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The
Neeld Mansion
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The
following is from a 1935 Brochure describing the Neeld Estate Mansion, Neeld Estate and Plum Point
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The
appeal of the Chesapeake Bay to lovers of the beautiful
and to the outdoor men and women is irresistible. Here,
almost at the doorstep of Washington, which is known as
one of the hottest cities of the nation, lies a body of
water that offers the utmost in everything pertaining to
the sea. Comfort... pleasure... health... and a surcease
from the life-shortening struggle against heat and clamor.
The appeal of the Chesapeake has induced many families
from cities hundreds of miles inland to become summer
residents upon it's shores. Increased speed of modern
automobiles coupled with good roads are every year opening
this pleasure ground to people farther and farther away;
we hesitate to predict what aviation will eventually
accomplish in bringing city dwellers to the
life-prolonging Chesapeake Bay country.
That
the Chesapeake is appreciated by Washingtonians is shown
by the fact the entire bay shore of Maryland is dotted
with cottages and small colonies. Just how many years have
been added to the average life-span of dwellers in the
capitol city by this drift toward the bay may never be
known, but anybody who will experience a single season on
the shore cannot escape the conclusion that a shore
cottage is a necessity rather than a luxury to a
Washington family.
The PLUM POINT area of the Western Shore lies in the very
heart of the renowned Chesapeake Bay country. Plum Point
is the beauty spot of Southern Maryland. It is here that
the most beautiful and fertile countryside meets the bay
at its widest point in the state. With the exception of
the Plum Point area the Western Shore consists of an
almost unbroken succession of swamps and cliffs. But at
Plum Point the chain is broken and for several miles the
land sweeps down in rolling green hillsides to a beach
that has no rival on the bay. Richness of soil, abundance
of verdure and the sharp contrasts of nature have a here
created a spot of such supreme loveliness that for as far
back as man can remember. Plum Point has been recognized
as the most beautiful waterfront of the Chesapeake and as
one of the most magnificent on the Atlantic Coast.
NEELD ESTATE consists of several hundred acres and
occupies the entire central, and most beautiful portion of
the Plum Point area. To attempt a description of this
surpassing beautiful waterfront is difficult. For years it
has been the delight of descriptive writers and artists.
The Estate is an old plantation, dating from about the
year 1650, with the original manor house and many of the
other buildings still preserved and still functioning as a
plantation under the shade of gigantic old trees which
have seen generation after generation come and go.
As a plantation that is still being operated profitably
and as a relic of colonial times, Neeld Estate is
interesting.
Modernity has touched it lightly, and in many respects,
the ways of the olden days are still the custom of the
present. About it's fertile acreage there clings a shroud
of mystery which never lifts. Behind the more prosaic
features if modern life in the shore colony there hangs
this background of the legendary past. To some it brings a
thrill to realize that when the Declaration of
Independence was signed the old manor house was already a
century and a quarter old. To some the tales of buried
treasure, seemingly well authenticated, and of mysterious
behavior, of sudden deaths and screaming ghosts open the
doors of romance in an age of practicality. Each new
discovery of forgotten graves, of the relics of voodoo
spells that have hidden away to sway the destiny of
someone long since gone, even of old coins of foreign
imprint which, when lost, were active currency, adds to
the lure and charm of Neeld Estate. The May 1933, edition
of "The American Motorist" contains a feature
article devoted to a description of the place in which
several of the numerous legends are recounted. Scientific
magazines often tell of this section, for it was here that
fossils were first discovered in the New World and each
year brings delegations of scientists to this "the
classic ground of fossil hunters" as it has so often
been called.
The most impressive feature of Neeld Estate is the
scenery. The Estate is noted for its beauty. It is an
actual fact that form almost every spot upon the property
a beautiful vista is unfolded. There is a never ending
supply of beauty for the nature lover, no matter how long
he roams. The woods, the glens, the brooks and meandering
streams, the wooded hills and valleys, the long grassy
slopes and the abundance of foliage of many hues. The
quiet, un-tampered natural vistas combined with the
supreme grandeur of the
marine landscapes has produced a spot of utmost
loveliness. Surely here is one of the most beautiful
places on earth.
