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Heritage of freedom meets open road
Newest ‘byway' celebrates state's religious history
Friday, Oct. 23, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Submitted photo
St. Ignatius Church on Chapel Point Road near Port Tobacco is one of several historic landmarks that are on the 139-mile Religious Freedom Scenic Byway that winds through Charles and St. Mary's counties.
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Southern Maryland's Religious Freedom Scenic Byway received national designation last week in Washington, D.C., and local heritage tourism officials said they are hoping the status will entice history buffs to the area to view the region's contributions to the country's fight for freedom of religion.
The byway was developed by Charles and St. Mary's counties' tourism officials a couple of years ago and management plans for the 139-mile trail were adopted in both counties in 2008. The byway is a touring route that the Maryland State Highway Administration's Maryland Byways program designated in 1999 as a scenic byway for its cultural, historic, recreational and natural qualities, said Terry Maxwell, the program's coordinator, in an earlier interview.
The National Scenic Byways program was created to identify roads with unique archaeological, cultural, historical, natural, recreational and scenic qualities, said Roz Racanello, executive director of the Southern Maryland Heritage Area Consortium in Hughesville. The Southern Maryland route was among four byways given the designation in Maryland, she said, adding that 41 routes around the country were designated as national byways.
The other Maryland designations were the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad on the Eastern Shore, Baltimore's Historic Charles Street and the Journey Through Hallowed Ground route in Western Maryland, Racanello said.
The National Scenic Byways Program is administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration, Racanello said. The program is a grass roots effort to recognize, preserve and enhance selected roads throughout the United States. Since 1992, the program has funded 2,672 projects for state and nationally designated byway routes in 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, she said.
The Southern Maryland Religious Freedom Scenic Byway winds from St. Mary's City and St. Clement's Island in St. Mary's County along the Potomac River into Charles County. Highlights of the driving trail are St. Ignatius Church in Chapel Point that overlooks the Port Tobacco River, Christ Church Durham Parish in Ironsides, the village of Port Tobacco and the Thomas Stone House near La Plata, Racanello said.
The byway also guides visitors to the some of the area's scenic landscapes, including the marshland at Purse State Park and lowland woods along Riverside Road in Nanjemoy, historic tobacco barns on Rose Hill Road near La Plata, views from the Gov. Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge that spans the Potomac River in Newburg and Allen's Fresh in the Zekiah Swamp near Dentsville, according to county tourism officials.
In time, folks will start seeing red, white and blue American Byway signs sprouting up along the route to help visitors follow the byway, Racanello said.
The designation will put Charles County on the heritage tourism map and will hopefully draw a lot of visitors to the area, said Donna Dudley, the county's chief of tourism.
"The fact that Maryland got four national designations is phenomenal — and Charles County got one of them," she said. "The county's strength is in our existing landscape. This is a real coup for the county."
"We're absolutely thrilled with the designation," Racanello said. "Southern Maryland is excited that our first attempt to obtain the designation was successful. We've got beautiful roads. People should come and travel them."
