Edlavitch-Harmel House

Mitchellville centered around a post office in 1865 that took its name from John Mitchell (1787-1861), owner of substantial holdings. The village grew when the Pope's Creek line of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad opened in 1873. A general store operated by Samuel Domer was here by the 1870s, around which developed a community with a stable, garage and gas pump, office, bar, poolroom, barber shop, a feed mill, post office, blacksmith, school and hotel. The Edlavitch family, Russian Jews who immigrated to the area in 1888, purchased the store in 1895, and built this house in 1908. Joseph F. Montgomery, who ran the store from 1925 to 1943, was one of the first African American businessmen in the area. The last owners were the Harmel family. The store burned in 1985. The City of Bowie purchased the property in 1992. It now serves as part of the City of Bowie Museums System.

Bowie, Maryland · United States