Editing Beltsville, Maryland (section)

==History==
[[File:National Agricultural Library 2018b.jpg|thumb|The [[United States National Agricultural Library|National Agricultural Library]] in 2018]]
Beltsville's history dates back to 1649, when the land was part of an {{convert|80000|acre|km2|0|adj=on}} land grant given to [[Richard Snowden (ironmaster)|Richard Snowden I]] by [[Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore|Lord Baltimore]] of England. Snowden and his family were planters who established large [[plantations in the American South|plantations]] on which they built comfortable manor homes. Soon after, other settlers moved into the area, but they were farmers who could only afford a few acres of land and whose families lived in small cabins. The principal crop was [[tobacco]], most of which was shipped to [[England]]. Because of the fertile soil and desirable growing conditions, the crops prospered.

Industry came to Beltsville in the early 18th century when [[iron ore]] was discovered in the area. The Muirkirk Iron Furnace on [[U.S. Route 1 in Maryland|US 1]] was established by Andrew and Elias Elliott, who learned their iron-making skills in [[Muirkirk]], [[Scotland]]. They produced some of the best-quality [[pig iron]] in the country and supplied the [[U.S. Army]] with cannons, shot, wheels, and other iron products during the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] and the [[American Civil War|Civil War]].

By 1730, Post Road (now part of US 1) was the main thoroughfare through Beltsville. Though crude, it made [[stagecoach]] travel possible.  In 1783, Gabriel Peterson Van Horn established a stage line and built the Van Horn Tavern on Odell Road, where passengers could spend the night as they traveled between [[Baltimore]] and Washington. The trip took one and one-half days.<ref>{{cite web|title=Vansville site|url=http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/stagsere/se1/se5/018000/018200/018235/pdf/msa_se5_18235.pdf|access-date=3 September 2013}}</ref>

Beltsville has a distinguished Revolutionary War hero as its native son. Brigadier General [[Rezin Beall]], who was born on Turkey Flight Plantation on Old Gunpowder Road in 1723, prevented a British invasion at [[Drum Point]] on the [[Chesapeake Bay]] with only 100 men. He is credited with the fact that there are no Revolutionary War battlefields in Maryland.{{Citation needed|date=December 2011}}

In 1835 one of the first rail lines in the country, the Washington branch of the [[B&O Railroad]] (Baltimore & Ohio), was built through Prince George's County. Coming from Baltimore, the line entered the county at [[Laurel, Maryland|Laurel]] and ran southwesterly to [[Bladensburg, Maryland|Bladensburg]], then into Washington. B&O established a rail stop and freight depot on land purchased from a tobacco farmer named Trueman Belt, and they named the place after him. The new community of Beltsville was doubly blessed, for the Baltimore-Washington Turnpike crossed the rail line there. It soon became a thriving little trading center, eclipsing the older community of Vansville further north on the pike.

The original area developed haphazardly and consisted of a few residences, two churches, several small stores, a [[blacksmith]], and a [[wheelwright]]. In 1891, the Beltsville Land Improvement Company was chartered and over the next thirty years developed the South Beltsville subdivision as a grid of streets. The developers sold the lots to individual owners and placed [[restrictive covenant]]s on the deeds, including forbidding the manufacture or sale of alcohol and the sale of any property to an [[African American]]. Beltsville was marketed to professionals who wanted to escape the congestion of Washington and was developed with a mixture of [[Victorian architecture|Victorian-style]] houses and [[Colonial Revival]] houses. The community grew further when an electric railway was extended to Beltsville. The railway began as the [[Berwyn and Laurel Electric Railroad]], but after suffering from financial difficulties it was acquired by the [[City and Suburban Railway]]. Located to the west of the railroad, along the line of present-day [[U.S. Route 1 in Maryland|Rhode Island Avenue]], the [[tram|streetcar]] line served as the nucleus for additional subdivisions. These areas continued to develop slowly throughout the 1930s and 1940s with the construction of modest side-gable residences. Development continued after the introduction of the automobile, but it was not until after [[World War II]] that intensive development came to the Beltsville area.<ref name="sha">{{cite web|url=http://www.sha.maryland.gov/oppen/pg_co.pdf |title=Community Summary Sheet, Prince George's County|date=2008-05-10|work=Beltsville, Maryland|publisher=Maryland State Highway Administration, 1999}}</ref><ref>''The Neighborhoods of Prince George's County.'' Upper Marlboro: Community Renewal Program, 1974.</ref>

