Library Record

Images

1 of 1977

View Image Metadata

Metadata

Object ID

2004.34.03

Title

Origins I

Object Name

Booklet

Author

Published by the Neighborhood Planning Council

Published Date

1974

Description

Origins I
Origins was published at Woodrow Wilson High School
Nebraska Avenue and Chesapeake Street NW
Washington DC
February 1975

Introduction by Jim Bridy
Front cover photo - Bridge Collins, Marc Fishman, Margaret Murray, Tim Hannapel, Carl Hoffman, Steve Kuttner, Ann Kuttner, Sharon Moran, Pat Blakely
"Origins is dedicated to Robert Truax, the native Chevy Chaser, who shared his time and knowledge with us"
CONTENTS
Chevy Chase Circle
The Chevy Chase Land Company
Trolleys - The Chevy Chase Line
Churches at Chevy Chase Circle
Walton Shipley's remembrances
Neighborhood Schools
Estates
Trees in Washington
Citizens Associations
Published by the Neighborhood Planning Council #2 and #3, Room 102A, Wilson High School, Washington, DC 20016
Chevy Chase history as told by high school students. Includes nice pictures of the town throughout the years.

Mrs. Edith Claude Jarvis, who is a long-time resident of Chevy Chase, Maryland, helped extensively in the articles concerning the Chevy Chase Lake and daily living. Her father, Herbert Claude, was the owner of the concessions at the Lake during its first 10 years. During the summer months, while we wrote our articles, we talked and referred to Mrs. Jarvis continuously, and she was filled with memories of growing up in Chevy Chase. She has helped in the writing of literature on the history of Chevy Chase, including 'Montgomery County Story', an encyclopedic version of the history of the area, and is currently writing one of her own. As a source for both issues of Origins, she proved herself invaluable and we would like to express our gratitude.

Introduction
Origins explores the growth of the Washington, D C. communities of Chevy Chase and Cleveland Park. Researched and written by ten high school students in upper Northwest Washington, Origins is a combination of local history, nostalgia, and community awareness designed to reflect the life and the evolution of community institutions in the students' neighborhoods. Briefly stated, its purpose is to link the lives and experiences of late 19th and early 20th century citizens to more current community conditions and attitudes.

This first issue includes articles on topics ranging from trolley cars to trees and from neighborhood churches to civic associations. If you read them you will learn what it was Iike to ride the trolley up Connecticut Avenue to Chevy Chase Lake. You will be able to trace the development of the community's educational system, from the early classrooms of the E. V. Brown School to modern Wilson High School. You could become acquainted with the fading glories of some of Washington's most prominent old mansions, including the mysterious Bonnie Brae and the palatial Firenze House And you will meet Senator Francis Newlands and Colonel G. A. Armes, two men who had the initiative to construct Chevy Chase, the first planned urban subdivision.
In short, you will meet in these pages some of the sights, the scenes, and the personalities in Washington's past. Hopefully, Origins will further our understanding of how communities get started, how their institutions develop, as well as why they inevitably change

This magazine is the result of a project in the summer of 1974. It was funded by Neighborhood Planning Councils # 2 and #3 and received guidance from the D C. Bicentennial Commission and the Mayor's Office of Youth Opportunity Services

Jim Bridy
Chevy Chase Circle
Sharon Moran
Have you ever wondered why Connecticut Avenue changes direction at Chevy Chase Circle? The reasons go back to the time when the circle was nothing but a cornfield. The Chevy Chase Land Company, a major developer on both sides of Western Avenue, had originally planned on paving Connecticut Avenue in a straight line, across what is now Chevy Chase Country Club, through to Rockville Road (Wisconsin Avenue or Rockville Pike). Progress was hampered by other real estate speculators endeavoring to profit from the project, and the direction of the avenue had to be changed. In a casual, on-location meeting of company officials, it was decided that a circle would eliminate most traffic problems. In 1891, the circle first appeared on maps.

