Catonsville family traces roots to Virginia settlers in 1600s A century ago, the Page family settled in Catonsville, founded a church and operated the neighborhood grocery out of the front rooms of a home on Winters Lane. Still, the family's 99-year-old matriarch, Eva Page Brooks — whose living room was once that family store — could not trace its history back more than a few generations. But thanks to the Internet and a DNA sample, the Catonsville clan has become the first black family — and the first Baltimoreans — to verify their descent from two 17th- and 18th-century settlers of … [Read more...]

Early African American Landowners From the end of the Civil War to the turn of the century, Fairfax County counted 66 African American landowners. In that short time span, those new owners accumulated substantial holdings and were both remarkably productive with their land use and remarkably supportive of their burgeoning communities. ...Read More... Giving African-American history a home in Baltimore County It's easy to miss the little two-story, boarded-up house behind the Historical Society of Baltimore County in Cockeysville. Known as "the Pest House," it was once a haven for patients … [Read more...]