Park in Riverdale to be renamed after formerly enslaved couple

Caleb Winters
The Riversdale House Museum remains one of Riverdale's most historic sites. The federal-style home was completed in 1807 and formerly sat on more than 700 acres of farmland where Adam Plummer and other enslaved people lived. (Caleb Winters/The Black Explosion)

Riverdale Park officials are redeveloping and renaming a public space after a formerly enslaved local couple to honor their legacy and significance to the community, according to city officials.

The grassy space, once known as the Field of Dreams by the Riverdale community, will be renamed Plummer Park after the formerly enslaved couple Adam Plummer and his wife Emily Plummer. The park’s renaming was announced in 2022.

The park will feature a central lawn, a natural playground, and history panels that discuss the Plummers’ lives and legacy. Construction is still underway, and the Town of Riverdale Park did not respond to questions regarding when construction will be completed.

Adam Plummer was born a slave on the Mount Albion plantation near Upper Marlboro and was brought to the Riverdale Plantation when he was 10-years-old. Plummer kept a diary from the beginning of his marriage to the day of his death, recording financial transactions, recipes and significant family events.

Today, Plummer’s diary survives in the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum, along with the Plummer family exhibition. However, Riverdale Park community leaders believed they could do more to honor his legacy within their community.

Riverdale Park Councilman Aaron Faulx said Plummer’s story inspired him to pitch renaming Riverdale Elementary School to Francis Plummer Elementary School, but it was turned down. When city officials announced the plan to redevelop the Field of Dreams into a park in 2022, he pitched renaming it after the Plummers. His colleagues loved the idea.

“The idea that Plummer was enslaved at Riverdale at age 10, and he learned to read, write and was given immense freedoms is a remarkable story,” Faulx said. “He was able to purchase property and build a home right down the street from my house immediately after the Civil War in Reconstruction. It’s a tremendous story that needs to be retold in a variety of ways, not just in our park.”

Plummer Park will be the first attempt in Riverdale Park’s 100-year history to permanently honor those enslaved on the grounds where people live on today, according to Faulx.

Charles Calvert, founder of the Maryland Agricultural College, the institution that became UMD in 1920, owned the Riversdale Plantation where Plummer was enslaved.

Shane Walsh, a lecturer in the Department of African American and Africana Studies at UMD, expressed the need to recognize lesser-known people who were still significant. 

“It’s more important than ever that we draw the public’s attention to people who are locally significant to the communities in which we live and work in,” said Walsh.”