In the beginning, the circle was a desolate plot with a manhole cover on it. A local resident can recall a lone cow grazing on the circle, sometime in the early 1900's. Through the joint efforts of Girl and Boy Scouts of both Maryland and D.C., the flagpole and first flag were raised in 1918. When it became necessary to replace the flag, an industrious scout solicited contributions from community members. In 1927, the first community Christmas tree appeared, fittingly, at the circle. (What happened to the flag pole?) The tree was particularly beautiful when lighted in the evening, and viewed from the south.

By the spring of 1928, area citizens felt it was time for a more permanent monument at the circle. An ornate flagpole was considered, but the ideal decoration was said to be "...nature and art combined in a Gothic setting." An article on the subject appeared in the Chevy Chase News on May 1, 1928: "…small enthusiasm has come in response to suggested sculptural adornments with merely art or utility value. Lacking sentiment and association, none of them has carried much appeal." It was concluded that the monument should have all these elements, with the sentimental and associational values dominant. This search led to the greatest single outstanding character in the community's history, Sen. Francis G. Newlands (R-Nev.), deceased head of the Chevy Chase Land Company. The article continued "…tribute shoud be paid by the erection of a suitable memorial to the late Senator Newlands in Chevy Chase Circle and further, the associations and citizens of both Maryland and D.C. should cooperate in thus perpetuating his memory." About the time of the article, pin oaks were planted around the perimeter of the circle.
In 1932, the Garden Club of America initiated plans to improve the circle. A joint resolution of Congress directed the government office of Public Buildings and Parks to build a memorial fountain "of simple appeal" in the center of the circle, the design to be approved by the Fine Arts Commission. The Garden Club plan called for an ornamental fountain, footpaths, benches, and flowerbeds, at an estimated cost of $11,000, with a large portion of that donated by Newlands' widow. A friend of the family, Edward Donn, was selected to design the fountain. It was completed, and dedicated in October of 1933.
There could not be a more fitting monument to F.G. Newlands. The fountain is almost symbolic of his long and successful struggle to bring irrigation to the West (the Newlands Land Reclamation Act). The location is very appropriate because it is `...a gateway to the city', one opened and graded by his Land Company.
The park inside the circle has not changed much in recent years, and probably won't for quite a while. It does not attract lunching businessmen and bums as does Dupont Circle, but unlike Westmoreland Circle, there's something worth looking at in the center. When not covered with algae, the fountain is a nice place to cool off on a hot day.

The Chevy Chase Land Company
Carl Hoffman
Sharon Moran

The Chevy Chase Land Company was largely responsible for the planned development of Chevy Chase in Washington. Chevy Chase has become one of the better known communities in the United States, but in the early 1 880's the area was mostly farmland. At that time the city of Washington extended only as far north as Boundary Street, which is now Florida Avenue. The area north of Boundary Street was the "County". The northern part of the "County", where Chevy Chase is now located, was separated from most of Washington by Klingle and Rock Creek Gaps.

In January of 1890, Colonel G.A. Armes, a resident of Tenleytown, had the idea of extending Connecticut Avenue up over the gaps to the D.C.- Maryland line and perhaps even further. Since Colonel Armes didn't have the money to accomplish this, he went to an old friend, Senator Stewart of Nevada. (Stewart had been a pioneer in the extension of Connecticut Avenue.

Actually, it is difficult to ascertain whether Newlands or Armes first had the idea for Chevy Chase at the upper end of the now extended Connecticut Avenue. It is said that the vision came to Newlands while viewing the rolling countryside from the cupola atop Armes' house in Tenleytown.

Newlands then told Armes to go quietly and buy up the land surrounding Connecticut Avenue, making him promise not to reveal their plans to the press. The more land Armes bought, the more the press hounded him, asking why and for whom he was buying the land. Finally Armes told the press why he was buying the land, and as a result was fired. Newlands succeeded Armes as president of the Land Company.

