ABOUT US
ORIGINS OF MOUNT HEBRON
Built circa 1808, Mount Hebron is best known as the mid-nineteenth century home of Judge Thomas Beale Dorsey, who successfully petitioned the Constitutional Convention to give the "Howard District" county status in 1851. Judge Dorsey and his wife raised their family in the arms of Hebron House until all the children were grown and on their own, and continued to live in the house until their deaths in the mid-1850s.
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Hebron House was designed by N.G. Starkwether, a prominent architect of the day. Starkwether also designed Wilton, which burned in 1938, and Elmonte, where one of the Dorsey daughters lived after leaving Hebron House and which still stands on Furrow Avenue today.
Judge Dorsey was forward-thinking and embraced some of the finer details available at the time. Many of the original architectural details remain unchanged today.​​​
ACKNOWLEDGING THE LIVES LIVED HERE
Enslaved persons lived, worked, and endured hardships at Mount Hebron. At the time of his death in 1855, records show that Judge Dorsey owned 48 slaves, including some families, who were then received by his children and grandchildren through his will.
The labor and resilience of these enslaved persons were integral to the development and history of Mount Hebron, and their contributions deserve to be recognized. Honoring their memory and acknowledging the injustices they faced is essential to telling the full story of this historic site.
"ODE TO A COUNTRY HOUSEWIFE"
a poem by Lois C. Baker,
former resident of Hebron House
I rise early in the morning,
When the world smells all fresh as can be,
I start frying a pan of potatoes,
Fix rice, fried eggs & coffee.
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Then I go stand by the window,
And look down over the hill,
Hungry men are coming up from the barn,
Ready for their good hot meal.
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They eat and devour every morsel,
And when they go out of the door,
I know, when I see them at noontime,
They'll be hungrier than ever before!​
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I must hurry now, peel more potatoes,
Cook soup beans, cabbage & ham,
Bake pies, and a big pan of corn bread,
That's really a meal for a man!
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I cook enough at noontime,
To warm over for supper too!
After they eat their goodly fill,
I bid them a fond adieu!
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Having cleaned up from my day in the kitchen,
A sigh from my heart enters in -
I know when tomorrow comes knocking,
I'll have to do it all over again!