Biscoe Gray Heritage Farm is located off Grays Road in Prince Frederick, Maryland and is managed by the Calvert County Parks and Recreation’s Natural Resources Division. The approximately 196-acre property includes two tobacco barns, two dwellings, outbuildings, agricultural fields, undeveloped woods, and a historic road trace.

Archaeological investigations found that Native Americans utilized this area for its rich resources.  Later, the property was a holding of John Laveille, a French Huguenot who arrived in Calvert County in the late-seventeenth or early-eighteenth century. Its original purchase is unknown, but its transfer in 1796 from to his son, Uriah Laveille, is documented.

In 1902, a portion of the site was sold to George E. Rice, an African American farmer who lived on the property with his wife Mary until 1938. It likely that George E. Rice lived in the 19th century side entry house at the tip of the property, but between 1915 and 1938, George E. Rice constructed a second dwelling on the property closer to Grays Road and to the farm’s main agricultural fields. Rice’s house has been preserved, along with several outbuildings. In 1938, William B. Gray purchased the property, which was adjacent to his extensive landholdings along Grays Road. Gray’s son, Biscoe Gray, inherited the property in 1947, and in turn, passed it on to his children, who sold the land to Calvert County in 2004 which purchased it as part of the Rural legacy program. Calvert County purchased the 196-acre property with the expressed purpose of developing Biscoe Gray Heritage Farm to promote tourism and heritage education.

This site is rich in natural and cultural resources and is significant in telling the story of Calvert County’s history, from Native American settlements, small scale colonial farming, and farming practices through the centuries.

For more information:

Calvert Nature Society – Biscoe Gray Heritage Farm (calvertparks.org)