Java History Trail

Photographed by Don Morfe, February 10, 2015

1. Java History Trail Marker

Indians of the Chesapeake
For over 2,000 years the Mattaponi, the Piscataway, and the Choptank people shared this area. These Native American cousins hunted and fished in the Rhode River area. A Piscataway campsite, representative of all three groups, has been reconstructed to show how these people may have lived. Graphic displays provide additional information on their hunting and fishing methods.

Java Plantation
From the mid-1600s through the Civil War tobacco was the main crop grown in this area. Plantations developed along rivers and creeks for easy shipment of this essential crop. The Java History Trail explores life on a tobacco plantation from the viewpoint of both owner and African American slave. A small barn houses graphic displays and exhibits that revolve around the Java Plantation.

Java Dairy Farm
Robert L. Forrest operated a dairy on this land from 1915 to the mid-1940s. Many of the changes he made to the land are still visible in the landscape today. Graphic panels located along the trail tell about his dairy operations, the impact of grazing cattle

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Java’s Return to Nature
A prime location on the Rhode River and its proximity to the Chesapeake Bay allow SERC scientist to conduct long-term research in a variety of ecosystems on air, land, and water. Some of the research is explained on graphic panels along this section of the trail. A raised walkway crosses Fox Creek marsh with displays giving information on the types of plants and animals living in a tidal marsh.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Colonial Era • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1915.
 
Location. 38° 53.202′ N, 76° 32.58′ W. Marker is in Edgewater, Maryland, in Anne Arundel County. It is on Dock Road. The marker is near the Philip D. Reed Education Center and is on the grounds of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Edgewater MD 21037, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Central Maryland. It is also in the American Mid-Atlantic and in the Chesapeake Bay Region. 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 also the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Indians of the Chesapeake (within shouting distance of this marker); Java Plantation Life (approx. 0.4 miles away); a different marker also named Java Plantation Life (approx. 0.4 miles away);

Photographed by Don Morfe, February 10, 2015

2. Java History Trail Marker

Photographed by Don Morfe, February 10, 2015

3. Java History Trail Marker

Photographed by Don Morfe, February 10, 2015

4. Philip D. Reed Education Center

Photographed by Don Morfe, February 10, 2015

5. Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network

Photographed by Don Morfe, February 10, 2015

6. Inside the Education Center

Photographed by Don Morfe, February 10, 2015

7. Bronze Crab inside the Education Center

Photographed by Don Morfe, February 10, 2015

8. Inside the Education Center

Photographed by Don Morfe, February 10, 2015

9. Inside the Education Center

Photographed by Don Morfe, February 10, 2015

10. Sign at the entrance to the Java Farm-Smithsonian Environmental Research Center