What to See in Bowie - Top Sights and Attractions

Roller coaster. Superman – Ride of Steel are steel roller coasters located at two different Six Flags parks in the United States, including Six Flags America in Woodmore, Maryland, and Six Flags Darien Lake in Darien, New York. At Six Flags Darien, the coaster was renamed Ride of Steel in 2006, dropping Superman from the name. Both hypercoasters, manufactured by Intamin, are mirror-image and opened a year apart, beginning with the Darien Lake installation in May 1999 followed by Six Flags America in May 2000. They are 208 feet tall, feature a drop length of 205 feet, and reach a maximum speed of 73 mph. A roller coaster with a similar name, Superman the Ride, opened at Six Flags New England in 2000 but features a significantly different layout.^[1]

Park in Bowie, Maryland. Allen Pond Park is an 85-acre multi-use park, located in and managed by the City of Bowie in Prince George's County, Maryland. The park includes an Ice Arena, Amphitheater, boat rentals, Skate Park, 10-acre stocked pond, six lighted ballfields, picnic areas and pavilions, walking and biking trails, a lighted basketball court, fitness station and several playground areas. It is also the home of Opportunity Park, which offers 100% accessible experiences at its tot lot, school-aged playground, fitness cluster and fishing. The park has a 39% total wood coverage, with the pond occupying 12% of the park. The parking lot that services the park can be accessed from 3404 Mitchellville Road, across from the Mitchellville Road Soccer Fields, and from the main 3330 Northview Drive entrance.^[4]

Museum in Bowie, Maryland. The Belair Mansion, located in the historic Collington area and in Bowie, Maryland, United States, built in c. 1745, is the Georgian style plantation house of Provincial Governor of Maryland, Samuel Ogle. Later home to another Maryland governor, the mansion is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Belair is recognized as the only great colonial estate where breeding of race horses was conducted over the course of three centuries. The estate significantly influenced the development of thoroughbred horse racing in the new world, having one of only two stables to raise two Triple Crown champions. The mansion and its nearby stables both serve as museums, operated by the City of Bowie.^[6]

Building in Bowie, Maryland. The Belair Stable Museum is located at 2835 Belair Drive in Bowie, Maryland. It is operated by the City of Bowie, Maryland. The building once housed the Belair Stud Farm until 1957 when the Woodward family sold the Belair Estate to Levitt & Sons for the construction of Belair at Bowie.

This U-shaped sandstone equine stable was built in 1907 for James T. Woodward, then owner of the Belair Mansion. The elaborate stable building reflects Belair's long and distinguished association with thoroughbred horse racing and breeding.

The stable sits on 2 acres (8,100 m2) located about 1000 feet northeast of the Belair Mansion. Once part of the large estate, the stable building is now surrounded by residential development. The building itself is a U-shaped structure with a 1+1⁄2-story main block and single-story flanking wings, forming an open exercise yard to the center.^[8]

Building. The Don S. S. Goodloe House, a 1915–16 Colonial Revival style building veneered with brick, is significant for its association with Don Speed Smith Goodloe, the first principal of the Maryland Normal and Industrial School. The school, now Bowie State University, was Maryland's first postsecondary school for African Americans. As principal of the school from its opening in 1911 until 1921, Goodloe directed and managed this public institution through its formative years, a period characterized by the state's unwillingness to provide adequate funding for the housing and training of the students, while two white normal schools under the state were well funded.

Forced to provide his own housing, Goodloe had this large and commodious house built to accommodate not only his family, but also students for which he received additional income from the state. The house was designed by John A. Moore, an African American architect from Washington, D.C. Goodloe occupied the house until his death in 1959. It remained in the possession of Goodloe's heirs until 1990. The Goodloe house is the only building from the college's early period still standing. It is currently named the Goodloe Alumnihouse at Bowie State University.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.^[9]

Historical landmark in Bowie, Maryland. Williams Plains is a historic home located in the White Marsh Recreational Park at Bowie in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States.

The house was built for the Hon. John Johnson (1770-1824), judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals, who purchased the property in 1812.

It is a 2+1⁄2-story brick house, with a Flemish bond south facade and six-course common bond used for the remaining walls. It is an early- to mid-19th-century brick house which is significant primarily for the Greek Revival–influenced interior decorative detailing which remains almost completely intact and thus is an excellent and somewhat rare record of domestic architecture in Prince George's County in the first half of the 19th century. The dominant design elements which characterize the decorative detailing include Greek Revival influenced trim, mantels, and paneled doors. A much lower 2+1⁄2-story wing, likely dating to 1942, projects from the northern portion of the east side. The bricks of the wing are laid in stretcher bond, and is a veneer-over-frame construction.

Williams Plains was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.^[11]