Atlantic Union Bank and Sandy Spring Museum today announced Atlantic Union Bank will donate the historic Sandy Spring Bank building located at 908 Olney Sandy Spring Road in Sandy Spring, Maryland to the museum.

Free Black laborers and families played a central role in shaping Walnut Hill, living and working alongside the Lea family for more than four decades. Henson Hill, one of the longest-serving workers, later purchased land in Cincinnati and became a founding member of his community, reflecting both resilience and self-determination.

The Cultural Landscape Plan is the next phase of the museum’s five-phase Master Plan, focused on creating a more accessible and vibrant campus for community activities, from festivals to quiet walks.

Through land ownership, home-building, and careful financial management, Hill established lasting stability for his family, while Bond’s enlistment reflects the hope and determination that a lot of Black men felt as they looked towards the Civil War as a path for improving their condition.

Built ca. 1848, Black Meadows is significant for its role within the interconnection of the Black and White communities that shaped nineteenth-century Sandy Spring. Rather than hold enslaved individuals, the Peirces employed at least thirty-eight free Black persons who worked in exchange for cash, foodstuff, and barter.

Rather than presenting Sandy Spring’s past primarily through the perspective of landowner, these updates illuminate the intertwined histories of Black and White residents—marked by both cooperation and inequity.

Sandy Spring Museum was recognized by the Aspen Institute for our community-forward approach.