1991: Roland & Mildred Darcey

Credit: Executive Office of the Governor

Family Name: Darcey Family

Roland and Mildred Darcey purchased Edgewood Farm located in Upper Marlboro in 1956 and were steadfast advocates for farmers on a local, state and national level. As longtime cooperators with the Prince George’s Soil Conservation District, they installed many best management practices to conserve the soil and improve water quality. Edgewood Farm is 150 acres total with approximately 10 acres in farmstead, 60 acres in forests, meadows, and natural areas, 10 acres in pasture and 70 acres of cropland. The farm has highly productive fine sandy loam soils of the Collington-Wist soil series with slopes ranging from 1 to 8 percent. Edgewood Farm operation has changed since the 1950s, transitioning from tobacco, swine, beef, hay, straw, and silage corn to primarily corn, soybeans and horses. Roland and Mildred were committed to the farming industry and were staunch advocates for Maryland farmers. They were a perfect team and served on many local, state and national organizations and working groups to promote agriculture and improve the community. Roland served as president of the Prince George’s County Farm Bureau for more than 20 years and served as 1^st Vice President of Maryland Farm Bureau. He was former grand master of the local Centennial Masonic Temple and former president of South Gate Lions Club. Mildred was a member of Electra Chapter #2 Order of the Eastern Star, South Gate Ladies Lions and Prince George’s County Farm Bureau. Roland and Mildred were life-long members of Bell’s United Methodist Church in Camp Springs. Roland left the family farm in Camp Springs in his early years to work for USDA in Beltsville but quickly learned he wanted to work for himself. He often said: “I worked for the U.S. government research farm in Beltsville for three or four days. They had me working with the hogs. I said, ‘I got hogs at home, I better go tend to my own.’” He never looked back from that experience. By 1980, Roland and Mildred owned land in all five Southern Maryland counties.

Ceremony Date: 2/6/1992