Starting in the early 1890's, the Chevy Chase Land Company bought 1750 acres of land along the planned Connecticut Avenue. First the Company built the Calvert Street and Klingle Gap bridges. The hills had to be cut down by pick and shovel, and horse-drawn carts were used in the process of filling in the valleys. The Company laid the tracks for the trolley line from downtown Washington to Chevy Chase Lake in Maryland. Since overhead wires were permitted only in the "county", in some places underground wires were laid. All this was financed by the Company and none by the D.C. Government. The government paid nothing toward the upkeep of the bridges and tracks.
Chevy Chase Circle at the District line was not one of the original circles laid out in L'Enfant's plan, but was created by the Company to facilitate easy traffic flow along the newly rerouted Connecticut Avenue. Connecticut Avenue was rerouted to shake land speculators. (For more information see article on the Circle.)

Many of the first houses in Chevy Chase were built for the officers of the Land Company. The Corby mansion at Chevy Chase Circle was built for Newlands but, ironically, he soon moved out because it was hard to entertain guests there. Most of the people that went to his parties traveled by streetcar from downtown Washington, so they had to leave the party before the electricity was shut off at midnight. Newlands hired Leon Dessez, a prominent architect, to design the houses in Chevy Chase. Dessez was architect and later, director of the Land Company for 26 years. Mrs. Dessez had a cow that she would tether out to the Circle to feed on the grass every day. The Land Company also built the first school for local children; they furnished it and provided a teacher.

About two miles north of the Circle on Connecticut Avenue, the Land Company constructed a lake. Chevy Chase Lake was built to draw downtown residents to Chevy Chase. Some may remember the large cement swimming pool (filled in a few years ago), but few realize that once there was a real lake across the street from the location of the pool. The lake was only a few acres in area and no swimming was permitted. A local resident, Mrs. Edith M. Jarvis (interviewed in the summer of 1974) remembers renting rowboats there for 5 cents a half hour. "It was the thing to do on a Sunday afternoon." Adjacent to the lake was an amusement park with a shooting gallery, a merry-go-round, and enormous swings. The Company's park was created with the same feeling as the rest of their development. According to Mrs. Jarvis, "There were no games of chance, no rowdyism, but rather an atmosphere of dignity and quiet pleasure. Bowling, horseback and pony riding were other attractions, along with the free Marine Band concerts."

The bandstand, seashell-shaped and painted pale blue, was illuminated by hundreds of tiny lights. It was described as being "...a masterpiece of beauty and glamour". The Evening Star, in June of 1890, called Chevy Chase Lake a "Fairyland" and continued: "The lake has thousands of soft-colored lights festooned among the trees and arranged in fanciful designs along the shore. Dancing in the big pavilion to the strains of the newest music continues to be very popular with the young folk." To get to the Lake and the park, patrons had to pass through Chevy Chase on the trolley line. During this trip they could observe the beauty of the neighborhood and feel the reportedly great drop in temperature as they entered into cool Chevy Chase. This relaxed, pleasant atmosphere lured many D.C. residents to settle there.

Newlands also organized the Chevy Chase Country Club and became the first president. The club was organized as a hunt and riding club. "It was a picturesque sight to see the hunters in their proverbial pink coats start from the circle, to follow the trail across country." The country club later adopted golf when it became popular. The master of hounds, Clarence Moore, went down on the Titanic while returning from England with a pack of 24 trained hounds.

The Chevy Chase Land Company provided a freight service for its customers. The Land Company had an electric freight car that made two trips daily; the car dropped off merchandise at people's houses or at the nearest street corner.

In an effort to keep Chevy Chase an upperclass neighborhood, Newlands and the Land Company made a rule that no houses be built for under $5,000 on Connecticut Avenue or for under $3,000 on a side street. That was a lot of money in those days! No Jewish or Black people were allowed to purchase or build homes there. Thomas Fisher and Company were agents for the Land Company and sold all their lots.

Newlands always worked hard on the Land Company throughout his demanding political career which included 12 years as a representative and 14 years as a Republican senator from Nevada. He met the Company's officers every day, and always carried in his pocket the Company's latest bank balance and accounts payable and receivable. Every Sunday morning until he died, he gave instructions from his bed to his assistant, Edward Hillyer of the Union Trust Company, to be passed on to the officers every Monday morning.
After Newlands died Edward J. Stellwagen, who had been vice president of the Land Company, became president for many years. After that came Hillyer, long-time associate through the Depression. On January 1, 1946, William Sharon Farr, a member of the family, took over the presidency.

