Riverdale Park in Prince George's County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

MacAlpine Farm

Town of Riverdale Park

Photographed by Allen C. Browne, May 28, 2018

1. MacAlpine Farm Marker

Inscription. Three years after the death of his father, Charles Baltimore Calvert married Eleanor Mackubin (November 11, 1867). On the 203-acre portion of Riversdale that Charles inherited, the young couple built a farm they called MacAlpine, after the Mackubin family home in Scotland. In contrast to Riversdale plantation - a large farm staffed by enslaved labor growing tobacco for export – MacAlpine was a general farm that raised a variety of crops and livestock for home use and sale, and was staffed by hired labor. Although the house was large, it was smaller and more modest than Riversdale Mansion, where Charles grew up. The farmstead included a carriage barn, livestock barn, corncrib, and icehouse.

Charles Baltimore Calvert was a gentleman farmer supported by family wealth and professional pursuits. Although the farm supplied the family and its servants with a wide range of foodstuffs and services, by the time of Charles Calvert's death in 1906, the modern world was already encroaching on the property. Calvert's daughter Charlotte and her husband Thomas H. Spence, a dean at the nearby University of Maryland (the institution

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

cofounded by her father), lived on this property from 1917 to 1934. In 1934 the Spence's leased MacAlpine to the Longfellow School for Boys. By then, most of the outbuildings, including the carriage barn, icehouse, and water tower, had become obsolete and were removed.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Agriculture.

Location. 38° 58.171′ N, 76° 56.252′ W. Marker is in Riverdale Park, Maryland, in Prince George's County. It can be reached from the intersection of Van Buren Street and Baltimore Avenue (U.S. 1). Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 4439 Van Buren Street, Hyattsville MD 20782, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Washington Metropolitan Area.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

in the Mid-Atlantic,

and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies

and

Charles Baltimore Calvert, 1843-1906 image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Allen C. Browne, May 28, 2018

2. Charles Baltimore Calvert, 1843-1906

Close-up of image on marker

also the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: ERCO and Calvert Homes (here, next to this marker); Riversdale Plantation (here, next to this marker); MacAlpine Icehouse (a few steps from this marker); Trolley (approx. 0.2 miles away); Native American History (approx. ¼ mile away); Calvert Hills: A National Register Historic District (approx. ¼ mile away); ERCO (approx. 0.3 miles away); The Town of Riverdale Park (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Riverdale Park.

Also see . . . The History and Construction of Mac Alpine at College Park, Maryland. by Jack W. Phillips, Tau Beta Pi thesis, Dec. 13, 1934. (Submitted on May 30, 2018, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland.)

MacAlpine House<br>Administration Building for Calvert Houses, 1943 image. Click for full size.

Library of Congress

3. MacAlpine House
Administration Building for Calvert Houses, 1943

MacAlpine House image. Click for full size.

Internet Archive

4. MacAlpine House

From The History and Construction of Mac Alpine at College Park, Maryland by Jack W. Phillips, Tau Beta Pi thesis, Dec. 13, 1934.

Pumphouse and Railroad Tracks at MacAlpine image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Allen C. Browne

5. Pumphouse and Railroad Tracks at MacAlpine

From The History and Construction of Mac Alpine at College Park, Maryland by Jack W. Phillips, Tau Beta Pi thesis, Dec. 13, 1934.

First Floor Plan - MacAlpine House image. Click for full size.

Internet Archive

6. First Floor Plan - MacAlpine House

From The History and Construction of Mac Alpine at College Park, Maryland by Jack W. Phillips, Tau Beta Pi thesis, Dec. 13, 1934.

MacAlpine Gate Posts<br>at Baltimore Avenue & Albion Road image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Allen C. Browne, May 28, 2018

7. MacAlpine Gate Posts
at Baltimore Avenue & Albion Road

Calvert<br>on one gate post image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Allen C. Browne, May 28, 2018

8. Calvert
on one gate post

MacAlpine<br>on the other gate post image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Allen C. Browne, May 28, 2018

9. MacAlpine
on the other gate post

Credits. This page was last revised on August 3, 2018. It was originally submitted on May 30, 2018, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. This page has been viewed 825 times since then and 39 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on May 30, 2018, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. 7, 8, 9. submitted on June 2, 2018, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.

Editor’s want-list for this marker. A wide shot of the marker in context • Can you help?