As the federal government grew, in 1910 the [[U.S. Department of Agriculture]] (USDA) began to purchase land in Beltsville for its [[Agricultural Research Service]], the main in-house research arm of the USDA. The land now houses the [[Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center]] (BARC). The first parcel acquired was {{convert|375|acre|km2|1}} of the Walnut Grange Plantation with its historic "Butterfly House". The Center eventually encompassed {{convert|14600|acre|km2|0}} and became the largest and most prominent center of [[agricultural science]] research in the world.

There are a number of historic homes and buildings still standing in Beltsville. The oldest home was built in 1773. One of the largest of the older buildings, built in 1880, was the three-story Ammendale Normal Institute, which was destroyed by fire in 1998.

In 2003 Kevin Kennedy started a group which aimed to have Beltsville incorporate into its own municipality.<ref>{{cite news|author=Boyes, Amy|url=http://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2003/200310/collegepark/news/147317-1.html|title=Beltsville mulls becoming a municipality|newspaper=[[The Gazette (Maryland)|The Gazette]]|date=2003-03-06|access-date=2018-09-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909071815/http://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2003/200310/collegepark/news/147317-1.html|archive-date=2018-09-09|url-status=dead}} – Also as "[http://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2003/200310/greenbelt/news/147449-1.html Community mulls becoming a town] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909071828/http://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2003/200310/greenbelt/news/147449-1.html |date=2018-09-09 }}"</ref> By 2004 the 12-member group, named Committee to Incorporate Beltsville, advocated for getting the issue on the ballot.<ref>{{cite news|author=Mullan, Megan|url=http://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2004/200408/collegepark/news/202852-1.html|title=Group hopes effort puts incorporation on ballot|newspaper=[[The Gazette (Maryland)|The Gazette]]|date=2004-02-19|access-date=2018-09-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909073002/http://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2004/200408/collegepark/news/202852-1.html|archive-date=2018-09-09|url-status=dead}}</ref> By late 2004 the group began efforts to collect 3,000 signatures on a petition so the issue can be put up for election;<ref>{{cite news|author=Mullan, Meghan|url=http://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2004/200445/collegepark/news/243904-1.html|title=Group to incorporate Beltsville takes issue to polls|newspaper=[[The Gazette (Maryland)|The Gazette]]|date=2004-11-04|access-date=2018-09-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909071843/http://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2004/200445/collegepark/news/243904-1.html|archive-date=2018-09-09|url-status=dead}}</ref> this would represent about one quarter of the persons in Beltsville who were registered to vote. By the deadline in March 2005 they failed to get sufficient signatures as they only had 2,000.<ref>{{cite news|author=Mullan, Meghan|url=http://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2005b/200520/collegepark/news/275893-1.html|title=Beltsville incorporation efforts fail|newspaper=[[The Gazette (Maryland)|The Gazette]]|date=2005-05-19|access-date=2018-09-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909071356/http://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2005b/200520/collegepark/news/275893-1.html|archive-date=2018-09-09|url-status=dead}} - [http://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2005b/200520/princegeorgescty/county/276134-1.html Reprinted on May 25 of that year] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909071248/http://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2005b/200520/princegeorgescty/county/276134-1.html |date=2018-09-09 }}</ref>

