Members of the Charles County Garden Club, the Historical Society of
Charles County (HSCC), College of Southern Maryland (CSM) administration
and the Board of Charles County Commissioners gathered on the grounds of
the La Plata Campus to dedicate the newly completed and landscaped
Friendship House Garden May 16.

“We’ve been busy digging, and our fingernails show it,” said
Charles County Garden Club Pilgrimage Project Chair Peggy Schaumburg,
who was instrumental in the planning and completion of the project.

“Most successful partnerships are those that combine enthusiasm and
energy,” said CSM President Dr. Brad Gottfried, who added that if not
for the HSCC the Friendship House would not be on the college’s
campus. “It is well preserved now and we are very pleased to have a
grant to add descriptive markers that will tell not only the history of
the Friendship House, but also the process of getting it here.”
Gottfried further thanked Schaumburg and others for their commitment of
getting down on hands and knees to see the project through.

The original site of the Friendship House overlooked Nanjemoy Creek in
western Charles County, according to Friendship House Foundation Chair
Mike Mazzeo, who presented a historical prospective on the preservation
and reconstruction of the 18th- century home on the grounds of the
college. Friendship House was rescued in 1968 from demolition by members
of the HSCC that disassembled the house, methodically numbering each
piece. The pieces were stored in a barn until 1977 when the house was
rebuilt in its present location.

“This truly unique house represents the combined efforts of many
talented and farsighted people who worked passionately to save something
special from the past,” said Mazzeo. “Today it stands as a tribute
to the life and architecture of Maryland’s earliest settlers.”

Speaking on the value of preserving historical resources, Charles
County Commissioners President Candice Quinn Kelly said that structures
such as Friendship House provide significantly to taxpayer through added
revenue from tourism. Along with Charles County Commissioner Vice
President Reuben B. Collins, Kelly presented the county seal to Garden
Club President Sybil Alger.