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From: Jim Dent jdent1 AT optonline DOT net
Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 22:34:18 -0500
Subject: Pittsville, MD
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Building Shore history
Tired and retiring, Jim Jackson is selling his unique collection of the past
By Brice Stump
Daily Times Staff Writer

Jim Jackson stands in front of two of the six historic buildings he has
rescued and restored over the past 25 years, the Pittsville Railroad Station
and the one-room Glass Hill black schoolhouse in back. Now they are up for
sale as he moves into retirement.

PITTSVILLE -- Jim Jackson is wrestling with what to do with buildings he has
collected for the past 25 years. To sell them as a group, or sell them
separately.

"I have been collecting buildings for years," he said. "Now it's time for a
change as I go into a retirement mode."

Jackson has moved six buildings to his Maple Street property and saved
chunks of Shore history in the process.

Those buildings include one historic structure, made so by a student who
attended classes in it in the late 1940s. The former black one-room school
house from Glass Hill, a few miles away, was attended by Ron N. Everett --
now known as Maulana Karenga -- the creator of Kwanzaa in 1966 and the
driving force behind The Organization Us, originally named United Slaves.

The schoolhouse, which had also been used as a church, may date to the
1880s, Jackson said. The congregation gave it to him around 1985 and moved
it here. "It was in such deplorable shape they were going to burn it down,"
he said. "I moved it and restored it, using it as an antiques store."

The old Pittsville Railroad Station he owns had originally been moved out of
town years ago by Dave White to his farm, used as a storage building, sold
to Jackson and moved to his property in the heart of the community.

Three old buildings, made of cypress logs and well over a century old, are
also among those to be sold. Two came from near Willards and one outside of
Pittsville, all from farms. The first was moved here a quarter of a century
ago, he said, and as time went by people kept an eye out for him on other
structures to be rescued.

Ideally, Jackson would like to see the buildings go with his property, but
if that's not possible, he wants to make sure they get a good home and stay
in the area -- particularly in town.

"You know," he said "I am getting to the age now where I can't keep up
maintaining everything, and the overhead is gettin' kind of heavy for me as
I move into retirement." At 67, the collector is looking for someone else to
share his love of his and be the next caretakers of his unique "village" of
buildings.

Rescued

The 1870 Victorian country store, original to the town, was rescued from a
controlled burn for $1 in 1980 and moved to his property where his wife,
Nadine, operates her Jackson's Floral Designs. "It was in sad condition,
too."

"I hope I can sell it (buildings and about 1-1/2 acres) altogether for
$225,000," he said. "I have been approached by people wanting to buy the
store or the station. But I don't want them moved out of Pittsville; they
are part of its history now."

If they are sold separately, he wants them to stay in town. "They are all
listed on the National Register of Historic Places," Jackson said. "I regret
selling them. They are a part of me, I have worked with each one of them and
enjoyed it."

Going, too, are thousands of items relating to the Eastern Shore that
Jackson has spent decades assembling. They will be sold by Joseph O'Neal
Auctions in Laurel starting in April.

"I have tried to restore them back to their original condition, using old
photo postcards and pictures of how they once looked if they were
available," he said. "The one-room school was almost entirely unrecognizable
from an early photograph when I got it. It took a lot of work."

Hooked on history

The "transplant from South Jersey" has become the town's historian (and
commissioner) since he came to the area in 1964 as a supervisor for Campbell
Soup in Salisbury.

Odd how things work out. "When I came here, I had no interest in antiques or
history. I bought the first building because we needed a cheap building to
start a business. As I fixed it up people starting bringing me pieces of
town history. Then I got hooked," he said.

And the rest, is, well, history.

Reach Brice Stump
410-845-4653 or bstump@salisbury.gannett.com.
Originally published Saturday, March 27, 2004
http://www.dailytimesonline.com/news/stories/20040327/localnews/155440.html



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