Today the Land Company owns vast holdings in business property. The Van Ness Centre, completed in 1967, is still leased by the Land Company. The complex, consisting of high rise apartments, office buildings, and shopping mall, cost $50,000,000. The company also built the Chevy Chase Centre, near the corner of Western and Wisconsin Avenues. As of the fall of 1967 the Company owned eleven commercial buildings and only sixty-five acres of undeveloped land.

THE CHEVY CHASE LINE

Steve Kuttner
An efficient transportation system is essential to any large city. In earlier days streetcars provided this service, making commuting feasible and enabling communities in outlying areas of the city to grow. Chevy Chase was one such community.

Prior to the building of the Rock Creek Railroad, Chevy Chase was an area of small summer homes, and all of the year round residents had businesses within the community. Horse car lines had operated in downtown Washington since 1862. But these lines didn't go out past Boundary Street, and therefore they were of no service to the residents of upper Northwest Washington. But in 1892, when the street rail opened, commuting to jobs downtown became possible, and between 1906 and 1920 the community's population grew rapidly. Streetcars had opened up Chevy Chase.

The Chevy Chase Land Company had planned to make Wisconsin Avenue (then Rockville Pike) the main corridor connecting Chevy Chase with downtown Washington. The company later decided to develop an avenue that cut directly through Chevy Chase; to do this they planned to erect the first Calvert and Klingle St. Bridges, and at cost of $1.5 million, construct the Rock Creek Railway. That railway's charter had been granted on June 13, 1888. The Chevy Chase Land Company was to construct the Maryland side and also to pay one-half the cost for the Calvert and Klingle bridges.

The original route extended from 18th St. (100 yds. north of U) up to Calvert and Connecticut and out from there to Chevy Chase Lake in Maryland. This line was opened on September 16, 1892. From that year to 1896 a horse car line ran on Florida Ave. (then called Boundary St.) All of the Rock Creek Railroad operated on an overhead current while all of the cars that ran inside Boundary used an underground system known as the Love conduit system. One may wonder what accounted for the difference. The fact was that overhead current wires were banned from downtown Washington because they were considered ugly.

The Rock Creek Railroad initially had 25 cars. For 3 years it operated in debt. Then in 1895 it merged with the Washington & Georgetown to form the Capital Traction Company which operated its streetcars up Connecticut Avenue for years. In 1922 they supplemented it with bus lines. In 1925 the first express lines opened. For 25 cents one could get service "comparable to that of privately owned cars, and comparable in comfort and luxuriousness to taxi-cabs." The original buses looked like one of today's airport limousines. They seated 20 passengers, no more. (The Chevy Chase Citizens Association said that if one paid the full fare, he/she should get a seat.) Buses continued to run along with the streetcars until 1935, when the tracks were torn up and sold to the Japanese as scrap metal. The Japanese used them to make bullets.

One of the main reasons the trolley cars were replaced was the increasing traffic problems they caused. Because the streetcars ran on fixed tracks in the middle of the road, they were less mobile than buses. They also could be boarded and disembarked from the middle of the street, causing danger to passengers, while buses could be boarded from the sidewalk.

In addition, there was a lot of maintenance involved in keeping the streetcars running. When the lines iced over, the current could not get through and the ice had to be brushed off manually. Later on, an attachment was developed which performed this function. Grease also had to be applied frequently. The grease was thick as tar, and as applied by men who stuck it in the grooves with sticks. All repair work was done at the M Street car barn. There the cars could be

When the tracks were torn out in 1935, they were among the first in the city to go. The last tracks weren't torn out until 1961. However, streetcars still run in many major cities-including Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco. Perhaps D.C. residents who visit those cities will have a chance to savor a bit of the local scene that now seems gone forever. In lieu of having that actual experience, the reader is probably wondering what it was like to ride a trolley.

