County Improves Two Historic Towson Buildings

Towson, MD — Community leaders this week unveiled interpretive sign panels at the historic Jacob House and improvements to the Carver Community Center in Towson.

In the 1840s, an emancipated slave built the Jacob House, a cabin that was attached to a larger home.

The East Towson community rallied to save the property after fire struck the house, county officials said.

Signage at Jacob House now tells the story of the property and sheds light on the origins of East Towson.

The cabin was not the only historically significant structure receiving attention.

Carver Community Center, built in 1939 as a segregated school for African Americans, was also recently updated, "vastly improving the exterior," Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said.

The school was converted to a community center that houses a daycare facility, recreation offices and community leadership offices after desegregation was introduced with the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. But the grounds needed a boost, which the county provided through exterior modifications.

At a weekend ceremony celebrating the improvements at Jacob House and Carver Community Center, county officials noted the involvement of the community in the preservation of the area's history.

Said Kamenetz: “East Towson is a unique, historic community that has always worked to preserve its heritage and maintain a high quality of life."

Kamenetz presented an Executive Citation honoring Adelaide Bentley for her service to the East Towson community. Bentley serves as director of the Carver Center and president of the Northeast Towson Improvement Association. Photo Credit: Baltimore County Government.