CEDAR LANE
Before Potomac Heights, a bluff once housed a mansion belonging to the Pye Family. The mansion was landscaped with a long double row of cedar trees, which remain today. Between these cedar trees lies a road leading to the Pye Mansion.
Tree-lined road to Pye Mansion
One night, during a thunderstorm, one of the Pye sons, accompanied by a friend, was returning home. They came upon a fallen cedar, with its foliage on the ground, its roots high in the air. Young Pye is determined to climb the trunk on horseback, thinking it is a good challenge for his thoroughbred horse. His friend objected, but Pye was adamant. The horse stepped along the slippery tree trunk and was almost on top when he slipped. Both horse and rider crashed to their deaths. As they fell, the horse gave a piercing shriek. Legend has it that on a winter night when the wind is right, a listener can hear the shriek of the falling white stallion echoing through the tall cedars.
Like the Pye Mansion, every one of Charles County’s many historic homes has its legends, mysteries, and ghosts. “Laying the ghost” was, in fact, a common practice in many homes and still occurs in some.
Every so often, a family ghost gets active; that is, it makes itself known to those living in the house through various activities. Then, the family must call in a priest, often of a particular denomination or parish, to perform certain acts or deliver specific speeches to set the ghost at ease and discourage its patent behavior.
