Just before the Civil War, an enslaved man working in a foundry off what is now the Route 1 corridor helped cast the bronze statue on top of the U.S. Capitol.

While many enslaved people helped build the Capitol, Philip Reid is perhaps the best known for his role in creating the “Statue of Freedom” crowning the top.

Born around 1820, Reid was bought as a young man in Charleston, S.C., for $1,200 by self-taught sculptor Clark Mills, who saw that he had “evident talent” in the field. He came with Mills when he moved to D.C. in the 1840s.

Clark Mills foundry

In D.C., Mills built an octagon-shaped foundry on Bladensburg just south of Colmar Manor where the Freedom statue was eventually cast.

Working together through trial-and-error the two successfully cast the first bronze statue in America — an equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson — after winning a contest, despite any formal training.

In 1860, the two won the commission to cast the Freedom statue. Reid was paid $1.25 a day for his work — more than the $1 the other laborers received — but as an enslaved person was only allowed to keep his Sunday pay, with the other six days going to Mills.

Reid was highly skilled at the work. When it was time to move the plaster model of the statue, an Italian sculptor hired by the government to help refused to show anyone how to take the model apart unless he was given more money, but Reid figured out how to lift the sculpture with a pulley to reveal the seams.

Between the time work on the Freedom statue started and the final portion installed, Reid received his own freedom. He later went into work for himself, where an author wrote that he was “highly esteemed by all who know him.”

You can see the plaster model of the Freedom statue in Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor’s Center.

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An award-winning sanctioned racing event in Greenbelt is drawing nationally known cyclists.

This week, notable DC cyclist Sam Boardman joined the Route 1 Velo training race at 6565 Greenbelt Rd. in Greenbelt Park, which is managed by the National Park Service.

Route 1 Velo, a USA Cycling affiliated club in the greater D.C. area that’s based on the Route 1 corridor, helps support races locally and works regularly with the area’s Special Olympics team.

The cycling club’s training races on the 1.4 mile loop of recently repaved national park service roads are held on Wednesday evenings from May 3 to June 28, and are open to the public, with elite and novice levels for men and women. In some form, this race series has been in existence since 1980 making it one of the oldest cycling races in the area.

This year, roughly 150 racers have come each week, a huge jump from last year.

“The pandemic probably had something to do with that,” Route 1 Velo’s secretary Brandon Fastman told the Hyattsville Wire. “But we’ve also put more effort into publicizing the races this year.”

Riders are informally timed, and race results are recorded with USA Cycling only by order of finish. There is a points system for riders and awards for series winners in each category, which encourages riders to consistently come to each week’s race.

Along with the Hyattsville Cyclocross, the Greenbelt races are a mainstay of the Mid-Atlantic Bicycle Racing Association circuit and a huge part of the Route 1 cycling scene, with sponsors from Arrow Bicycle and Trek.

Riders mostly come from the greater D.C. area, with some regulars from Baltimore and Annapolis and occasionally as far as Hagerstown and even Philadelphia. In recent years, other champion cyclists have participated in the race including Justin Williams.

Fastman said that the races are also important because it’s getting harder for cyclists to find road races.

“Road races are dwindling,” he added. “They are very expensive to put on and they require communities to accept temporary disruption of their thoroughfares. So it’s really cool that we can provide the cycling community a reliable venue for weeks on end throughout the spring and summer.”

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A mother-and-daughter team have opened a locally source charcuterie board stall at miXt Food Hall in Brentwood.

Chefs Jazmine and Trinna Moor, owners of District Boards, say their curated boards are designed to replace the “chips and salsa and a six-pack” that people offer guests at a party.

Their boards include vegan, paleo, pescatarian and gluten-free options and customers can add any of their popular sides like vegan artichoke dip or caviar as well as mocktails.

Options include a Mediterranean tapas board, a “brunch in bed,” a farmer’s board with local cheeses and free-range pulled chicken salad and a sweetheart board with cheesecake bites, pound cake and baked brie.

The Moors, who are from the Petworth neighborhood of D.C., said they use local farms such as Deep Roots, a black-owned farm in Brandywine, Md., that uses sustainable practices.

