Wayne Davis, left, and his son, Nathan Davis, right, revisit the 1902 Pratt Truss Bridge in Guilford, where they noticed stones that led to a rediscovery of an overgrown African American cemetery. They co-wrote a book about Howard County history. Photo by Emmett Patarini

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When Wayne S. Davis and his son, Nathan S. Davis, wandered down a familiar hiking trail in Guilford, Maryland, a decade ago, they had no idea that a simple walk would spark a years-long journey into some of the county’s overlooked history.

The Davis family moved to Howard County in 1992, and Nathan grew up near those paths. As a child, he often climbed across the old Pratt through-truss bridge near Old Guilford Road long before it was transformed into a pedestrian bridge around 2002.

Although the stones along the trail had caught their attention for years, it wasn’t until 2016, during one of their regular walks, that they noticed something different: The shapes were irregular. Some rocks had corners. Others had holes, which suggested a deeper story.

Father and son paused at the interpretive signs installed shortly after the bridge’s pedestrian reopening, but the brief explanations left them with more questions than answers.

“We kept asking, ‘Where did this bridge come from? What used to be here?’” Nathan Davis recalled. “That curiosity opened the door to a much bigger history we had never heard about, especially about Guilford and the communities that lived and worked there.”

Through their research, the Davises learned that the Pratt truss bridge dated back to 1902 and had originally been part of a twin bridge in Ohio before being relocated to Maryland to serve the Patuxent Branch line of the B&O Railroad for the Maryland Granite Company’s quarry nearby.

What began as casual curiosity evolved into an excavation of stories largely missing from Howard County’s public narrative, especially those of African American families who shaped Guilford and surrounding communities.

“I wasn’t looking for the topic of Black history; I was just looking for the topic of history,” Wayne Davis said.

During Black History Month, the Davises’ work offers a powerful reminder of how much of America’s local Black history remains buried, sometimes literally, beneath silence, misinformation or simple neglect.

Cemetery rediscovery

The Davises’ research led them to one of the county’s most haunting sites: a forgotten cemetery. Curious about the stones, Wayne Davis contacted the county’s Recreation and Parks division, who connected him with another local researcher.

“I just kept on wanting to know more,” Wayne said.

Following a tip from a neighbor, the Davises, their neighbor, a graduate student and a quarry expert visited the neglected site near Route 32 on a cold December day in 2017.

“We saw something was there,” Wayne remembered. Under the thick brush, they noticed an engraved granite headstone.

With only two visible headstones and almost no surviving local memory, Wayne reached out to experts, including cadaver dog teams, to confirm the cemetery’s boundaries and importance.

Their findings suggest as many as 80 African American burials exist there, all predating the Civil War. They are likely African American graves, as indicated by plain markers that face east.

Experts have confirmed the existence of burials there, including an archaeologist from State Highway Administration and the Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites. In 2020, the Towson-based nonprofit Chesapeake Search Dogs detected human remains throughout the burial area and beyond its boundaries, originally recorded in a long-forgotten county plat.

“Were they enslaved? Were they free?” Wayne Davis said. “We don’t know yet. But they deserve recognition. They were buried with care. Their lives mattered.”

So far, about a dozen stones have been uncovered at the overgrown site, which the Davises have dubbed the Guilford Quarry Cemetery.

The State Highway Administration cleared the site in spring of 2018, and several other volunteer cleanups have taken place since then. Most recently, the Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites cleared debris away from markers that date to 1829.

Father-son collaboration

The Davises’ early Facebook posts soon expanded into Hidden History of Howard County, published by Arcadia Publishing in 2023.

Since then, the father-son team has given museum talks and lectures to a growing community of residents eager to learn what lies beneath their feet.

Nathan Davis, a history major at UMBC, brought his love of archives and storytelling to the book. Wayne Davis, a retired Environmental Protection Agency scientist, contributed a methodical, investigative approach shaped by decades of scientific research.

“Nathan brought the world of historical research to me,” Wayne said. “Scientific research teaches you to verify facts, but history requires a different kind of detective work: different archives, different kinds of sources, and a willingness to question long-held narratives.”

Their partnership quickly found a rhythm: As Wayne drafted chapters, Nathan refined them with deeper context, analysis and additional sources. Their shared commitment to accuracy and to challenging longstanding county legends became one of their greatest strengths.

“What struck me,” Nathan said, “is how many stories in Howard County get repeated without primary evidence. They persist because they’re familiar, not because they’re true.”

Forgotten stories

One of the most compelling narratives they uncovered was that of the Carter family of Guilford. Their research traced Willis Carter from Virginia, where he worked as a quarry foreman, to Guilford, where he helped build an early Black community. His descendants became central to the development of African American education in the county.

“They founded the first school for Black children in Guilford,” Wayne explained. “They raised the money, built it themselves, and kept it going, often without meaningful support.”

The family’s legacy stretched across generations. In fact, Roger Carter, a descendant, ran Howard County’s first Black-owned school bus service which is a business his daughter later continued.

Behind the men, the Davises found evidence of generations of women who managed land, kept books, organized community resources and held those early institutions together.

“It was emotional,” Nathan said. “These families accomplished so much, and their stories were never formally documented.”

Challenging myths

Not all of their discoveries were welcomed. Some popular stories, like the claim that Harriet Tubman visited Howard County, had no primary-source support.

Other widely shared narratives about the Warfield and Dorsey families overlooked their deep ties to pro-slavery activism and the Lost Cause movement.

“People get uncomfortable when you complicate the legacies of prominent families,” Nathan said. “But history is complicated. Ellicott City wasn’t a purely Quaker, slavery-free town. Free Black residents lived beside enslaved people. Struggle and progress coexisted.”

For the Davises, telling the full story isn’t about rewriting history — it’s about telling it honestly.

As their book gains traction, Wayne and Nathan hope young people will see history as something they can touch, investigate and question.

“We want students to experience history firsthand,” Wayne said. “Learn cursive so you can read original documents. Look at deeds, wills, petitions. Don’t rely on what someone tells you; go see for yourself.”

They hope their book becomes part of local school curricula, perhaps during the county’s Week of Action each February.

Another book in the works

After dozens of talks, the Davises are taking a brief break, but not from research. Their next book, Lost Howard County, will explore more forgotten stories, including early newspapers, the Washington Branch of the B&O Railroad, and influential but little-known figures like civil engineer Jonathan Jessup.

“There was too much to fit in one book. We had to cut 20,000 words,” Nathan said. “The next volume will finally give those stories space.”

They haven’t completed the next book yet because their research is still expanding (and Nathan is adjusting to new fatherhood). They plan to pitch the manuscript to The History Press only when they feel ready to meet firm deadlines.

For Wayne and Nathan Davis, unearthing Howard County’s hidden history is more than a pastime — it’s a mission. After all, much of our history lies just below the surface, waiting for someone curious enough to start asking questions.

For more information, visit facebook.com/groups/FriendsGuilfordHistory or guilfordmdhistory.org.