Certainly, riding a streetcar was totally different from traveling one of the modern buses. The color scheme was more attractive-a forest green base, an orange strip just below the windows, then green again above the windows, and a white roof. Certainly nicer than today's spartan white and chrome. The trolley's destination was indicated on the side above the window, and on the roof housing in the front. The cars were usually pay-as-you-enter vehicles. One would enter on the front left, paying the conductor as you walked by, and proceed to the seating area. There were seats for 42 passengers. Those seats were solid wood at first, but in later years were padded. Some of the earlier cars were convertible-they had windows that slid up and panels that slid down in summer, giving the car open sides. The car could then be closed again in winter. The cars also featured advertising panels inside, just like today's buses, and many of the same subjects. Cigarettes and liquor were well represented, as were radio stations and newspapers. The outsides of the cars also were utilized for advertising purposes, encouraging citizens to do everything from buying war bonds to listening to Washington Senators broadcasts on WWDC. The streetcars produced many familiar sounds. They had a steady click clack as they rolled. They hissed every ten seconds or so. They gave a haunting screech as they went around curves, the wheels grating against the sides of the tracks. The conductor rang his bell when he came to a bus stop. (Trolley stops were known as bus stops.) The Chevy Chase cars featured special arc lamps in front and two red tail lights. They turned around at Chevy Chase Lake and there was also a car barn there where they stayed overnight.

Community life focused around the trolleys. When someone was sick, an order could be left with the conductor who would pick it up downtown and return to drop it off at the medicine box at Connecticut and Irving St. The freight car with its load of market baskets arrived at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. During the wars, women of Chevy Chase would anxiously wait to see if the conductor would whistle a cardinal's mating call. If he did it meant one or more of them had letters from their sweethearts, away at war.

A man named Jake Phillips ran his own little car from Chevy Chase to Rockville and back again. Phillips was quite a character. Sometimes he would stand on the back platform of the car and take potshots at crows with a shotgun while the car was going through the woods.

For an old-time resident of Chevy Chase, one thing is remembered with extreme fondness --the old streetcar fares. From 1896 to 1919 the fare was a nickel or six tokens for 25 cents. One could ride the streetcar back and forth from work for a week for 42 cents, only 2 cents more than one ride costs today. From 1919 to 1920 the fare jumped to 7 cents and then 8 cents or 4 tokens for 30 cents. This remained the same until 1930, when the fare rose to a dime. Tokens were a bargain at 4/30 cents. The fare remained the same for 18 years until 1948 when it became 13 cents. In 1950 it rose again to 15 cents. The fares continued to rise; 17 cents in '52 and 20 cents in '54. The final rise for the streetcars came in 1960 -- a quarter a ride.

Today of course the streetcars have passed from the scene -- all that is left are few remaining trolley tracks -- in Georgetown, around Union Station, etc. But the streetcars played a major role in the early development of both Washington and Chevy Chase, and on that account, they should never be forgotten.

Churches of Chevy Chase Circle
Tim Hannapel

I chose this particular project because I think a church is something that figures heavily in many people's lives. I chose these four churches, All Saints Episcopal Church, Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church, Chevy Chase Baptist Church, and the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, because each one of them played a key role in the beginning of Chevy Chase.

Why did these four churches cluster around Chevy Chase Circle and the line between Maryland and the District of Columbia? One explanation is that they wanted to serve the growing communities in both Maryland and the District. But there could have been other reasons; maybe the cost of the land was influential, maybe the promising development of Chevy Chase was an incentive. One way to answer these questions is to investigate the history of each church.

ALL SAINTS EPISCOPAL CHURCH
All Saint's Episcopal Church was established in 1897 by the Rev. H. Allen Griffith, who held the first service on the west side of the circle, on land donated by Francis G. Newlands, congressman from Nevada and financier of the Chevy Chase Land Company.

