March 28, 2024

Preserved Flattop Opens to the Public

Posted for Lexington Park Business and Community Association

The December meeting of the Lexington Park civic association will be held in the last remaining Flattop, the nickname that stuck to the first housing community built in Lexington Park, MD.

A ribbon cutting is scheduled for Dec. 9 at 2 pm to celebrate completion of the preservation and opening of the interior for public use, serving as the United States Colored Troops Memorial Interpretive Center for St. Mary’s County.

The Lexington Park Business and Community Association meeting will be held at the center Dec. 10 at 6:30 pm.

The original community was built between 1942 and 1944 to house the families of the growing number of civilian employees arriving at the brand new Patuxent River Naval Air Station. The neighborhood was laid out and the houses designed by a nationally recognized architectural firm, Kahn and Jacobs, and by recognized Washington DC. architect Louis Justement.

Although the community was named Lexington Manor, they were quickly nicknamed The Flattops. The tradition indicates the nickname was the same as that given the carriers that Pax River trained naval aviators were taking off from and landing on. But also, the modern, at the time, design had flat tops.

The federal government sold the property in 1963. By the end of the 20th century the majority of the houses, were long in disrepair. Efforts supported by the Navy and ultimately the state and local government, razed the entire neighborhood in 2005. In its place the county built John G. Lancaster Park.

When overflight zoning restrictions were imposed in the 1970s the Navy sought to replace the neighborhood with open space.

The one duplex on Coral Drive was preserved out of the 171 duplexes originally constructed.

The public is invited to a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of work at the former  flattop house at John G. Lancaster Park in Lexington Park.park along Willows Road.

The renovated facility, now named The United States Colored Troops (USCT) Memorial Interpretive Center, provides space for meetings and community activities, as well as public restrooms for the memorial park and the adjacent pavilion. In the future, it will include displays and information about the Civil War Memorial, as well as African American history and contributions in St. Mary’s County. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) improvements were also addressed as part of the project.

The adjacent United States Colored Troops Memorial was completed in June 2012. The Unified Committee on Afro-American Contributions (UCAC) managed this project which recognizes the contributions of the United States Colored Troops, and all Union soldiers and sailors from St. Mary’s County, who fought during the Civil War.

The projects received Maryland Board of Public Works Bond Bill funding in the amount of $150,000 each. Additionally, St. Mary’s County authorized up to $126,500 toward the building’s renovation.

LPBCA sponsored by:

[adrotate group=”13″]

 

 

Leave A Comment