Chew Memorial UM Church Owensville Road, West River/Owensville The site was established in 1843. Nothing remains of the original Chew Chapel. The present stucco over brick structure on the north side of Owensville Road, 1/2 mile from Christ Episcopal Church, was most recently rebuilt in 1952. Before the Civil War, Nathaniel Chew donated land for the purpose of establishing a church for blacks. The Chew family in Anne Arundel County were originally Quakers who mostly left the county in the late 18th century. Their descendants were slave holders and most of them were members of the Episcopal Church. The church is in a historic area, close to the Waters property, where an early school for blacks was established. It is an example of a black congregation that has survived in an agrarian environment for over 150 years, although in the past ten years the area has been taken over by residential developments