery County, Maryland’s Historic African-American Communities. Maryland: Montgomery History.

District of Columbia Freedman's Bureau Records 1865-72. 1867. Nathan Nailor & wife deed for colored school, Property transferred to school trustees for school. Familysearch.org: D.C. Freedman's Bureau. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9TH-K98P-Q?view=index&cc=2427894&lang=en&groupId= 

HUD Office of Policy Development & Research. 2025. “A History of the Rise of Homeownership in the United States.” PD & R Edge Magazine (HUD), (July). https://www.huduser.gov/portal/pdredge/pdr-edge-housingat250-article-071025.html#:~:text=As%20a%20result%2C%20the%20typical,broad%20segments%20of%20the%20population 

Martenet, Simon J. 1865. “Martenet and Bond's map of Montgomery County, Maryland,” 1865 map of Montgomery County, MD. Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/2002620533/ 

McDaniel, George W. 1979. Black Historical Resources in Upper Western Montgomery County. Maryland: Sugarloaf Regional Trails.

Wilson, Everett B. 1966. “Communities Along the Metropolitan Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.” The Montgomery County Story X, no. 1 (November): 1-9. https://montgomeryhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Vol10No1_MCStory.pdf