Controversy Over 'Negro Mountain' Reveals Urban-Rural Divide

18th century tribute fuels 21st century debate

GRANTSVILLE bs-md-history-teaching-20110216 —

Bryant Bunch, who came from Prince George's County to attend college here at the far end of the Maryland panhandle, first saw the sign on Interstate 68 while traveling with a carload of friends a few years back.

He remembers their reaction: Does that say what we think it says?

Maxine Broadwater, born and raised on a farm outside Grantsville, and the town's librarian for three decades, recalls the first time she ever gave the name a second thought. It was the early 1990s, and people passing through had stopped at her library to ask about it.

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