“I wanted to highlight the most interesting flavors and textures our area has to offer,” said Jazmine Moor.

You can see the entire menu online at the District Boards website. District Boards is open 3 to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, noon to 8 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

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The city of Hyattsville celebrated native son Jim Henson at Driskell Park this weekend.

After a Friday night sing-along to “The Muppet Movie,” the city hosted an event on Saturday afternoon at the Jim Henson Courtyard.

After performances by a jazz band, steel drum and dance group from Northwestern High, where Henson graduated, an all-ages youth choir sang “The Rainbow Connection.” Several tables were set up where young kids could make their own puppets.

Henson’s daughter, Heather, also spoke, saying that the Route 1 corridor — including his time in Hyattsville and University Park and meeting his wife, Jane, at the University of Maryland — shaped his life and his art.

The courtyard, which features sculptural planters by artist William C. Culbertson of some of Henson’s most famous puppets, is one of three memorials to Henson along the Route 1 corridor.

The city isn’t alone in celebrating Henson. The Maryland Center for History and Culture in Baltimore is hosting an exhibition about Henson’s work, including puppets, sketches, storyboards, costumes and film and TV clips from May 26 to Dec. 30.

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The city of Hyattsville is fighting invasive plants by renting goats to eat them.

Using a grant from Prince George’s County and the Chesapeake Bay Trust, the city hired a herd of herbivores from Browsing Green Goats to clear out invasive vines that stunt young trees and strangle mature ones as well as poison ivy.

The goats are currently in a penned-in area just off the Northwest Branch Trail on the back side of Driskell Park.

The public has been invited to come watch the goats do their job, although they are not allowed to touch the goats and the pop-up fence is electrified. The goats will be finished with their work by the weekend, though the city will bring them back in the fall.

A more environmentally friendly option than traditional herbicides, hiring goats is also cheaper than paying gardeners to manually remove vines. The Historic Congressional Cemetery in Washington uses goats to keep its grassy areas clear of invasive plants.

They have also become popular among transportation departments that need to maintain grassy medians and land management agencies looking to cut down on invasive plants like cheatgrass that can lead to more wildfires.

As an added bonus, the goats leave behind fertilizer that helps the native plants grow.

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A new neighborhood grocery store has opened along Rhode Island Avenue in the Woodridge area just south of Mount Rainier giving residents along Route 1 another option to grab grocery essentials.

Aurora Market, which also has a location in Columbia Heights, opened last weekend at 2006 Rhode Island Ave. NE in the former home of Good Food Markets.

Owners Rahel Kassa and her husband Pablo Ortiz, who live nearby, told the Hyattsville Wire that they saw a market opening when Good Food Markets left.

For now, the store has a selection of organic groceries and a deli section where they make fresh sandwiches including tomato pesto avocado and turkey club. They plan to add coffee and breakfast options soon.

Its Columbia Heights store also functions something like a community center, with some items for sale from local artists and local producers.

Kassa said that they aim to have “affordable, healthy options” and are taking customer requests for things to stock.

“If people want other items, we will have it,” she said.

For now, the store is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, but Kassa said the hours may change based on what customers want.

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College Park’s Fazlul Kabir is the first Muslim mayor elected anywhere in Maryland.

A member of the City Council, Kabir won a special election over the weekend to fill out the term of former Mayor Patrick Wojahn, who stepped down in March prior to being charged with possessing and distributing child pornography.

He handily defeated three other candidates, Council Member Kate Kennedy, Mayor Pro Tem Denise Mitchell, and Bryan Haddad, campaigning on issues like helping small businesses and improving police relations.

Kabir grew up in Bangladesh and lived in the United Kingdom and Canada before moving to College Park 20 years ago, where he previously worked as an adjunct professor teaching cybersecurity at the University of Maryland.

He’s served on the city council for the last 12 years, where he’s led efforts like creating the Hollywood Farmers Market.

He will be sworn in on Tuesday and serve until November’s regularly scheduled elections.

Kabir is the latest milestone for the Route 1 corridor, where voters have elected some of the state’s first African-American, Latina, Asian and LGBTQ mayors.

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