BATHING...
FISHING... CRABBING
THE BEACH at Neeld Estate is almost as remarkable in its
way as is the scenic beauty. Nowhere near Washington will
a better beach be found, or even as good a beach. The Plum
Point area unquestionably the best bathing beach on the
Chesapeake. It is two hundred feet wide and about three
miles long. Of this the Estate has reserved twelve hundred
feet for the exclusive use of the colonists and their
guests.
The sand is not too fine grained as is the case with so
many of the famous southern beaches and hence the shore
possesses properties which almost all of them would find
advantageous. For instance... the beach at Neeld Estate is
soft and yielding. It is easy to lie upon and is more
enjoyable to sun-bathers as it is very comfortable. It is
a beach that never packs and that never can be used
as an automobile highway and thus become dangerous to
bathers and to children. The sand is not easily carried by
the wind and it does not work up into the destructive
dunes that are the detriment of so many shores. More
important than all of these, the frequent high tides
permit the surf to wash this soft textured beach to quite
a depth and thus it adds cleanliness to its features.
The sand extends into the bay and forms a solid footing
for the bather. There are no holes, no places of sudden
increase of depth which might prove perilous to children;
just a gently sloping bottom that attains swimming depth
within two-hundred feet from shore. A bar twelve hundred
feet out decreases the depth of water to about four feet
and thus breaks the storm sea while permitting a full
surf. An open harbor for yachts lies behind this bar.
There is no feature which appeals to the colonists more
than the supreme quality of the beach. Even without other
distinctions the beach alone would prove sufficient to set
the property into a class by itself.
FISHING is scarcely less popular than bathing. To
sportsmen it is the paramount attraction. Neeld Estate is
the closest colony to the celebrated Goose Neck Diamond
Shoal, which for years have been famous for large catches
and for the variety of fish caught.
August 14, 2000
From Jeff Parker:
Historic Preservation
Neeld Estate was carved out of land with a lengthy
historical past. Going back to Colonial times, this was
a plantation known by the name of its manor house,
"Letchworth Chance", which still stands over
looking
the bay. It is one of several homes of historical
significance in Calvert County. The first owner, Thomas
Letchworth, acquired the land from Lord Baltimore around
1658. He may be buried somewhere on the tract.
The original plantation was much larger according to the
local historian, Betty Briscoe, who reports the estimate
of 1,700 acres. After the Letchworth's, the property was
owned by many families during the years since. Among them
are the Freelands, Roberts, Stevens, Broomes, Dalrymples,
Lowes, Chews, and during the Civil War the Morsell family
owned it for several generations. Thomas L. Carpenter and
Ashby Owings had it for short periods.
Mrs. Briscoe reports ghost stories and legends associated
with the manor house and environs. Even today there are
local residents who are afraid to approach some spots,
including the manor house, after dark. One relates that
just to the west, is the wooded portions with its streams
and steep hills and valleys, known since early times as
"Devil Steps." Just how it got this name is a
mystery.
At night it is said that a big black dog, with eyes of
fire, lives in the Devil Steps. There are many who claim
to have seen it including a field hand almost knocked
over by it. Other stories about "the
woodchopper" and the "baby that cries in the
night" have been passed through generations.
When first settled, there was a reported spit of land
extending out in the Bay for 1,200 feet behind which was a
sheltered harbor where small ships from England anchored
while loading tobacco. This sand bar was covered with plum
trees. Old maps spell the place "Plumb Point."
Yet another story reports that the spit had a church on it
which was entirely lost, people and all, when a storm
obliterated the spit. However, in the living memory of
current residents, there was large commercial pier off the
end of Plum Point Road which was a legacy of the historic
scene. All that remains of the spit is a shoal. This is
marked by a navigational buoy point easily seen to the
northeast from Ridge Road.
The present family bought the manor house in 1893.
The Neeld family has owned it longer than any family in
its history.
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