It took work from many people – not just soldiers who fought in the Continental Army – to ensure the American Revolution succeeded so the former British subjects could secure their freedom and establish a sovereign nation.

People could help the Patriot cause by paying supply taxes, signing oaths of allegiance, providing goods or services to the Army, even giving soldiers a place to stay.

“It took a lot of people -- not just the soldiers,” said Carol Johnson, Regent for the Gov. William Paca Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. “It took the rest of the community supporting the effort [in order] to succeed.”

Everyone who contributed to the success of the Revolution, civilian or military, is honored on a plaque sponsored by the local DAR chapter which has been installed outside the Bel Air Armory. Similar plaques are being posted around the country in honor of the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States of America in 2026.

The plaque at the Armory “commemorates the men and women who achieved American independence.”

“These Patriots, believing in the noble cause of liberty, fought valiantly to found a new nation,” the text on the plaque continues.

Johnson said people who supported the Revolution were “risking everything.”

“If we hadn’t won, they certainly would paid for their support,” she added.

The marker was unveiled on April 27 during the “Then and Now” celebration of the Town of Bel Air’s 150th anniversary. A number of Town and Harford County leaders were in attendance, along with members of the chapter.

“We thought celebrating the Town [anniversary] would be a good time to present the marker,” Johnson said.

She noted that the William Paca chapter is headquartered in Bel Air, the Harford County seat. The chapter also sponsored the placement of a marker at the front entrance to the Armory to honor Harford County residents killed while serving overseas during World War I. That marker was unveiled in 1923.

The Revolutionary War marker is near the entrance to Armory Park, adjacent to the Armory building on Main Street.

The war started in 1775 with the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts and ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783 -- America formally declared its independence from Great Britain with the signing of the Declaration of Independence, adopted on July 4, 1776. 

Harford County played a role in the fight for independence, as the 34 elected members of the Committee of Harford County signed the Bush River Declaration in March of 1775 to express their support for the people of Boston. That city had been blockaded by the British as Patriots fighting for American independence protested what they considered exorbitant taxes imposed by the British Crown on American colonists. The Bush River Declaration was signed several weeks before the war started at Lexington and Concord.

“We do most solemnly pledge ourselves to each other, and to our Country, and engage ourselves by every tie held sacred among mankind to perform the same at the risqué of our lives and fortunes,” according to the declaration.

About 3,600 Harford Countians served during the war, and the county was a transit corridor for British troops as well as French troops led by the famed Marquis the Lafayette who fought on the side of the Americans, according to a 2014 article published in The Dagger.

The local DAR chapter is named for William Paca, who was born and raised on his family’s plantation in Abingdon near the Bush River. Paca was an attorney who took up the Patriot cause some years before the revolution, protesting British taxes. He was a Maryland delegate to the First and Second Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence. He was a state legislator and was elected governor of Maryland in 1782. He served as governor until 1785 and was later appointed as a federal judge by the first president of the United States, George Washington, according to a biography on the Maryland State Archives website.

“I see it as a recognition of the people in the area who did offer this support [to the Revolution], Johnson said of the plaque. “I think it’s just a recognition [of the role] that the state and county played in the revolution.”

Contact Media and Public Relations Specialist David Anderson at 410-838-7181 or danderson@belairmd.org.