The Butler House was a historic home of importance to local

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

history and located at

Oxon Hill Oxon Hill is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in southern Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Oxon Hill is a suburb of Washington, located southeast of the downtown district and east of Alexandria, Virginia. It ...

Prince George's County ) , demonym = Prince Georgian , ZIP codes = 20607–20774 , area codes = 240, 301 , founded date = April 23 , founded year = 1696 , named for = Prince George of Denmark , leader_title = Executive , leader_name = Angela D. Alsobrook ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Henry Alexander Butler, a free African American man from

Charles County Charles County is a county in Southern Maryland. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 166,617. The county seat is La Plata, Maryland, La Plata. The county was named for Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, Charle ...

, moved with his family to the property in 1853, and the property has been continuously associated with the Butler family. Henry Butler became a

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...

community leader, serving as trustee of the nearby

Freedmen's Bureau The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was an agency of early Reconstruction, assisting freedmen in the South. It was established on March 3, 1865, and operated briefly as a ...

school. The Butler House was a -story, one room deep wood-frame and log residence covered in

cast stone Cast stone or reconstructed stone is a highly refined building material, a form of precast concrete used as masonry intended to simulate natural-cut stone. It is used for architectural features: trim, or ornament; facing buildings or other st ...

. It sat in a secluded, forested area, adjacent to the Oxon Hill Children's Farm. As of December 2010, the house is in a severely dilapidated condition. In 2020 the house collapsed and the property was sold in 2019. The Butler House is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2005.

References

External links

*, including photo in 2004, at Maryland Historical Trust website
M-NCPPC African-American Heritage Survey, October 1996: Other Historic Properties; Butler House, entry 76A-14 p. 130
Houses completed in 1853 Houses in Prince George's County, Maryland Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland African-American history of Prince George's County, Maryland National Register of Historic Places in Prince George's County, Maryland Oxon Hill, Maryland {{PrinceGeorgesCountyMD-NRHP-stub