The Woodlawn Slave Quarters represents one of the few known surviving buildings of its type in Howard County.

The Historic Sites Inventory refers to "ancient stone slave quarters located on adjoining property," probably owned by members of the Dorsey family, who first came to this area in the early-to-mid 1700s. According to Joetta Cramm's Howard County, A Pictorial History, the Howard County slave inventory listed 39 Dorseys who owned 406 slaves in November, 1864.

This early significant structure is in poor repair. It currently sits on Columbia Association property. The roof has collapsed and the overgrowth of vines and vegetation threaten the integrity of the structure. PHC hopes to work with the Columbia Association to clear the structure of vines and to evaluate its structural stability.

Update
The Columbia Association, PHC and an architectural engineer have met at the slave quarters and are taking the first steps toward developing a plan to save the structure.

Vegetation, which is currently consuming the structure, will be carefully removed this Fall, and the process of stabilizing the old stone walls will begin shortly thereafter.