Toaping Castle
Inscription
Toaping Castle (circa 1750) On this site, Isaac, Charles, and Nathan Walker erected a large white oak log house. Named for their ancestral stronghold in Scotland which the three brothers had fled after the failure of attempts to unseat George I, King of England, as ruler of Scotland. Isaac permanently settled here and obtained land grants for 188 acres.
He and his three sons served in the Revolutionary War. The graves of Isaac and his son Nathan are north of here. Toaping castle was the birthplace of Samuel Hamilton Walker (Feb. 24, 1817-Oct. 9, 1847), Lt. Colonel of the Texas Rangers and Captain of the U.S. Calvary. He left home at age 19 to fight Indians, and later he became a leader and hero of the Rangers.
His suggested changes to Samuel Colt's revolver resulted in Colt's success as an arms manufacturer. 1000 Colt-Walker pistols -- the first, heaviest, and longest revolvers ever issued to American forces -- were purchased for the Texas Rangers during the Mexican War. Walker was killed in that War at the battle of Hua Mantla, Mexico.
The family cemetery is all that remains of the Toaping Castle estate. Prince George's County Historical Society (Marker erected by the City of Greenbelt Bicentennial Committee, 1976)
Location
Sources
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