Green Spring Valley Historic District is a national

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

near Stevenson in

Baltimore County Baltimore County ( , locally: or ) is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland and is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area. Baltimore County (which partially surrounds, though does not include, the independent City of ...

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 ...

. It is a suburban area of Baltimore that acquires significance from the collection of 18th, 19th, and early 20th century buildings. The park-like setting retains a late 19th-early 20th century atmosphere. At the turn of the 20th century, the

Maryland Hunt Cup The Maryland Hunt Cup is a Timber race, which is an American Steeplechase. It was first run on May 26 1894 and won by Johnny Miller. Eight horses have won the race three times but no horse has won it four times. It is considered one of the most d ...

and the Grand National Maryland steeplechase races were run over various parts of the valley. The

, which began as a competition between the Green Spring Valley Hunt and the Elkridge Hunt, traditionally started at Brooklandwood, the previous home of Charles Carrol of Carrollton (later St. Paul’s school) with the finish across Valley Road at Oakdene, at that time the home of Thomas Deford, which remains a private residence The buildings reflect major architectural styles popular in the United States from the Neoclassical of the 18th century to the Georgian and other revivals of the pre-1930 period and range from modest to elaborate in size. The district's Stevenson railway station is in "good repair." Several church buildings serve as important

contributing properties In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

within the district, including St. Thomas' Episcopal Church, Green Springs Methodist Church, Stevenson Methodist Church,Wollon, James T., Jr., et al.
National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Green Spring Valley Historic District
'.

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

, 1979. and Sater's Baptist Church. The oldest of these buildings is St. Thomas', where construction started in 1743; the parish has used the building without interruption since its completion. The oldest extant Baptist church building in the United States, Sater's was built for the first Baptist congregation to be established in the

Province of Maryland The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S. state of Maryland ...

. The congregation first worshipped in the building's original section in 1746, although the building was substantially modified in the 1860s after suffering extensive deterioration. Stevenson Md station

Greenspring Methodist Church's building, a small

Carpenter Gothic Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic or Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massing applied to wooden structures ...

structure, was constructed in 1872;Wollon, James T., Jr., and Dawn Thomas.
Maryland Historical Trust Inventory: Green Spring Chapel
'. Maryland Historical Trust, 1980-02-10. the landowner donated it to the community's

black church The black church (sometimes termed Black Christianity or African American Christianity) is the faith and body of Christian congregations and denominations in the United States that minister predominantly to African Americans, as well as their ...

, and it came into the possession of the present congregation in 1908. The former Stevenson Methodist Church is a stone

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

building; its

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time ...

was laid in 1905, although two years passed before the building was dedicated.Wollon, James T., Jr., and Leona North.
Maryland Historical Trust Inventory: Stevenson Methodist Church
'. Maryland Historical Trust, 1980-03-02, 4. The district was designated and added to 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 1980. Its boundaries encompass 282 buildings (148 contributing and 134 non-contributing) spread over an area of .

References

External links

*, including photo from 1979, at Maryland Historical Trust {{National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Historic districts in Baltimore County, Maryland Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland National Register of Historic Places in Baltimore County, Maryland