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Sundays 1-4 PM (except Easter)
Extended hours based per event.

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About the Farm

Hancock Family

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History

Events Calendar

Upcoming:

Spring Plowing and Introduction to Herbs and Garden Walk

May 18, 2025

MEMORIAL DAY

May 25, 2025

JUNE 1, 2025 – OPEN FOR TOURS

June 1, 2025

LAVENDER APPRECIATION DAY

June 8, 2025

REMEMBERING CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH

June 15, 2025

Pet Parade And Plowing

Animal Appreciation Day Pet Parade 2022 The Contestants

HR20231029PetParade102PreParadeGizzyNancy
HR20231029PetParade106PreParadeAvaOrioles
HR20231029PetParade108PreParade
HR20231029PetParade109PreParade
HR20231029PetParade111PreParade
HR20231029PetParade115PreParade
HR20231029PetParade119PreParadeMutt-Ella
HR20231029PetParade120PreParadeMaggie
HR20231029PetParade128PreParadeAddie
HR20231029PetParade201PreParadeGizziSerapeDog-Dosamigas
HR20231029PetParade202PreParadeGurtyLobster
HR20231029PetParade203PreParadeKaySwatTeamDriverBennySwatTeamLeader6
HR20231029PetParade205PreParadeGypsyBikerPledgie
HR20231029PetParade205PreParadeGypsyBikerPledgie3
HR20231029PetParade206PreParadeHopePanda1
HR20231029PetParade207PreParadeFaithCareBear
HR20231029PetParade208PreParadeAltheaBumbleBee
HR20231029PetParade208PreParadeAltheaBumbleBee2
HR20231029PetParade209PreParadeAvaOriolesFan2
HR20231029PetParade210PreParadeAdleeDragon
HR20231029PetParade211PreParadeMaggieWonderWomanDog
HR20231029PetParade212PreParadeIsleyLeopard2
HR20231029PetParade213PreParadeBeauMutt-ella2
HR20231029PetParade214PreParadeLouieBat
HR20231029PetParade215PreParadeTokeoWitch
HR20231029PetParade215PreParadeTokeoWitch3
HR20231029PetParade216PreParadeLalaWitch
HR20231029PetParade217PreParadeFozzyLionHazelWitch18-2
HR20231029PetParade217PreParadeFozzyLionHazelWitch18
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Animal Appreciation Day Pet Parade 2022 The Contestant

01 20221030HRPetParade201PepperShakerEllieHeiserSaltShakerSammieHoward-3
02-20221030HRPetParade206BlueCrayonOakley-3
03- 20221030HRPetParade209SmoreChocolateFaithSmoreMarshmallowHope-3
04-20221030HRPetParade209SmoreChocolateFaithSmoreMarshmallowHope-4
05-20221030HRPetParade205PumpkinAva-3
06-20221030HRPetParade210MonsterFozzyPumkinHazel-3
07-20221030HRPetParade207CowBoyBlue-3
08-20221030HRPetParade215HippyAlthea-3
09-20221030HRPetParade203SpiderGinger-3
10-20221030HRPetParade208BumbleBeeGertieBumbleBeeAstrid-3
11-20221030HRPetParade204DragonAnnie-3
12-20221030HRPetParade210MonsterFozzyPumkinHazel-4
13-20221030HRPetParade211PolarBearAbaddon-3
14-20221030HRPetParade214HocusPocusRosie-3
15-20221030HRPetParade213FrankenweenieBean-3
16-20221030HRPetParade212MermaidMagothy-3

Animal Appreciation Day Pet Parade 2022 Pre and Post Parade

20221030HRPetParade015ParadeSmores
20221030HRPetParade017Parade
20221030HRPetParade019ParadeJudges
20221030HRPetParade023ParadeMermaid
20221030HRPetParade025ParadeFrankenweenie
20221030HRPetParade026ParadeHocusPocus
20221030HRPetParade027ParadeAltheaHippie
20221030HRPetParade029ParadeObservers
20221030HRPetParade030ParadeObservers
20221030HRPetParade033ParadeSelectingDoorPrize
20221030HRPetParade036ParadeRangerTucker
20221030HRPetParade037PostParadeEvertoneGetsAPumpkin-
20221030HRPetParade038PostParadeEvertoneGetsAPrize
20221030HRPetParade040PostParadeArabellaDawnAustin
20221030HRPetParade103ContestantsEllieHeiser SammieHoward
20221030HRPetParade104ContestantsAva
20221030HRPetParade106ContestantsOakley
20221030HRPetParade107ContestantsGinger
20221030HRPetParade108ContestantsGertie
20221030HRPetParade112ContestantsAbaddon
20221030HRPetParade117ContestantsBlue
20221030HRPetParade119ContestantsHazel
20221030HRPetParade121ContestantsFozzy
20221030HRPetParade0378PostParadeEvertoneGetsAPumpkin

