Living With History

Walnut Grove is home to one of the oldest landmarks in Howard County. The stone mansion here was built by Revolutionary War hero Gassaway Watkins, and features just outside its door the spreading walnut tree that gives its name to the area.

Born in 1752, Watkins served under General Nathanial Greene. He is famed for having once crossed a flood-swollen river by night — with dispatches for the general tied under his hat — to avoid the Tories.

After the war, he returned to upper Anne Arundel (now Howard) County to build his farm. Watkins married three times, and among his 16 children and many grandchildren were William Watkins, a delegate and later state senator instrumental in forming Howard County, and Governor Edwin Warfield, who inherited the home at Walnut Grove. The home stayed with the Watkins family until 1932, and Gassaway Watkins' grave remains there still.