DEAL ISLAND, Md. - A piece of local history in Deal Island is now nothing more than an empty lot of dirt. Maryland's Department of Natural Resources demolished the Severn Mister House, also known as the Bradshaw House, over the last week.
People who live in the area say the old building has always peaked their interest.
"I always wanted to ride back there and look at it, then I rode by there one time and it was gone," Joe Kamalski of Chance said.
The state estimates the home dates back to around 1815, seen in pictures provided by the Maryland Historical Trust. But with its age came some problems.
"That size of a building, it takes a lot of money for repair or whatever, and I don't know what extent of damage there was but it was really sitting there doing nobody no good," said Arby Holland, of Wenona.
DNR was looking for proposals last year for someone to take the home for free off the property. In an online document, they said in their proposal that they couldn't restore the building because it was economically unfeasible to fix it in the conditions it was in. They also said it was operationally unsuitable because of the restrictions of occupancy from hunting schedules.
"You hate to see something historic go, but at the same time, my hopes and thoughts are that possibly the state may now go ahead and put something new there that would benefit some people versus a home that sat there and it was just running downhill," Holland added.
DNR has not yet said what will happen to the property now that the home has been removed.