Douglass Summer House - Highland Beach MD - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

National Register of Historic Places Registration Form

The significance of the Douglass Summer House is derived from its relationship to the African-American resort community of Highland Beach. Located along the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, Highland Beach was established in 1893 by Major Charles Douglass, a Civil War veteran and son of Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), the famed African-American humanitarian, orator, and writer. Highland Beach became a summer gathering place for prominent African-Americans, particularly from Washington, D.C. Included among the early residents are Paul Lawrence Dunbar, the poet; and Robert Terrell, the first African-American municipal judge in Washington, D.C., and his wife, Mary Church Terrell, educator and civil libertarian. Frequent visitors to the resort included Booker T. Washington; Paul Robeson, the singer and actor; and Langston Hughes, the poet. With financial assistance from his father, Major Douglass laid out the community, naming the two principal streets for Reconstruction-era friends of his father. Tradition maintains that the impetus for establishing Highland Beach was a rebuff Major Douglass and his wife received from an all-white neighboring resort community. The Douglass Summer House was built for Frederick Douglass in 1894-1895. Douglass, however, did not live to see it completed. Tradition says the house was designed by Douglass himself with a second floor balcony to provide a view east towards the Eastern Shore where he was born. The Douglass Summer House is the oldest house remaining in Highland Beach. This house and the one erected for Major Douglass were the first structures built in the newly laid-out community. The Major Douglass house no longer stands.

Street address: 3200 Wayman Avenue Highland Beach, MD United States 21403 County / Borough / Parish: Anne Arundel County Year listed: 1992 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Black, Social History Periods of significance: 1875-1899 Historic function: Domestic Current function: Domestic Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   05/02/2022 Don.Morfe visited it