Hattie's Trail, honoring local black history in Eden, to open on Martin Luther King Day
It's nearly time for one local project committee to celebrate the fruits of its labor.
Since 2022, a committee has been working to rebuild a living history site and honor local Black history in Wicomico County. Now, the precise location where one Buffalo Soldier's humble homestead once stood will be opening its doors, so to speak, to the surrounding community.
The official grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony of Hattie's Trail, a quaint walking trail located adjacent to the site, will take place at 11 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 15 — Martin Luther King Jr. Day — at 4013 South Upper Ferry Road in Eden, Md. The event is free to the public.
The event will consist of opening remarks from project manager Deborah Scott — granddaughter of Buffalo Soldier Thomas E. Polk Sr. and Harriet B. “Hattie” Polk — as well as retired Airforce Lt. Col. Thomas McKnight, Wicomico County City Council President John Cannon and Karen Dennis.
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"We owe much gratitude to the Chesapeake Bay Trust for the funding of the trail and planting and maintenance of the trees, and to the Preservation Trust of Wicomico for its support as a financial sponsor," Scott said. "I would also like to thank the students from Salisbury University, as well as University of Maryland Eastern Shore, for their help with the trail."
Scott admits she is stunned by the amount of work the project committee has been able to accomplish in such a short amount of time. However, work on the site is far from over.
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Next up, she said, is construction on the visitor's center. Right now, the building isn't much; just a small, run-down home sitting on the property. Once work on the visitor's center is complete, the site will hereby be known as the "Thomas Polk Senior Buffalo Soldier Outpost."
"This effort was undertaken as a way to enhance the community," she said. "We want this site to be a permanent positive footprint in the village of Allen."
Who were the buffalo soldiers?
According to Scott, the history of the buffalo soldiers deserves to be spotlighted locally.
After the Civil War, a 1866 law expanded the size of the regular Army and paved the way for six African American regiments. The name "buffalo soldier" would eventually encompass the former slaves, freemen and Black Civil War veterans who served in those regiments, Delmarva Now previously reported.
The men predominately fought on the Western frontier during the Plains Wars, according to the History Channel. They were commonly tasked with controlling Native American people of the Plains, capturing thieves, protecting settlers and fighting poachers and wildfires.
"According to folklore, the name was given to them by Native Americans, and the term means 'man with hair like buffalo,' " Robert Stewart, superintendent of the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument, told USA TODAY. "At first, it was only given to the Cavalry, then it was given to everybody and the name basically stuck."
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History of buffalo soldiers 'not well known'
Buffalo soldiers were also among some of the first rangers of America's earliest national parks, prior to the National Parks Service's formation, USA TODAY reported.
The units were mostly commanded by white officers.
“The history of the buffalo soldiers, the significance they played, is not well known,” Scott previously told Delmarva Now. “Because our relative was a buffalo soldier and bought the land upon which we are building this site, we want to get the history out there.”
Currently, many of the monuments, memorials and museums honoring buffalo soldiers are located west of the Mississippi.
If you go:
WHAT: "Hattie's Trail" Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
WHERE: 4013 South Upper Ferry Road, Eden, Md.
WHEN: Jan. 15, 2024, at 11 a.m.
COST: Free
INFO: https://allevents.in/eden/hatties-trail-opens-to-the-public/10000772216830327
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Olivia Minzola covers communities on the Lower Shore. Contact her with tips and story ideas at ominzola@delmarvanow.com.
This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Walking trail honoring black history to open on Martin Luther King Day
