Melford is a historic plantation

Plantation

A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...

 home located on the grounds of the Maryland Science and Technology Center, near the intersection of U.S. Route 301

U.S. Route 301 in Maryland

U.S. Route 301 in Maryland is a major highway that runs from Delaware to the Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge into Virginia. It passes through three of Maryland's four main regions: the Eastern Shore, the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area, and Southern Maryland...

 and U.S. Route 50

U.S. Route 50 in Maryland

U.S. Route 50 is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching just over from Ocean City, Maryland on the Atlantic Ocean to West Sacramento, California. In the U.S. state of Maryland, US 50 exists in two sections. The longer of these serves as a major route connecting...

, at Bowie

Bowie, Maryland

Bowie is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 54,727 at the 2010 census. Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in Prince George's County, and the fifth most populous city and third largest city by area in the state of...

, Prince George's County

Prince George's County, Maryland

Prince George's County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland, immediately north, east, and south of Washington, DC. As of 2010, it has a population of 863,420 and is the wealthiest African-American majority county in the nation....

, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

. The house is multi-part, gable

Gable

A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...

-roofed, brick and stone dwelling house constructed probably in the mid-late 1840s, with elements of the Greek Revival

Greek Revival architecture

The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...

 style.

The grounds include three outbuildings: a three-bay gable-roofed slave quarter probably dating from the 18th century; a pyramidal-roofed meat house also dating from the late 18th century; and a 20th century pyramidal-roofed pump house. The landscape consists of terraced gardens, falling away from the house on three levels. Melford was home for 140 years to two prominent local families, the Ducketts and the Hardestys.

Melford was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 in 1988.

External links

• Melford, Prince George's County, Inventory No.: PG:71B-16, including photo in 1974, at Maryland Historical Trust website
• M-NCPPC Inventory of Historic Sites (Prince George's County); Melford, entry 71B-016, p. 95
• Melford, Crain Highway (U.S. Route 301), Mitchellville, Prince George's County, MD: 25 photos and 13 data pages, at Historic American Building Survey
• Melford, Slave House, Mitchellville, Prince George's County, MD: 1 photo and 1 data page, at Historic American Building Survey
• Melford, Smokehouse, Mitchellville, Prince George's County, MD: 1 photo and 1 data page, at Historic American Building Survey