Darnall's Chance Museum

Opened to the public in 1988 as a historic house museum, Darnall's Chance House Museum is dedicated to interpreting and exploring the history and culture of 18th-century Prince George’s County, Maryland, with a special emphasis on the lives of mid-18th-century women. Central to its mission is the story of widow Lettice Wardrop Thomson Sim, who lived at Darnall’s Chance in the decades leading up to the American Revolution. The house and grounds are interpreted to reflect the year 1760, when Lettice Wardrop’s first husband passed away and a room-by-room inventory of the home’s contents was recorded. The museum also strives to accurately represent the African-American community that lived and worked on the site, as well as town life in mid-18th-century Upper Marlboro. Guided tours highlight the similarities and differences between the life of Widow Wardrop and those of other women of the era—whether gentry, middling, or enslaved. In addition to its core exhibits, the museum hosts special events and educational programs that bring to life the rich and complex history of 18th-century Prince George’s County. 

4800 Governor Oden Bowie Drive Upper Marlboro, MD (301) 952-8010