Jane Gates Heritage House
The Jane Gates Heritage House.
A former slave buys a house in Allegany County.
Shortly after the Civil War, Jane Gates appears in the 1870 census as a nurse and laundress and at 51 years of age, living with two of her children and two grandchildren.
Records from the Allegany County Courthouse note that in 1871 Jane Gates bought an eight-room house at 515 Greene Street in Cumberland Maryland in the amount of $1,400. What is remarkable about this is that Ms. Gates was a former slave. She was also the first black woman in Allegany County to have a bank account.
Jane Gates is the great grandmother of Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., a scholar of African American culture at Harvard University, and host of the PBS program, “Finding Your Roots”.
Today, this property is still in the Gates family, and Jane’s descendants and members of the community have rallied around the building with the mission to rehabilitate the house and develop programming that will teach the history and honor the spirit of Jane Gates.
Archaeological exploration and restoration are happening at the two-story gabled structure. Still in the Gates family, it is recognized by the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture. It is also eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
Jane Gates Heritage House
The Jane Gates Heritage House.
A former slave buys a house in Allegany County.
Shortly after the Civil War, Jane Gates appears in the 1870 census as a nurse and laundress and at 51 years of age, living with two of her children and two grandchildren.
Records from the Allegany County Courthouse note that in 1871 Jane Gates bought an eight-room house at 515 Greene Street in Cumberland Maryland in the amount of $1,400. What is remarkable about this is that Ms. Gates was a former slave. She was also the first black woman in Allegany County to have a bank account.
Jane Gates is the great grandmother of Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., a scholar of African American culture at Harvard University, and host of the PBS program, “Finding Your Roots”.
Today, this property is still in the Gates family, and Jane’s descendants and members of the community have rallied around the building with the mission to rehabilitate the house and develop programming that will teach the history and honor the spirit of Jane Gates.
Archaeological exploration and restoration are happening at the two-story gabled structure. Still in the Gates family, it is recognized by the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture. It is also eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
