The Heart of Maryland

A Broadway play was released in 1895 which was set in a “divided Maryland town”, written by accomplished writer and director David Belasco (Among many plays and films he is known as the first to adapt the short story Madame Butterfly to a stage performance).

Titled “The Heart of Maryland,” the Civil-War based melodrama explored the relationship between lovers divided by opposing loyalties.  It ran for 240 performances in New York.

A silent film adaption of the play was released in 1915 with the Broadway cast, and another in 1921 which starred Baltimore native Catherine Calvert (Dead Men Tell No Tales – 1921) as the main character Maryland Calvert, and Crane Wilbur (best known as a director and film writer in the 30s, 40s, and 50s) as her love interest Alan Kendrick.

Director Lloyd Bacon produced the most successful silent film version of the story for Warner Brothers in 1927, starring Dolores Costello and Jason Robards Sr.  This version filmed scenes at a mansion in Boonsboro known as “Lilacs on Rose Hill.”  The mansion was rebuilt and heavily modified.  Today it is unrecognizable but serves as a portion of the road facing structure in the South Mountain Rehabilitation Center facility (formerly Reeders) across from Mt. Nebo Church.

In the early 1900’s, the Frederick Railroad began using the slogan “The Heart of Maryland Route” for the trolley system, a slogan which was used into the 1940s.  It is unknown if the play inspired the slogan or if the shared name was purely coincidence.