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Oakley Cabin

Oakley Cabin
3610 Brookeville Road
Onley, MD 20832
301-650-4390

Events
Oakley Volunteers
History
The Museum and Park

Oakley Cabin is a 19th century African American historic site. Built as one of three slave dwellings in the 1820s, the cabin was the center of an African American roadside community from emancipation well into the 20th century. The dwelling, inhabited until 1976, is now operated as a living history museum. School teachers will find Oakley Cabin a valuable resource in teaching Black history and local history.

The Oakley Cabin Museum and Park provide hands-on experience for visitors and researchers. Operated by the Friends of Oakley Cabin and the Underground Railroad, the cabin hosts special events and is open for free tours given by trained docents on Saturdays from mid-May through October.

Events

Oakley Cabin Open for Tours

Beginning Saturday, April 19, 2008 Oakley Cabin has reopened for tours on Saturdays (Noon-4:00 p.m.) through November. Please check our events calendar for more information.

Volunteers

Historic Guides Needed at Oakley Cabin

If you're interested in African American history and enjoy interacting with the public, we hope you'll consider becoming a trained historic guide (docent) at Oakley Cabin.Training begins with an online session, followed by an onsite training session at Oakley Cabin. You must complete the online training course before attending the onsite training.

Volunteers must be 14 years of age or older, and be able to commit to six Saturdays per year (or weekdays, if a group tour is scheduled and you are available) April through October. For more information and to sign up for docent training, please call 301-650-4390.

History

Built in the early 1820s, the Oakley Cabin was part of Oakley Farm, which occupied part of Colonel Richard Brooke’s large land tract known as “Addition to Brooke Grove.” Brooke, a Revolutionary War hero was known as “the Fighting Quaker.” He built the “big house” called Oakley in 1764, which was destroyed in the 1970s.

Brooke, who died in 1788, willed all his property to his only child, Ann, who later married William Hammond Dorsey. They had five children. Like her father, Ann and William never lived on the Oakley Farm. Instead William built their home, Dumbarton Oaks in Georgetown. When Ann died in 1802, William sold all of his Georgetown property and moved to Oakley. William died in 1818. he Dorseys’ son, Richard B. Dorsey, transformed Oakley into a farm, on which his 23 slaves worked. It was during this time when the Oakley Cabin was built around 1820.

The 1½-story Oakley Cabin has a stone chimney with brick stack. Oak and chestnut logs are joined with dovetail joints and chinked with stones, now largely covered with cement. There are two rooms divided by a bead board partition wall. A boxed staircase leads to the upper loft.

Dr. William Bowie Margruder bought Oakley farm in 1836. A local doctor to both white and black families, Margruder owned 19 slaves to help farm the land. Between 1820 and 1878, two more cabins were built. Oakley Cabin is the only remaining one. After Dr. Margruder died in 1873, Josiah J. Hutton purchased the farm.

According to census records from 1880 to 1920, between 22 to 37 people lived in the three cabins. The residents were black and white, slaves and free citizens with jobs ranging from farm laborers and carpenters to blacksmiths and laundresses. The cabins formed a small roadside community that likely shared household tasks and sold produce and hand-made articles to travelers on the Brookeville Road. It represented a cross-section of cultures that make up the unique Black American folk experience.

The Museum and Park

Oakley Cabin is a museum furnished to depict the various periods of its history and development. The ground floor room represents communal life at the cabin, centering around the open hearth. In the small adjoining room are displayed the 19th century tools and artifacts excavated in archeological digs at the cabin.

The oak and chestnut log cabin is a reflection of vernacular architecture and excellent craftsmanship through its dove-tailed notching and artful pegging. The rafters on the roof are “bird-mouthed” over the top log that serves as a plate. The floor of the first level sits on a double sill with a notch in the foundation to allow two logs – one for the floor and one for the wall. The 15’ x 21’ interior space of the cabin is larger than the usual slave quarters, and the stand-up second story, interior stairs and wood floor are much more accommodating than the usual dirt floor and ladder to a loft.

The cabin sits on a 2-acre tract that is part of a larger park running along Reddy Branch. The mill pond for Newlin’s Mill was located in the low area behind the cabin. A trail, partially laid inside the old millrace, leads from the cabin to the site of the mill at the intersection of Brookeville Road and Georgia Avenue. Numerous wild plants can be seen, many of which are edible or medicinal and were used by local people. Hawks, foxes, deer, raccoons and other wildlife can often be seen from the cabin or trail. The trail also passes stone quarries used to dig local stone.

Date of last update: April 25, 2008