Renovated buildings tell story of East Towson's history

More than 20 East Towson residents and government leaders joined Saturday to celebrate improvements made to historic structures in the historically African-American neighborhood.Current and former residents returned the community to celebrate its history and continued vibrancy while sharing food, music and memories of the neighborhood in an event dubbed Come Back to East Towson Day. The celebrations took place in front of the Jacob House, a log cabin that was hand-built between 1850 and 1880 by an emancipated slave and that provided shelter to generations of former slaves who established themselves in East Towson.On Saturday, the cabin had two new historical panels in front of it that were draped with a black tarp. While onlookers clapped and counted down as if it was New Year's Eve, several people — including County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, County Councilman David Marks, Del. Stephen Lafferty, and Adelaide Bentley, director of the county's Carver Community Center in East Towson — each lifted a corner of the tarp to unveil the new panels, which include pictures and stories that explain the origins of Jacob House and East Towson.&quot;These plaques symbolize our history of yesterday and how we as a people have survived through much love and perseverance,&quot; said Bentley, who also is president of the Northeast Towson Improvement Association and is known by some as East Towson's unofficial &quot;mayor.&quot;Decades after the cabin was finished, a large house was built as an attachment to it. A 1998 fire gutted the house, though the cabin and its original logs survived. In 2001, community members and county officials decided to preserve the cabin. Supported by $200,000 from the Maryland Historical Trust and the U.S. Department of Housing and Development, the cabin was dismantled and reassembled behind the Carver Community Center in 2010.People can now tour the cabin's interior, which has been refurnished with antique items, such as an ice box and oil candles.William &quot;Billy&quot; Jones, a former University of Maryland basketball player and the first African American to earn a basketball scholarship from the Atlantic Coast Conference, came back to East Towson on a trip to pick up his grandchildren. Jones, 70, said that, as a kid, he had no idea that his former playground was the Jacob House.&quot;It's pretty special,&quot; Jones said. &quot;The house gives us a sense of pride, a connection to the past that I think is needed.&quot;A few steps away from the Jacob House, attendees also celebrated the newly-renovated Carver Community Center. The $670,000 county-funded renovations include an updated stucco finish, new concrete walkways, landscaping and new fencing.The structure that houses the center was originally built in 1939 as a segregated school for African Americans. Before the school was built, students from the area had to travel to Baltimore City if they wanted an education past the sixth grade.&quot;You had to win a lottery from the county, because the county had to pay the city tuition to send these students,&quot; Kamenetz said to the crowd. &quot;It was a real privilege to actually be able to attend school prior to 1939.&quot;Now the community center is home to a day-care facility, recreation offices and an office for the local NAACP chapter.&quot;East Towson is a unique, historic community that has always worked to preserve its heritage,&quot; Kamenetz said.Bentley also was honored. Kamenetz presented her with an Executive Citation honoring her for her years of dedicated service to East Towson.

Renovated buildings tell story of East Towson's history

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