Rev. Griffith was soon succeeded by the Rev. Thomas S. Childs, who wanted a permanent parish established. In 1901, the cornerstone was laid for a new church, and in December of that same year, it was formally opened. At that time, Chevy Chase Village consisted of a mere 49 houses.

Canon Austin succeeded Rev. Childs in July of 1911. In 1917, Austin built a Guild Hall to promote the work of the young people.

In 1921, building of a new church was proposed. Therefore, an addition was constructed adjacent to the church and the original wall was knocked out in order to double the seating capacity of the old church.

Canon Austin died in 1923 and was succeeded by the Rev. Henry Teller Cocke, who commenced further construction. Under the new church, an assembly hall and a well equipped kitchen were added. The new church was built of native stone. One hundred twenty five feet of ground on Oliver Street were purchased for purposes of expansion.

Because of its unique position between Grafton Street and Western Avenue, when couples were married, there arose a persistent controversy over whether to obtain a marriage license in Maryland or in the District of Columbia. For example, when Donald Carpenter (president of the Chevy Chase Citizens Association) was married in All Saints Church, he had to get a Maryland marriage license, although his guests sat in the District of Columbia!

In 1943, the church was in a position to pay off its debts. Rev. Cocke had been forced to resign because of a stroke after 20 years of service to the church. In that same year, the Rev. Charles Wesley Lowry came to the church to assume the duties of rector.

Meanwhile, the church school was still going strong, and in 1940 it had reached a peak attendance of 600 students.

In 1949, it was proposed that more additions be made to the church. Hence, two new transepts were constructed, one on the north side of the church, and a second on the south side. A three-story tower, a three-story parish residence, and a garage were also constructed.

Rev. Lowry resigned in 1953 and was succeeded by the Rev. Frederick H. Arterton. Rev. Lowry quit the active ministry in order to write and lecture on the Communist threat.

In.1956, All Saints received a new rector, the Rev. Dr. Charles E. Berger. His ministry started appropriately on All Saints Day.

CHEVY CHASE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
The members of the newly formed Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church, in 1908, applied to the Washington City Presbytery to build a new church at Chevy Chase Circle. At first, the Presbytery was reluctant to grant permission, saying that it was too far out from the center city and would probably never be developed. However, the Presbytery granted the request and 23 enterprising members got their plans together in the Chevy Chase Library. Harry M. Martin paid $1,000 for the several lots on which the present church stands. The members held their first prayer meetings in private homes on Friday evenings. Ground for the first church was broken in July, 1910, and the dedication took place on January 8, 1911.

The present church was dedicated on May 18, 1924. The "Church House" on Chevy Chase Parkway and adjacent to the church, used for administration purposes, was purchased in 1927.

Since many people had to cross muddy fields to get to the church, it was not an unusual sight to see parishioners take off their muddy boots and put on their Sunday shoes at the threshold of the church when they arrived for services.

The first minister, the Rev. Dr. Samuel Johnson, was with the parish only a few months. He was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. Hubert Rex Johnson, who was installed in 1909 and was forced to resign in 1924 because of poor health. He remained as minister emeritus until 1945. He, in turn, was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. Douglas Putnam Birnie, who served until 1926. In that same year the Rev. Joseph Hillman Hollister came to the church as minister.

The present church, which was constructed in 1924 at a cost of $110,000, seats 700 and won a gold medal from the Architectural League of America. It also won the Gold Seal Award for Ecclesiastical Design at the 1921 Annual Exhibit of the Architectural League of New York (held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art).

In 1932, a church school was built at a cost of $70,000. The impressive building was constructed of native stone. The main use of the building was education.

After over 25 years of service to the church, the Rev. J.H. Hollister retired in 1956 and was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. W. Paul Ludwig.

CHEVY CHASE BAPTIST CHURCH
The organizer of the Chevy Chase Baptist Church was the Rev. Dr. E.O. Clark. The first public worship was held in the music hall of the Chevy Chase Theatre (now the Avalon Theatre) in 1923. Services were held there for the next two years.