Animal Appreciation Day Pet Parade 2021 The Contestants

20211031HRPetParade101GunnerFireman01
20211031HRPetParade102ZephyrHotDog05
20211031HRPetParade103GunnerHotdog04
20211031HRPetParade104BiancaCow06
20211031HRPetParade105HoneyLion07
20211031HRPetParade107GizziScarecrow10
20211031HRPetParade109CoopLion09
20211031HRPetParade112KatKatPrince22
20211031HRPetParade113.0QuincyTigger13OliverEeyore12
20211031HRPetParade113.1QuincyTigger13OliverEeyore12
20211031HRPetParade116AbaddonLadyBug11
20211031HRPetParade119.0BennyOldMan03KayaDragon02
20211031HRPetParade122.0NutmegHulaGirl18BusterSkeleton17
20211031HRPetParade122.1NutmegHulaGirl18BusterSkeleton17
20211031HRPetParade124.0Ellie50sGirl16
20211031HRPetParade125BellSuperman14
20211031HRPetParade126HuckleberryPumpkin15
20211031HRPetParade128TelaBallerina19
20211031HRPetParade129AlliePink Party Dress20
20211031HRPetParade131HopeTYBeanieBaby21
20211031HRPetParade212.0

Animal Appreciation Day Pet Parade 2021 Candid Shots  

20211031HRPetParade001Paws
20211031HRPetParade006Huckleberry15
20211031HRPetParade007Abbaddon11
20211031HRPetParade010Bianca06Honey07
20211031HRPetParade021Gunner04
20211031HRPetParade026Benny03
20211031HRPetParade031Oliver12Tigger13
20211031HRPetParade032
20211031HRPetParade036Buster17
20211031HRPetParade039Victoe08
20211031HRPetParade207
20211031HRPetParade223
20211031HRPetParade226
20211031HRPetParade227
20211031HRPetParade400.1tif
20211031HRPetParade500TheJudges
20211031HRPetParade502
20211031HRPetParade506
20211031HRPetParade508

Plowing At Hancock’s Resolution Historic Farm Park

202105HRPlowing019RidingPlow
202105HRPlowing025RidingPlow
202105HRPlowing027CostumedVisitors
202105HRPlowing028CostumedVisitors
202105HRPlowing029PlantsForSale
202105HRPlowing030PlowedField
202105HRPlowing031WalkBehindPlow (1)
202105HRPlowing031WalkBehindPlow
20210516HRPlowing007WalkBehindPlow
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Plowing and Harrowing the Hancock Fields

HR 2017-05-07 Plowing Horses 03 300 DPI
HR 2017-05-07 Plowing Horses 04 300DPI
HR 2017-05-07 Plowing Horses 07 300DPI
HR 2017-05-07 Plowing Horses 10 300DPI
HR 2017-05-07 Plowing Horses 13 300DPI
HR 2017-05-07 Plowing Horses 15 300DPI
HR 2017-05-07 Plowing Horses 25 300 DPI
HR 2017-05-07 Plowing Horses 28 300 DPI
HR 2017-05-07 Plowing Horses 33
HR 2017-05-07 Plowing Horses 38 300DPI
HR 2017-05-07 Plowing Horses 39 300DPI
HR 2017-05-07 Plowing Horses 51 300DPI
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Split Rail Fence

The traditional “Snake and Cross” or “Zigzag” fence is based on remnants of the original fence. The 11 foot, hand split rails would have been constructed of chestnut. The chestnut blight killed most of the towering trees in the early 1900’s.

