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History · Bryantown

Bryantown’s post office opened in 1820, and 3 of its places are on the National Register

Most of Bryantown was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 11 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers and maps from 1892 on.

1820first post office
3on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bryantown’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bryantown began

When was Bryantown founded?

1820

The Bryantown post office opened in 1820, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 653206 years
Founding year: the first Bryantown post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Bryantown’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18926 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1985. Watch Bryantown change.Lost villages4 hamlets and corners are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1820: 206 years of Bryantown.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bryantown’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bryantown’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo4 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewBryantown Tavern: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Bryantown on the map, 1892 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bryantown. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Bryantown on the 1892 USGS mapBryantown on the 1911 USGS mapBryantown on the 1944 USGS mapBryantown on the 1956 USGS mapBryantown on the 1974 USGS mapBryantown on the 1985 USGS map1892Brandywine sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bryantown.

Places that used to be

Old corners

Bryantown’s post office has been open since 1820.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Briar RidgeBryantown HillsEdelen EstatesHunters Farms

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Bryantown, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bryantown yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Bryantown is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Charles County, Maryland, United States, adjacent to Maryland Route 5. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 655. Bryantown stands on land known as Boarman's Manor, a 4,000-acre (16 km2) manor granted to Major William Boarman in 1674. Bryantown is associated with the flight in 1865 of President Abraham Lincoln's assassin John Wilkes Booth, and its St. Mary's Catholic Church is the burial place of Dr. Samuel Mudd, who lived 5 miles (8.0 km) to the north, and who in November 1864 had first met Booth at the church. Oakland was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The Bryantown Historic Distri…

Its first post office opened in 1820. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 655 in 2010, 653 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Bryantown, 1795 to 1892

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 18th century
  2. 1795Born hereCharles Boarman is born here
  3. 19th century
  4. 1806Born hereWilliam Barton Wade Dent is born here
  5. 1820Post officeThe Bryantown post office opens
  6. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Bryantown, decade by decade

Date unknown4 to date
Bryantown TavernDate?Bryantown TavernBrick House LotDate?Brick House LotBrinkwood, 13215 Edelen RoadDate?Brinkwood, 13215 Edelen RoadDr. Samuel Mudd House, Dr. Samuel Mudd RoadDate?Dr. Samuel Mudd House, Dr. Samuel Mudd Road
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Bryantown Tavern
Retake this viewBryantown Tavern

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bryantown’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 listings protect 13 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
13
each building in a district counts
first listed
1983
Oakland
Bryantown Historic DistrictOaklandLindens, The
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Federal3
Victorian Italianate1
Greek Revival1
Bryantown Historic DistrictFederal
All 3 listings
OaklandBuilding · listed 1983Lindens, TheBuilding · listed 1990

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Bryantown

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
W
William Barton Wade DentAmerican politician · b. 1806
Charles BoarmanUS Navy Rear Admiral · b. 1795

Questions about Bryantown’s history

What year was Bryantown founded?

The Bryantown post office opened in 1820, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Bryantown?

Three places: the Bryantown Historic District (listed 1985), the Oakland (1983) and the Lindens, The (1990).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.