The present site at 5671 Western Avenue, about a block from Chevy Chase Circle, was purchased in 1925 and the cornerstone was laid for a Tudor style frame church. A frame Sunday School was constructed adjacent to the then new church in 1928.

Since the size of the congregation had more than doubled by 1938, plans were made to construct a new church with a larger seating capacity. These plans did not materialize until ten years later, when enough funds were found to begin construction. The style was Colonial, built of red brick, with a large steeple.

In 1956 the Rev. Dr. Clark retired after thirty two years of service to the church. His parishioners honored him with the gift of a trip to Europe. He was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. Bryan F. Archibald.
In 1959, a new education building was dedicated. It was the same style as the church itself (colonial, red brick), was designed by Corning & Moore, architects, and contains 37 classrooms, a parlor, a library, six offices, a first aid room, a reception room and a chapel seating ninety.

SHRINE OF THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENT
This church began as an outgrowth of St. Ann's Catholic Church in Tenleytown. In 1910, Monsignor Thomas G. Smyth had just come to St. Ann's from St. Stephen's. He was asked by Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore to start a mission in Chevy Chase. Msgr. Smyth's first services were held in the Chevy Chase Library in April, 1910; there were about fifty people present.

A meeting was soon held to raise funds to build a permanent chapel and rectory, and a committee was appointed to find a site for the proposed buildings. Work was begun on the chapel, on the present site, in April, 1911 and the pebble-dash building was dedicated not long after.

By this time, the membership at St. Ann's had skyrocketed to 300 people. Msgr. Smyth needed an assistant to help with the problems at St. Ann's and at the new church. He had decided he would like to be permanent pastor at Blessed Sacrament, and since he had to travel between Tenleytown and the new church in a small, noisy automobile, he thought a rectory should be built. A dance at the Willard Hotel and a bazaar raised adequate funds for construction. The new rectory was completed on April 24, 1921.

At this time, Msgr. Smyth requested permission of Cardinal Gibbons to be made full time pastor of Blessed Sacrament. The Cardinal consented.

In June, 1923, plans were drawn to add three classrooms onto the chapel in order to start a grade school. The school opened in September with an enrollment of 62.

Steps were taken to raise funds to build a new and larger church. A committee was appointed to find an architect. They selected Maginnis & Walsh, an architectural firm from Boston. In September, 1924, the cornerstone was laid and on November 2, 1927 the new edifice was dedicated by Bishop Curley of Baltimore. The new church cost $250,000 and seated 800. The style is Late English Gothic and incorporates a 108-foot tower.

In February, 1933, construction began on a new convent. The convent was Tudor style, with three stories, including a small chapel. The building accommodated 12 sisters of the Holy Cross, who taught and ran the parochial school.

In 1936, the parishioners contributed $11,000 towards a new set of chimes. The new and louder bells were rung at 6:00 a.m., noon and 9:00 p.m. The neighbors complained of noise, so the pastor changed the ringing to 7:00 a.m. However, this did not appease the neighbors, and twenty two of them asked Justice Joseph W. Cox to stop the bells, claiming they were loud, high and annoying. Judge Cox asked the church to show why the bells must be rung. Msgr. Smyth stated that ringing the bells was essential to the Catholic services. Judge Cox decided that the bells should be rung.

Soon after this controversy, the rectory was visited by a couple after the ringing one morning. The man identified himself as the president of the University of Sydney, in Australia, and said that he and his wife were visiting this country as delegates to the recent Harvard tercentenary; they were attracted by the sounds of the chimes and began to look for them. When told that he had found the right place, the man exclaimed, "Thank goodness we have found them. It has taken us twenty minutes to locate those chimes." They were so struck with the extraordinary beauty of tone that they had sought the source. The man went on to say that the bells were "infinitely more beautiful" than the chimes recently installed at the University of Sydney as a memorial to the war dead at a cost of more than $100,000! (The bells at Blessed Sacrament were put in at a cost of $11,000.)

In 1951, Msgr. Smyth died and was succeeded by Monsignor Edward Roach.

In 1952, a large addition to the school was completed, which included several classrooms and an auditorium.

