Jane Cox on Why Local History Matters and What Stories Come Next

A historic house disappears and a neighborhood loses more than a structure, it loses an anchor. That’s where the conversation starts on the latest episode of Pittman and Friends podcast when County Executive Steuart Pittman sits down with the Executive Director of the Chesapeake Crossroads Heritage Area, Jane Cox. They discuss how “sense of place” is built and how quickly it can be erased when we stop paying attention to the stories under our feet. 

Jane walks us through her path from doing archeological digs at London Town to leading cultural resources work in Anne Arundel County, then stepping into her new role at the Chesapeake Crossroads Heritage Area. We talk about what preservation looks like inside planning and zoning, why public outreach matters as much as policy, and how heritage tourism can drive economic development while protecting authentic places across Anne Arundel county.

From there, we dive into a hidden powerhouse story: the Steward Shipyard on the West River near Galesville, founded in 1751 and burned by the British in 1781. It’s a gateway into the Revolutionary era and the upcoming Annapolis 250, including the push to frame 250 not as a single weekend, but as a longer “Season of Freedom” starting around Juneteenth. We also wrestle with the question that always surfaces at anniversaries: whose history gets celebrated, and how do we tell the truth about slavery, loyalty, and legacy?

We close by discussing ideas for practical next steps: the need for a preservation master plan shaped by community input, do we create an advisory group that helps leaders make smarter calls, and keeping momentum on Crownsville with National Register designation and a museum vision that can handle difficult history with care. Subscribe, share, and leave a review, and then tell us: what place in Anne Arundel County holds your strongest sense of place?

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