Maryland's National Register Properties



Photo credit: Nicole A. Diehlmann, 2018
Hughesville Commercial and Tobacco Warehouse Historic District
Inventory No.: CH-1031
Date Listed: 5/29/2025
Location: 8125, 8126, 8131, 8137, 8143, 8281, 8301, 8307, 8311, 8317, 8329, 8341, 8371, 8377, 8383, 8394 and 8395 Old Leonardtown Road; 14982 and 15110 Burnt Store Road, Hughesville, Charles County
Category: District
Period/Date of Construction: 1909-1970
Boundary Description: The western edge of the district is generally marked by the western edge of the former location of the Southern Maryland Railroad. To the west of the railroad, in the northern portion of the district, is a wooded area that contains three dormitory buildings associated with the tobacco warehouses that are also included in the district, as well as the Charles Hotel Property just west of the railroad at Burnt Store Road. The northern boundary runs between the railroad and Old Leonardtown Road just north of the northernmost tobacco warehouse. The eastern boundary runs along the western edge of Old Leonardtown Road, except where it crosses Old Leonardtown Road to include the property containing the former Dudley and Lyon’s Store at the northeast corner of Prince Frederick Road. The southern boundary is MD 231 from the Dudley and Lyon’s Store to the Charles Hotel Property just west of the railroad tracks. This boundary is marked as the solid line on the attached USGS topographical map for the Hughesville Quad. The boundary includes all tobacco warehouses and all historic commercial buildings constructed in the early to mid-twentieth century in the town of Hughesville. The majority of properties on the east side of Old Leonardtown Road have been excluded because they are residential in character.
Description: The Hughesville Commercial and Tobacco Warehouse Historic District is in the southeastern corner of Charles County, Maryland, in a sparsely developed, relatively level rural area. From the north, the town is accessed by a four-lane divided highway (Maryland Route 5) that bypasses the downtown area on the east side. The historic road into town is now called Old Leonardtown Road. The district primarily lies on the western edge of the road, but also encompasses properties on the north side of the intersection of Old Leonardtown Road with Maryland Route 231, known as Burnt Store Road to the west of the intersection and Prince Frederick Road to the east. The northern portion of the district includes several tobacco auction warehouses and packing plants constructed between 1939 and 1961, while the southern portion is more commercial in character with several early- and mid-twentieth-century stores and offices, as well as a firehouse and former auto dealership. The western edge of the district is marked by the former location of the Southern Maryland Railroad, now owned by St. Mary’s County. No structures associated with the railroad remain, but the landscape remains a flat area devoid of trees and predominantly covered with gravel. Just north of Burnt Store Road, the former track area has been paved as a roadway titled Bankers Lane. To the west of the former railroad right of way, in the northern portion of the district, is a wooded area that contains three dormitory buildings associated with the tobacco warehouses. The southern boundary is MD 231 from the Dudley and Lyon’s Store to the Charles Hotel Property. Most buildings are set close to the road with little setback, but there is wide spacing between the buildings, enhancing the area’s rural character. Consistent with building trends throughout the county, the structures are modest vernacular interpretations of architectural styles popular in the early and mid-twentieth century. Overall, the district maintains its integrity as a cohesive collection of early- to mid-twentieth-century commercial and industrial structures that represent the town of Hughesville’s rise as a regional commercial and tobacco-marketing center. Significance: The town of Hughesville is significant for its concentration of mid-twentieth century commercial and industrial buildings, including a notable row of tobacco warehouses. Originating in the late nineteenth century, Hughesville first appears on the map as a post office town in 1873. The construction of the Southern Maryland Railroad through the town in the late nineteenth century and road improvements in the early twentieth century fostered growth, and Hughesville developed into a substantial crossroads community serving the commercial needs of the region, housing a bank, hotels, auto dealerships, and multiple stores. The opening of loose-leaf tobacco auctions in 1939 spurred rapid development in the small town, and within a decade the north end of town along Old Leonardtown Road and east of the railroad tracks was lined with tobacco warehouses and packing plants. The district contains a variety of establishments, including banks, department and grocery stores, automotive service centers, a hotel, and tobacco warehouses and auction centers geared directly to servicing the business needs of farmers in southeastern Charles County, as well as western Calvert and St. Mary’s counties. The tobacco warehouses are significant as the last remaining concentration of buildings associated with the once-booming loose-leaf tobacco market that operated in the state in the mid-twentieth century. These buildings represent the most intact surviving collection of structures related to tobacco sales, storages, and processing in Maryland.