ANNAPOLIS — A 293-acre waterfront farm beside the Chesapeake Bay Bridge that has been closed to the public for generations will open for limited, reservation-only visits starting Nov. 6, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced.
Holly Beach Farm Natural Resources Management Area sits on a peninsula in Anne Arundel County that is part of the Sandy Point State Park complex. Its forests, open fields, 9-acre freshwater pond and beaches face both the Chesapeake Bay and Whitehall Bay, along roughly 5 miles of shoreline, according to the DNR announcement.
Starting Nov. 6, visitors can book time for activities such as birding and hiking through DNR’s MD Outdoors reservation system. Reservation-based hunting is already allowed on the property. DNR did not announce visiting days, hours or limits on the number of guests. Fishing and kayaking are among the activities the department expects to add later.
The opening matters because so little of the Bay’s edge is public. DNR Secretary Josh Kurtz noted that more than 90% of the Chesapeake Bay’s shoreline is privately owned, and said the department is working with neighbors and partners to protect the peninsula’s ecology while letting the public enjoy its views.
A century as a private estate
The farm’s modern history began in 1907, when Sylvester W. Labrot Sr. began consolidating several 19th-century farms. He finished the main farmhouse in 1911, and later purchases in the 1920s and 1930s grew the estate to nearly 2,000 acres. After his death, his son William Henderson Labrot renamed it Holly Beach Farm in 1935 and ran it as a horse breeding farm.
In 1949, William Labrot sold 680 acres on the northern end to the state, land that became Sandy Point State Park. His daughter, Leonie Gately, sold the remaining property in 2001 to The Conservation Fund, which conveyed it to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. The foundation then donated the land to DNR, and the Maryland Board of Public Works approved the donation March 13, 2024.
Maryland Park Service Director Angela Crenshaw traced the site’s story from the Algonquian-speaking peoples who lived there through the Labrot family and Frederick Douglass, and said the Park Service will keep planning carefully so the site can be enjoyed for years.
Work still ahead
Much of the property is still a work in progress.
- Pier: DNR is seeking permits to remove the remains of two old piers on the Whitehall Bay side and build a single 450-foot pier that could handle boats drawing up to 6 feet, including educational vessels and ferries. Crews used a bathymetry drone to locate submerged pilings.
- Shoreline: DNR plans to repair 550 feet of revetment around the pier site and add erosion protection along the rest of the shoreline. Anne Arundel County previously paid for 2,000 feet of stone breakwaters and a planted living shoreline on the Whitehall Bay side, and the U.S. Naval Academy has drafted early concepts for underwater breakwaters.
- Farmhouse: A new roof, windows, framing and floors are finished at the Labrot farmhouse. Electrical, air conditioning and interior work would still be needed before it could host meetings.
DNR did not release cost estimates or a construction timeline for the pier or shoreline projects. The Park Service aims to hire and assign rangers and staff to the property next year, and the department’s long-term goal is broader public access with an emphasis on reaching the site by boat.
Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman said the county has partnered with DNR to preserve the property, expand water access and improve climate resilience along the coastline.
DNR has opened a short online survey, which it says takes 5 to 10 minutes, to collect public input on the property’s future. Reservations open through the department’s MD Outdoors system.
