A project to restore the North Bethesda site that was once home to the man who inspired the classic novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" may soon receive a $100,000 boost from the federal government.
The Josiah Henson site, formerly Uncle Tom's Cabin, is included in the Omnibus Appropriations bill, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives Feb. 25 and is being debated by the U.S. Senate.
The project was championed by U.S. Rep. Christopher Van Hollen Jr. (D-Dist. 8) of Kensington.
"A lot of people think of Montgomery, Alabama as a place where slavery took place, not Montgomery County, Maryland," he said. "I think this will help bring the history alive here, too."
The property known as the Isaac Riley Farm, located on Old Georgetown Road bordering the Luxmanor neighborhood, was once home to Josiah Henson, a slave owned by Riley. Henson's life and escape to freedom was the basis for Harriet Beecher Stowe's classic novel, ‘‘Uncle Tom's Cabin."
The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission purchased the property for $1 million in 2006.
The money could be the second large chunk of funding the site has received in the past six months.
On Nov. 5, the state Board of Public Works unanimously approved a $50,000 grant for the planning and design phase of a multiyear effort to preserve the house.
The two grants will go toward providing a historic structure report and interpretive plan for the historic preservation, according to Joey Lampl, cultural resources manager for the Montgomery County Department of Parks, as well as possible structural repairs. The report will detail historical background and archaeological findings from the site and will summarize laws and costs associated with the preservation.
