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Have you found Overlea’s hidden gem? Cherry Heights Woodland Garden is a “pocket park” created by NeighborSpace Baltimore County in collaboration with the Overlea community. The space is a wooded clearing with native plants and mature trees–a charming spot tucked among homes on Beech Avenue at the end of East Elm.
A team of Towson University students recently completed a deep-pe study into the area’s history, focusing on the Cherry Heights neighborhood of Overlea that the park is named for, created in 1910 and one of the first anywhere to be marketed specifically to African Americans. The report details the long history of segregation and systemic discrimination and highlights how Black residents of Overlea created a flourishing community despite the obstacles they faced.
Many thanks to NeighborSpace for commissioning this study and to the TU team for their careful research and presentation to the community. Find the fascinating full report on the Overlea community website. It’s worth a read!