===Historic sites===
The following is a list of historic sites in Beltsville and identified by the [[Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission]]:<ref>[http://www.mncppc.org/county/historic_sites.htm M-NCPPC Illustrated Inventory of Historic Sites (Prince George's County, Maryland), 2006] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725020708/http://www.mncppc.org/county/historic_sites.htm |date=2008-07-25 }}.</ref> African-American Heritage Sites at nearby Rossville are listed at [[Muirkirk, Maryland]].<ref>[http://www.mncppc.org/county/AAHeritage/HistPropInHistComm_North_Part1.pdf M-NCPPC African-American Heritage Survey, October 1996: Properties Within or Closely Associated With Historic Communities (Prince George's County, Maryland), 1996]{{Dead link|date=June 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.</ref>
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="width:98%"
! {{NRHP color}}|
! width = 25% {{NRHP color}}| '''Site Name'''
! width = 8% class="unsortable" {{NRHP color}}| '''Image'''
! {{NRHP color}}|'''Location'''
! class="unsortable" {{NRHP color}}| '''M-NCPPC Inventory Number'''
! class="unsortable" {{NRHP color}}| '''Comment'''
|--
! {{NRHP color}} | <small>1</small>
| [[Abraham Hall]]
| [[Image:Abraham Hall Dec 08.JPG|100px]]
| 7612 Old Muirkirk Rd.
| 62-023-07
| Located at Rossville. Listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]], 2005-03-14
|--
! {{NRHP color}} | <small>2</small>
| [[Ammendale Normal Institute]]
| [[Image:Ammendale SE 1990.jpg|100px]]
| Jct. of Ammendale Rd. and U.S. 1
| 60-004
| Listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]], 1975-04-14; demolished 2006
|--
! {{NRHP color}} | <small>3</small>
| [[Briarley Academy (Old Hotel)]]
| <!-- Image goes here -->
| 11777 Old Baltimore Pike
| 62-010
| <!-- Comment goes here -->
|--
! {{NRHP color}} | <small>4</small>
| [[Orme-Shaw House (Beltsville, Maryland)|Orme-Shaw House]]
| <!-- Image goes here -->
| 11601 Caverly Avenue
| 61-002
| <!-- Comment goes here -->
|--
! {{NRHP color}} | <small>5</small>
| [[McLeod House (Beltsville, Maryland)|McLeod House]]
| <!-- Image goes here -->
| 11034 Montgomery Road
| 61-011
| <!-- Comment goes here -->
|--
! {{NRHP color}} | <small>6</small>
| [[Dr. Charles Fox House (Coffin House) (Beltsville, Maryland)|Dr. Charles Fox House (Coffin House)]]
| <!-- Image goes here -->
| 4931 Powder Mill Road
| 61-007
| <!-- Comment goes here -->
|--
! {{NRHP color}} | <small>7</small>
| [[Sellman House (Beltsville, Maryland)|Sellman House]]
| <!-- Image goes here -->
| Building 023, [[Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center|Beltsville Agricultural Research Center]] West
| 61-012
| <!-- Comment goes here -->
|--
! {{NRHP color}} | <small>8</small>
| [[St. John's Episcopal Church, Zion Parish|St. John’s Episcopal Church]]
| <!-- Image goes here -->
| 11040 Baltimore Avenue
| 61-009
| <!-- Comment goes here -->
|--
! {{NRHP color}} | <small>9</small>
| [[Ammendale Normal Institute|St. Joseph’s Catholic Chapel]]
| [[File:Exterior of St. Josephs Chapel - Ammendale Normal Institute.jpg|100px]]
| 6011 Ammendale Road
| 60-007
| Listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] with Ammendale Normal Institute, 1975-04-14
|--
! {{NRHP color}} | <small>10</small>
| [[Walnut Grange (Beltsville, Maryland)|Walnut Grange]]
| <!-- Image goes here -->
| Powder Mill Road (Building 209), [[Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center|Beltsville Agricultural Research Center]]
| 62-013
| <!-- Comment goes here -->
|}