Land holds many memories and can tell an infinite number of stories. This story comes from an area that is now considered one of the wealthiest communities in the United States, namely, Bethesda, Maryland. Its wealth was built on the backs of kidnapped African people and their descendants.. This story is about land and Greysville, a Black maroon community that rose from the violence that occurred in Bethesda and the “never die” spirit that was instilled in African children.This story is about the strength and ingenuity of a community, kidnapped from Africa and brought to the Americas, that went on to care for the land and create a thriving collective. This story is also about incredible resilience and resistance that continues by their descendants who continue to fight against white supremacy, erasure and genocide.
In the 1600s, River Road was lined with four plantations that grew tobacco, the primary cash crop for both the US and Europe. Africans from advanced agricultural civilizations from West African Kingdoms were kidnapped and forced not only to work but to transfer this knowledge to tobacco barons, such as the Loughboro family. The production of tobacco slowly degraded the soil and by 1807 the production of tobacco dramatically slowed.
Post emancipation, without forced labor, large farms and estates could not be maintained. As large landowners began to sell off some of their acreage, small settlements of newly freed African Americans sprang up on their fringes. In 1869, the first black family purchased land on River Road. They named the community Greysville after Francis and Charlotte Grey, the first generation of liberated Africans to purchase land on River Road. Greysville resident Nina Clarke described much of River Road as, “marshy, wooded or poor soil unfit for farming. Blacks took this uncultivated soil and made it produce enough food for their families.” The residents of Greysville had revived the soil after decades of degradation caused by tobacco monocropping.
Children swam in the local creeks and streams. Catfish were abundant. The tributaries of the Potomac River were a lifeline for the River Road community and as such the community were important stewards of this land.
The families on River Road grew tomatoes, corn, and shared whatever came out of the earth. By the 1940s, Greysville was composed of approximately 60 Black families. Mr. Hampton and Ms. Witkins were two of the wealthiest families on the River Road. Mr. Hampton was the only Black driver in Maryland, he owned two cabs. He would drive his truck every Saturday morning to white farmers in West Virginia where he would buy produce to share with his community.
Greysville residents were hard working. They worked on the farms and held other professions. Men from the community built the bomb shelter under the White House, worked in the local quarry, and did carpentry work. Greysville had its own school, The River Road Colored School, which became central to community life. There was also a local baseball team, The River Road Lions. Macedonia Baptist Church, which remains to this day and is the sole surviving institution of Greysville, was and continues to be the spiritual center of the community. It was also a site of resistance against racism and displacement.
In the mid 1900s, racial covenants developed in Bethesda and the neighborhoods surrounding Greysville. The community bravely resisted the racist private and public forces that were seeking to displace them. The KKK presence on River Road was persistent, recurring, always threatening death to those that defied their power. But, the KKK did not act alone, their acts of violence were condoned by Montgomery County police who worked in concert and were covert members of the KKK.
By mid century, the River Road community was zoned for commercial use for the first time. Families on River Road were required to hook up to WSSC for water, a prohibitive expense for many Black households while white families received utility credits or payment plans. Developers, often working with the KKK, began pressuring homeowners to forfeit their land in exchange for their lives. By the early 1960’s, every Black family had been dispossessed of their land in a great power-violence scheme orchestrated by white supremacist in collusion with Montgomery County officials. The Greysville community had been entirely destroyed and the post-emancipated African community denied all avenues to provide intergenerational wealth to their families. The barbarism of so-called slavery was now institutionalized in the post-emancipation era.
In 2016, the Maryland Regional Capitol Parks and Planning Commission in coordination with other Montgomery County agencies drafted a far-reaching land re-development strategy titled: “Thrive Montgomery 2050.” This plan outlined a massive restructuring of land-use policy for the county that featured nine “growth corridors.” The historic River Road community was featured in this plan, not because of its history but simply because Bethesda is now one of the wealthiest communities in the US. At one particular meeting with Macedonia Baptist Church members, planning officials attempted to convince community members that Moses Cemetery was simply a myth. However, present in the meeting were church members whose ancestors were buried at Moses or had lived on River Road as children. It was church members who exposed the cover-up by Montgomery County officials.
What set forth from that meeting was the creation of BACC and 8 years of extensive research and scholarship of the Moses Cemetery and Burial ground. In August 2024, the highest court in Maryland, The Maryland Supreme Court, confirmed and legitimized BACC’s research and scholarship. However, not a single county, state, or federal official has acknowledged or introduced legislation to stop the erasure and desecration of Moses African Cemetery and the history of African resistance to white supremacy that it represents.
To this day, a large portion of Moses is owned by the Housing Opportunities Committee (HOC.) This County agency can still sell this sacred land to a private developer despite major victories won by BACC in the Maryland Supreme Court
Another significant portion of the cemetery is owned by a private multimillion dollar developer based in Arizona, 1784 Holdings who is currently building a self storage unit atop the cemetery.
BACC seeks a future where our ancestors are at peace and undisturbed in this land. We envision a living memorial, museum and community organizing center on River Road. Our community should have a space where the history of Greysville and Black history, culture, and political struggle is celebrated and taught.
We call on you dear reader, to get involved, to push back on the forces that are seeking to erase Moses and the memory of Greysville and to preserve this vital history into the future. Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition rallies every Wednesday at 4pm at the entrance of Moses African Cemetery at 5204 River Road to hold ground
Join BACC on Thursday, June 19th, as the organization celebrates the 4th: “People’s Juneteenth: Rally and Celebration.” BACC will honor our ancestors and celebrate our stories and spirit of resistance to white supremacy.
Join the struggle to save Moses Cemetery.
Contact us at: BethesdaAfrCemeteryCoalition@
