Community & Collaborative Projects
Patapsco Heritage Greenway’s Heritage Program collaborates with community partners on preservation and interpretive projects throughout the Patapsco Valley Heritage Area (PVHA). PHG welcomes community involvement in hands-on efforts such as cemetery cleanups, as well as contributions to Patapsco Stories, an initiative to collect memories of the Valley. Contact Kyla about potential collaborations or visit our grants opportunities page to learn more about available grants in the PVHA.
Preservation Projects
The Historic Oella Cemetery is the only known company cemetery in Maryland. Originally established by the Union Manufacturing Company in the early 19th century, all land (including the cemetery and the mill) was sold at auction in 1887 to the W.J. Dickey & Sons Co. who renamed the mill and village to Oella. By 1891 a separate company called the Oella Cemetery Company was established to manage the cemetery, which served as the burial place for mill workers and their families.
Previous surveys of visible gravestones estimated that the cemetery was the resting place of approximately 380 mill workers and their families, including many children. However, recent estimates by the Oella Historical Society suggest there may be closer to 500 people interred in the cemetery. Many of the earliest burials at the cemetery are of those born before the Revolution, and it is believed interments at the cemetery continued until 1950.
Today, a committee of dedicated volunteers has stepped forward to continue researching and cleaning up the cemetery, making it more accessible to the community and descendants of those buried there.
Follow Friends of Oella Cemetery Facebook page for updates on upcoming volunteer opportunities.
The Nike Missile Base BA-79 is located in Baltimore County, in the historic quarrying town of Granite. A remnant of the Cold War defense for Baltimore, planning for the missile base began in 1951, and construction was completed in 1954. The site served as a defense system managed by the army throughout the 1960s until the 1972 Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty banned anti-ballistic missile defense systems, such as Nike. Since then, the base has been deactivated, and the launch site eventually became a Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commission facility. Today, the Civil Air Patrol Maryland Wing is based at the site and acts as the official civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force in Maryland.
Patapsco Heritage Greenway has partnered with the site to host Open House events, offering tours and sharing the site's history and ongoing restoration efforts.
Learn more about the site in this Patapsco Short video.
Patapsco Heritage Greenway's façade improvement project on the historic office building in Tonge Row, Ellicott City, Maryland, was initiated in 2017 and completed in 2018. The project aimed to restore the building's exterior by replacing non-historic doors and shutters with period-appropriate wooden ones, restoring original wood window frames and sashes and improving drainage.
Learn more about this project in these blog posts:
Patapsco Heritage Greenway’s Façade Improvement Project: Part 1
Patapsco Heritage Greenway’s Façade Improvement Project: Part 2
Patapsco Stories
Do you have a favorite memory of the Patapsco Valley? Whether it’s an adventure on the trails, a childhood memory, or a special tradition or family history connected to the Valley, we’d love to hear your story!
Patapsco Stories is an initiative to collect and share memories and experiences from across the Patapsco Valley Heritage Area. Submissions can vary in length and detail and may be formatted as a written story, a photo caption, recorded audio, visual story or poetry. Selected stories will be archived on our website (see below) and shared on PHG’s social media channels.
Archived Stories
One summer many years ago, when I was in high school, I worked at the Nike Missile Base W-92 located at 770 Muddy Branch Road in Gaithersburg, Maryland. My responsibilities included mowing the grass and taking care of the grounds. Despite the limited information shared with me, I was fascinated by the site. My interest also stems from my father who, when employed at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, worked on the Talos missile in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The missile is currently displayed at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.
Last fall, I had the privilege to tour the Nike Missile Base BA-79 in Granite, Maryland, accompanied by my wife and daughter. Given my background, I was curious to learn more, after all these years, about missile sites and what took place there.
Chief Master Sergeant Tom Reed guided us through the above-ground buildings and then down to two of the underground launching pads. He explained in detail what would have taken place should the United States need to launch the missiles. Before climbing the stairs to exit, we were shown the “Safe Room” where people would seek protection. CMSgt. Reed explained the countless hours spent restoring the site and preparing it for tours.
The tour answered many of the questions that I had and revealed some of the secrets of missile sites. I discovered that there were 25 such sites in Maryland alone. It’s wonderful that Nike Missile Base BA-79 is undergoing restoration to open for tours, providing education to the public.
I thoroughly enjoyed the tour and would highly recommend it to everyone.
Get Involved!
Looking for ways to connect with local history and preservation efforts? There are several ways you can get involved with Patapsco Heritage Greenway’s Heritage Program. Browse our event calendar to find upcoming volunteer opportunities and history events. If you have a project in mind, explore our grant and sponsorship opportunities to help fund preservation work within the Patapsco Valley Heritage Area. We also welcome collaborations—if you have a history or preservation project or event idea, reach out to Kyla to start the conversation.
