Piece by piece, archaeologists and historians from two universities and the local community are uncovering the history of The Hill, believed to be the earliest community of free African Americans in the United States, dating to 1790.
Not only is The Hill likely the oldest settlement of free African Americans, but it also could be the largest community of free blacks in the Chesapeake region. During the first census in 1790, some 410 free African Americans were recorded living on The Hill – more than Baltimore's 250 free African Americans and even more than the 346 slaves who lived at nearby Wye House Plantation, where abolitionist Frederick Douglass was enslaved as a child.
Free African Americans in Easton lived alongside white families, said Dale Green, a Morgan State University professor of architecture and historic preservation who is working with the University of Maryland's Marke Leone on The Hill project.
"It's not just a black story. It's an American story," Green said.
Researchers and students are in the midst of a three-week dig at a property on The Hill, owned by the Talbot County Women's Club, where free African Americans were recorded as residents. The census lacked details about the African Americans, but does note the property owner was James Price, a white man who was the register of wills at the time.
