Documentary About Hagerstown Has Been Broadcast 500 Times on PBS

FREDERICK, Md., Oct. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The House on Jonathan Street, 3 Roads Communications’ seminal documentary about the history of Hagerstown, MD’s African American community, has received a Silver Award from the Paris Film Awards in the Best Feature Documentary category.

The one-hour film chronicles the rise, fall, and rise again of Hagerstown, Maryland’s African American neighborhood. Hagerstown, the site of significant events in American history including the Battle of Antietam and John Brown’s Farm, housed a prosperous middle-class African American community in and around Jonathan, dubbed “The Black Wall Street” of Maryland. The travails of the neighborhood, and the surrounding Hagerstown community, offer a glimpse into American history over the past three hundred years. Local events are put into national context, and national events are shown with their local impact.

“It’s amazing that a film that is so quintessentially American in focus and scope has caught the eye of international audiences,” says Russ Hodge, Executive Producer of The House on Jonathan Street. “The entire film was conceived and executed right in Central, Maryland, but its impact is worldwide,” said Hodge. Patrick Hodge was the Director of the film, with Josh Cochran contributing editing, camera and script. Cynthia Scott-Johnson was the narrator.

The House on Jonathan Street was released in February 2024 to a national PBS audience. The film has been broadcast more than 500 times, covering 82% of the population of the United States. It is still in distribution, both on PBS stations and on Amazon.

The House on Jonathan Street is also being utilized by local educators to supplement their students’ current curriculum.

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SOURCE 3 Roads Communications