A Jousting Tournament (01-29)

Historical narrative

Jousting is Maryland's official state sport. Jousting tournaments have been held in Maryland since colonial times, including one in August 1911 at Mullikin Station. These tournaments were well attended. A contemporaneous newspaper report of a 1912 tournament in the same area noted: “Nearly 2,000 persons were present, among whom was a large party of Washingtonians.” The precise location of the tournaments could not be identified through this research beyond the notation that they were held “near Mullikin, (Mitchellville).” In Steve's Camelot-brain, he imagined that the 1911 tournament of chivalrous knights and fair maidens took place on the large open field just to the south of what was to become Mullikin School. After all, there was a train station there, and a small hotel to accommodate travelers. Could it have been?

Watercolor

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