September 2011

The West Baton Rouge Museum houses the only permanent collection of objects, photos, documents, and art that chronicle the history and culture of the entirety of West Baton Rouge Parish and the ways in which the parish relates to the state, national, and global history. Collection items range in date from the late 18th century to modern time. The permanent collection is owned by the West Baton Rouge Historical Association and supports the museum's primary interpretive themes, which include rural life and urban development in West Baton Rouge Parish, sugar plantation history, and local folklife.

Dating back to the 1700s, Wright's Chance is a Colonial period plantation house. Records show that the house stood before Queen Anne's County established Centreville as its county seat in 1782. It still has its original paneling and glass windows and is one room deep and two rooms wide with a central hallway and large fireplace. The interior wood paneling and fireplace mark Wright's Chance as the home of a gentleman with sufficient means. A gambrel roof provided for living space upstairs.

Historical reports show Robert Smith was the first person to survey the land and patented as "Smith's Forrest" in 1682. Ambrose Wright purchased the land in 1744 and the property stayed in the Wright family until it was acquired by Basil Warfield, who owned the adjacent land. In 1963, Guy Weathersley began a thorough search of the property and published his report in the Centreville Record-Observer in 1966.

Wright's Chance, c. 1744
(410) 604-2100
119 South Commerce Street
Centreville, MD 21617

Early plantation house moved from original site patented in 1681. Restored by the Queen Anne's County Historical Society. Collection of Chippendale and Hepplewhite furniture and Canton china.