The Town of Edmonston promotes historic preservation through the efforts of the Prince George’s County Historical Preservation Commission and the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission. Check out the links below to obtain valuable information to obtain historic tax credits or to have your property listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Join the Prince George’s County Historical Society or visit the Prince George’s County African American Museum and Cultural Center in Brentwood.

Prince George’s County Historic Preservation Commission

Prince George’s County Historic Preservation Commission Grants

Obtain Historic Tax Credits

Prince George’s County Historic Tax Credits

State of Maryland Historic Tax Credits

Historic Structures in Edmonston Listed on the Prince George’s County Historical Site Register

Edmonston Historical Survey, July, 1993

The Piggott-Sikken House: Block F, Lot 5 of the J. Harris Rogers Subdivision

dark blue house

The house which stands on Lot 5 of Block F is a variant of the basic front-gabled form; it is 2-1/2 stories high, and is distinguished by decorative gable treatment and projecting bays. Several elements vary the lines of the basic front-gabled form. Entrance is in the easternmost bay of the principal south gable front, inset and sheltered by a corner porch with heavy segmental paneled arches. Above the entry porch in the southeast corner, a small square pyramidal-roof tower projects slightly form the east elevation at second-story level, and rises to a third story. Behind it, the next bay to the north consists of a projecting oriel window at second-story level.

And nearly centered on the east elevation is a two-story semi-octagonal projecting bay, covered by a hip roof which is itself enclosed within a cross gable in the west plane of the main roof. The house is sheathed with slate-blue asbestos shingle on the first and second stories; the gables are sided with fish scale shingles of the same color. (Edmonston Historical Survey, July 1993)

The Poppleton-Roberts Home, 5104 Emerson

large white house

The house which stands at 5104 Emerson (formerly Washington Street) is unique not only in the Edmonston community but also in the County. Much larger than the standard dwelling in this community, it is two stories high and five bays long and two bays wide. The principal façade and gable ends are sheltered by a deep covered porch whose hip roof is integral with that of the house; the porch posts are chamfered with jigsawn brackets. Above the central entrance, a large dormer, set into the slope of the porch roof below, forms a central cross gable and dominates the second story of the principal façade.

On each side of the central dormer is a very shallow “eyebrow” shed dormer. Some of the gable surfaces are sided with clipped-corner shingles. There are several large evergreen trees in the front yard of the house, and lining the street to the east are several large old magnolias which were probably planted near the time of construction of the home. 

This house is a unique example of its type in Prince George’s County. Its gable-on-the hip roof and wraparound porch are reminiscent of French Colonial dwellings of the deep South, while its late Victorian trim and the shallow shed dormers look forward into the twentieth century. It was built on land purchased by J. Harris Rogers before that area was platted for subdivision. (Edmonston Historical Survey, July 1993)

Edmonston Terrace, 1945

brick houses

Development continued in Edmonston, but it was sporadic, and did not follow a regular pattern. Generally, small cottages, typical of the 1930s and 1940s, were built on unimproved lots between older dwellings, creating a sort of development by infill. This pattern changed at the end of World War II with the development of Edmonston Terrace in the area just north of the Palestine subdivision.

The nine-acre Edmonston Terrace subdivision was platted in 1945 and consisted of nearly identical two-story side-gabled brick residences, constructed on 41 small (average 5,500 square feet) lots on both sides of Gallatin and Hamilton Streets.

Edmonston Terrace represents a departure from the sporadic development pattern of the previous two decades. It also contributed to a substantial increase in the population of Edmonston in the immediate post-war period. By 1950, the population had increased to 1190, from the 717 count of 1930. After the construction of Edmonston Terrace, development returned to its sporadic pattern, with occasional infill between older dwellings by 1950s and 1960s ranch style homes. (Edmonston Historical Survey, July, 1993)

More Prince George’s County Historical Resources