Maryland Historical Trust Inventory No. PG: 81B-003 Maryland Inventory of 1. Name of Property (indicate preferred name) historic other 2. Location Thrift Schoolhouse street and number 11110 Thrift Road not for publication city, town Clinton vicinity county Prince George's County 3. Owner of Property (give names and mailing addresses of all owners) name Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission street and number 6600 Kenilworth Avenue telephone city, town Riverdale state MD zip code 20737 4. Location of Legal Description courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. Prince George's County Courthouse liber 323 folio 462 city, town Upper Marlboro tax map 125 tax parcel 108 tax ID number 09 0909002 5. Primary Location of Additional Data X Contributing Resource in National Register District Contributing Resource in Local Historic District Determined Eligible for the National Register/Maryland Register Determined Ineligible for the National Register/Maryland Register Recorded by HABS/HAER Historic Structure Report or Research Report at MHT Other: Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Prince George's County Planning Deparment 6. Classification Category Ownership Current Function Resource Count district X public agriculture landscape Contributing Noncontributing X building(s) private commerce/trade recreation/culture 1 buildings structure both defense religion sites site X domestic social structures object education transportation objects funerary work in progress 1 0 Total government unknown health care vacant/not in use Number of Contributing Resources industry other: previously listed in the Inventory 1
7. Description Inventory No. PG: 81B-003 Condition excellent good X fair deteriorated ruins altered Prepare both a one-paragraph summary and a comprehensive description of the resource and its various elements as it exists today. The one-story, three-bay Thrift Schoolhouse, located at 11110 Thrift Road in Clinton, Maryland, is sited on the north side of Thrift Road just as it curves to the northeast. The curve delineates Tippett Road from Thrift Road. Mature trees encircle the lot and screen the schoolhouse from the road. A small gravel parking lot is located off Thrift Road. SCHOOL Constructed c. 1884, the one-story, three-bay schoolhouse is of wood-frame construction. The school is set on common-bond brick piers. Plywood has been nailed between several of the piers. The structure is clad with German siding and features decorative corner boards. A side-gabled roof covered in corrugated metal caps the school. The roof features cornice returns, overhanging eaves, and a plain fascia board. An interior-center chimney of brick construction pierces the roof. There are two window openings on both the main façade and the north rear elevations. A single window opening is located on the west side elevation. The windows on all four elevations have been boarded up with plywood. The windows have thin wood surrounds. A single-leaf entrance, located in the westernmost façade (south elevation) bay serves as the main entrance to the school. A second entrance with a single-leaf door is located on the east side elevation. The interior of the school was not accessible at the time of the on-site survey. INTEGRITY The Thrift Schoolhouse has been located at the same site since its construction in 1884. The surrounding area remains largely undeveloped, ensuring the schoolhouse retains its integrity of feeling, location, and setting. The interior of the school was altered to serve as a single dwelling, but the alterations have not comprised the architectural integrity of the building s schoolhouse form. Despite interior alterations necessary for the rehabilitation from schoolhouse to a single dwelling, the integrity of workmanship, design, and materials remains intact. It is unknown whether the original windows remain behind the plywood, but the window openings retain their original surrounds. Alterations, however, do compromise the integrity of association. The structural integrity of the building has been compromised from neglect but, overall, the building retains a moderate level of integrity.
8. Significance Inventory No. PG: 81B-003 Period Areas of Significance Check and justify below 1600-1699 agriculture economics health/medicine performing arts 1700-1799 archeology X education industry philosophy X 1800-1899 architecture engineering invention politics/government 1900-1999 art entertainment/ landscape architecture religion 2000- commerce recreation law science communications ethnic heritage literature social history community planning exploration/ maritime history transportation conservation settlement military other: Specific dates 1884 Architect/Builder J.B. Townshend Construction dates 1884 Evaluation for: National Register Maryland Register not evaluated Prepare a one-paragraph summary statement of significance addressing applicable criteria, followed by a narrative discussion of the history of the resource and its context. (For compliance projects, complete evaluation on a DOE Form see manual.) STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE The Thrift Schoolhouse, constructed circa 1884, is significant as one of the oldest extant schoolhouses in Prince George s County. The schoolhouse is an excellent example of vernacular school architecture from the late nineteenth century. Constructed for white students in the county, the school served several communities until a new, more convenient site for a school was chosen in 1909. The building retains a sufficient level of integrity to convey its significance as one of the oldest extant schoolhouses in the county. HISTORIC CONTEXT The Thrift Schoolhouse is located in Clinton, Maryland, a community in the southern portion of Prince George s County. Changes to the county s economy that occurred from the end of the Civil War (1861-1865) to the turn of the twentieth century are still visible in the landscape of southern Prince George s County. During this period, agriculture, while remaining the dominant form of livelihood, transitioned from large plantations to small farms. 1 Schoolhouses were constructed in locations central to a district in order to serve the educational needs of several rural communities composed of these small farms. In 1868, the first school was constructed on this site. Designated as School house #2 in Surratts District 9, the school accepted only white students. The school was constructed on an acre of land belonging to the Bryan family. The acre was condemned, providing former property owner Susannah Bryan with fifty dollars in damages. 2 School #2 was rebuilt in 1884 to modernize the facility and renamed Thrift School. J.B. Townshend was awarded the rebuilding contract. Townshend was paid $495 for his work in October 1884. Subsequent improvements and repairs to the building were recorded in the School Commissioners journals. In September 1 Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and Prince George s County Planning Department, Historic Sites and Districts Plan (1992), 53. 2 Shirley Baltz and Susan G. Pearl, Thrift Schoolhouse, (PG: 81B-3) Maryland Historical Trust State Historic Sites Inventory Form (1984), 8:1.
Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Inventory No. PG: 81B-003 Thrift Schoolhouse Number 8 Page 2 1892, the school received ten dollars for its library; repairs to the schoolhouse were ordered in 1903, and in 1905, the school trustees were authorized to construct a water closet. The school was also able to purchase a typewriter in 1905. 3 In 1909, the patterns of growth in Prince George s County prompted the school board to look for a new site for a larger school. Between the time of the 1900 and 1910 census, the number of children under the age of 10 in the county increased from 266 to 287. 4 The new site was located on the road between Surrattsville and Piscataway, which was more accessible to the local population. Thrift School closed the same year. 5 By 1911, the School Commissioners sold the land to William Marbury. Marbury sold the property to the Berger family in 1928; the family incorporated the property into their farm and rehabilitated the schoolhouse into a dwelling for their workers. 6 The building has been vacant since the mid-1960s when the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) purchased the property. The property has been mothballed maintained by the M- NCPPC to protect it from further deterioration. 3 Shirley Baltz and Susan G. Pearl, Thrift Schoolhouse, (PG: 81B-3) Maryland Historical Trust State Historic Sites Inventory Form (1984), 8:1. 4 1900 and 1910 U.S. Federal Census, Prince George s County, Maryland. 5 Shirley Baltz and Susan G. Pearl, Thrift Schoolhouse, (PG: 81B-3) Maryland Historical Trust State Historic Sites Inventory Form (1984), 8:1. 6 William Marbury to the Berger family, Prince George s County Land Records, Deed 323: 462.
9. Major Bibliographical References Inventory No. PG: 81B-003 1900 and 1910 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Online: The Generations Network, Inc., 2007. Subscription database. Digital scan of original records in the National Archives, Washington, DC. http://www.ancestry.com. Baltz, Shirley and Susan G. Pearl. Thrift Schoolhouse (PG: 81B-3) Maryland Historical Trust State Historic Sites Inventory Form, 1984. Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and Prince George s County Planning Department, Historic Sites and Districts Plan, 1992. Prince George s County Land Records. 10. Geographical Data Acreage of surveyed property 1.12 Acreage of historical setting 474 Quadrangle name Piscataway Quadrangle scale: 1:24,000 Verbal boundary description and justification The 1.12-acre lot is surrounded by dense and mature vegetation at the bend where Tippett Road becomes Thrift Road. The school is sited in the center of the lot. Thrift Road is the southern boundary of the site. The schoolhouse has been associated with Parcel 108 of Tax Map 125 since its construction. 11. Form Prepared by name/title Elizabeth Breiseth and Paul Weishar, Architectural Historians organization EHT Traceries, Incorporated date October 2007 street & number 1121 5th Street NW telephone 202.393.1199 city or town Washington state DC The Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties was officially created by an Act of the Maryland Legislature to be found in the Annotated Code of Maryland, Article 41, Section 181 KA, 1974 supplement. The survey and inventory are being prepared for information and record purposes only and do not constitute any infringement of individual property rights. return to: Maryland Historical Trust DHCD/DHCP 100 Community Place Crownsville, MD 21032-2023 410-514-7600
Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Inventory No. PG: 81B-003 Thrift School Number 9 Page 1 Chain of Title Journal of Proceedings Secretary authorized to institute legal proceedings in regard to a school house site (1865-1903), Jan. 3, 1870 near Fendall Marbury s in the 9 th Election District. Writ of Condemnation March 21, 1872 County School Commissioners condemned one acre of real estate belonging to Susannah Bryan where School House #2 in the 9 th Election District stood Deed 69: 404 County School Commissioners of Prince George s County to William L. January 31, 1911 Marbury (1.12 acres) Deed 323: 462 June 19, 1928 William L. Marbury and wife to Rebecca B. Berger Deed 391: 188 Rebecca B. Berger to Andrew B. Berger and his wife Olivia and George B. December 30, 1932 Berger and his wife Margaret Deed 2348: 154 June 24, 1959 Deed 2584: 160 July 19, 1963 Margaret B. Berger (widow of George) to Willis M. Miller and George Berger, Jr. Olive Berger (widow of Andrew), W.M. Miller, and G.B. Berger, Jr. trustees to Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission
Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Thrift School Number 9 Page 2 Photo: Thrift Schoolhouse, view of the southeast corner, looking north. Inventory No. PG: 81B-003
Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Thrift School Number 9 Page 3 Photo: Thrift Schoolhouse, view of the southwest corner, looking northeast. Inventory No. PG: 81B-003
Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Thrift School Number 9 Page 4 Photo: Thrift Schoolhouse, view of the northeast corner, looking southwest. Inventory No. PG: 81B-003