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Learn About Bel Alton, Maryland
Bel Alton is a small rural community located in Charles County. It shares a northern border is the Town of La Plata. Located to the south is the community of Faulkner. Bel Alton has several old-style motels, a popular “bikers'” tavern, and other small businesses along U.S. Route 301. They cater to local residents and interstate travelers.
Before 1891, Bel Alton was known as Cox’s Station after a local resident. There are a series of interpretive signs on a side road. They mark various spots where John Wilkes Booth stopped to hide in 1865. He was fleeing south after assassinating President Abraham Lincoln. The area known as Rich Hill was owned by Colonel Samuel Cox. He was a Confederate sympathizer during the Civil War. On April 14, 1865, Cox hid Booth and his companion, David Herold, in a nearby swamp. Booth and Herold left the property on April 21. They crossed the Potomac River in a small boat and were killed in Virginia. Following Booth’s capture, Cox was tried and convicted of aiding Booth. He received a light sentence. The house is significant in its own right, showing characteristic features of southern Maryland house construction.
St. Ignatius Church and Cemetery is located two miles west of Bel Alton on a scenic bluff overlooking a wide inlet of the Potomac River. It is said to be the oldest continuous Roman Catholic parish in the United States. The Charles County fairgrounds are also nearby. The former Bel Alton African American high school building is now used for community activities.