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Entrance

Hancock’s Resolution is now a Historic Park in the Anne Arundel County Park System. While farmsteads like this used to cover this county side (except this one was constructed with stone while the great majority were wood frame) this c. 1785 stone house and milk house are the last surviving authentic, restored but not renovated, farm structures left in the entire region. As such they are of singular importance. (1785 was four years before George Washington became President of the United States.

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Cook House

The owner of this two story farmhouse, Henry Alfred Cook, married Rhoda Virginia Hancock, who was born upstairs at Hancock’s Resolution. Constructed in the mid 1800s with an addition added later in the century, this house was originally located approximately a mile west of its present location. It was moved to the park in 1991 to serve as a care taker’s home.

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Bodkin Creek

In either one or both of June 12 and 14, 1608 (N.S.*) (the first date before going up the Bolus (Patapsco) River and the second date coming back down the river) Capt. John Smith and his crew entered and mapped Bodkin Creek, very probably looking for fresh water. (* “N.S” stands for “New Style”, meaning the Gregorian calendar presently in use and not the earlier “Julian Calendar”, in use at the time of his voyage.”

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Graveyard

The Hancock family graveyard contains at least 125 head and foot stones. The graves are marked with headstones made of the local sandstone, which was readily available. While many of the tombstone’s inscriptions have worn away, several from the 19th and 20th centuries are still readable including one marked “A. H.” and dated 1809, which marks the grave of Anne Hancock, third wife of Stephen. Stephen’s grave is some distance away to the left and the space between the graves may contain the graves of Stephen’s children and earlier wives.

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Farm Field

The farm field is an area where exhibition crops are planted and farming using historical methods is demonstrated.

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Bee Hives

Bee hives in boxes, baskets or even parts of hollow logs were a part of traditional farming practices. Beehives were documented on Francis Hancock’s 1832 probate inventory; honey and beeswax were important to both 17th and 18th century farms. The bees at the farm are tended by the farm’s master gardeners and housed in modern “Langstroth’s Hives.” These movable frame hives, patented in 1852, revolutionized bee keeping and are still preferred today.

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House

Stephen Hancock built the house in 1785 and Hancock descendents continued to live in the house until the 1960s. Lacking electricity, plumbing and central heating the house is largely unchanged since its construction. The house is constructed of native sandstone. Galleting is used on the entire wall surface of both the house and the adjacent milk house. It is the only known rural example of this technique in the Chesapeake region. The first floor contains one large room with plaster over hand-split lath. Original Federal period trim, including baseboards, chair rail, window and door surrounds, decorate the room as does the elaborate mantelpiece.

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Milk House

In the 18th and early 19th century dairy products were stored in the milk house. The Hancock family used the building as a grocery and dry goods store in the early 20th century until the frame building was later constructed. It also has the galleting that is also used on the house.

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Gardens

A “kitchen garden” located just outside the home consisted of both foods and herbs and ornamental plants. Kitchen gardens were common place into the 1900s. The current garden is a historically accurate reconstruction of the Hancock family garden. A grove of ancient Lilacs and a thicket of Chickasaw Plums (known to be utilized by the pre-Colonial Indian populations of Anne Arundel County) are found outside the gardens.

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Well

The well is believed to have dated from the 18th century when the house was constructed. The well remained in use until the 1950’s when the elderly Mamie Hancock could no longer manage the daily chore of hauling water for everyday use and a modern well with hand pump was installed closer to the house. Approximately 14 feet deep, the well is lined with stones “dry laid” and is untouched except for repairs at the frost line.

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Store

The Hancock family ran a dry goods and grocery store in the 20th century. The store served the local farmers, lighthouse keepers, fisherman, and oyster dredgers as well as the seasonal workers who were employed at the farm. This current building is a historically accurate reconstruction of the frame building and houses displays and a small gift shop.

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Barn Site

This is believed to be the site of an early barn. At some future date, we hope to reconstruct the barn and have farm animals.

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Trail

Self-guided Tour (map available at entrance)

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Trail

Self-guided Tour (map available at entrance)

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Bodkin Creek

War of 1812 Burning of Lion picture – wording to use: On August 24, 1814, a British raiding party, patrolling the Patapsco area in advance of their attack on Baltimore, entered Bodkin Creek and burned a “fine” American schooner they identified as being the “Lion of Baltimore”. That is the same name as one of America’s best privateers in the War of 1812 although, it turns out, there may have been more than one vessel of that name.