Draft:Lakeland Heritage Project

The Lakeland Community Heritage Project is a historical preservation program created in order to preserve history of the Lakeland community in Prince George's County, Maryland.

Lakeland Community Heritage Project Digital Archive gives a history and an insight into the Lakeland area, and how it was drastically changed by an urban renewal program. It then gives insight into the beginning of the program that started the archive which helps inform students and train them with ethical practices.

The historic community of Lakeland, a neighborhood in College Park, Maryland, began in the late 1890s when Edwin A. Newman created it as a “resort-style suburban community” in Prince George's County, Maryland. At the time, Prince George's County was predominately white. It wasn't until 1903 that Lakeland was established as an African American community as it was home to two churches and a school.

According to a Washington Post article by Diane Bernard, urban renewal is commonly looked at from the perspective of “Black communities in large U.S. cities where major highways bisected neighborhoods”. She also goes on to mention that this renewal only happens in cities with a population of less than 50,000 such as [Lakeland] College Park.

Urban renewal began in Lakeland with the Lakeland Urban Renewal Plan, approved in 1970 by the City of College Park. This came after flooding negatively impacted the community and caused the city to seek federal aid.