In 1965, a new auditorium/gymnasium, with meeting rooms and several offices, was constructed at a cost of $600,000, nearly three times as expensive as the church itself. The gymnasium was constructed of stone, in the same style as the church, the convent and the school. The building was dedicated to Msgr. Roach, in gratitude for his many years of service to the church.

In 1968, Msgr. Roach was forced to resign because of poor health, but remains pastor emeritus to this day. He was succeeded by Msgr. Louis Quinn, who became pastor of St. Matthew's, here in D.C., in the spring of 1974. He was succeeded by Msgr. Leo Corbett.

I Remember
Walton Shipley

During the summer of 1973 we went to the community, asking for personal recollections. Walton Shipley answered our call. Following is what he wrote about some of his experiences as a child in our neighborhood as it used to be.

About 1904, when I was two years old, my father, William H. Shipley, and his brother in law, General Anton Stephan, found thirteen acres for sale in what was then known as "the country," and they purchased this land, dividing it so that my father, a farmer at heart, had most of the rich bottom land and also the very old tenant house, soundly built but in great need of repair, and my uncle had possession of the remainder of the land. This house now faces north instead of south, as it did then, and is now 3562 Alton Place. The land lay just west of Soapstone Quarry between Albemarle and Pierce Mill Roads, now bounded by Albemarle, Yuma, 35th, and 36th Streets. Soapstone Creek meandered through this tract, and woods and Civil War fortifications crowned the hills.

Probably it is best to begin in the east, as the sun does. The old original D.C. boundary marker, where Western Avenue meets Rock Creek Park, dates back to 1790 or so, and is fairly well known. There was a fine swimming pool in Rock Creek known as "Shady Rock." It was deep enough to dive into, and there were dressing rooms. This extremely popular spot was a little above the ford above Pierce Mill and can still be easily found. Soapstone Creek exits a very short way north of the old ford, and there are somewhat overgrown trails along its banks. This was a favorite route of President Taft, who used it frequently, stopping in our yard on one occasion to ask for a drink of water. This creek was once full of life --minnows and crayfish provided bent pin fishing. Now it is so highly polluted that no life can live in it.

But up this valley to the Dunbarton College grounds on the left is a historic land marker, dated 1863, bearing the initials "PS- JBK." Just beyond is a grove of the semi tropical paw paw trees, and past them, still on the south side of the creek, are flint boulders used by the Indians in the manufacture of their weapons. There was a Park Service pamphlet printed a few years ago showing a trail to one of their quarries.

A little more to the west was the area used as a camping ground by some Civil War soldiers. There was a huge beech tree bearing the carving, "W.T. HOLT, 53rd Indiana Volunteers, June 1865." The war was then over, and it was the time of the grand review before the army disbanded. In back of Connecticut Avenue is another huge tree where the troops' headquarters were located. There was a fine spring there. Long after the turn of the century, people would ride the open streetcars to picnic in the shade of this beech, drink the spring water, and wade in the creek.

This part of Soapstone Valley was also, in the twenties, the home of the Albemarle Athletic Club, composed of neighborhood boys. Besides the writer and his brother, there were the Willett, McDonell, Ludewig, and Rhodes brothers. Some made "Who's Who": Admiral Ludewig and General Cooper Rhodes survived Pearl Harbor and the Normandy landings to die in bed. The writer well remembers his first glimpse of his life-long friend Cooper, when he, an eight year old boy, met another boy of the same age, riding a pony in the woods. Today, August 3, 1973, Cooper was buried in Arlington Cemetery. These boys and others practiced in the woods and later hired a team of horses and hauled cinders from the Bureau of Standards to construct a cinder track on the north side of Albemarle west of 30th Street, which was the scene of several track meets with teams from Mount Pleasant.

Sometime prior to this, some of these boys built a system of covered trenches and huts. They named it "Moleville," and it was great fun until a cow caved in the roof. This was also in the 3000 block of Albemarle.

Before we leave that portion of Soapstone Valley, east of Connecticut Avenue, it should be mentioned that this once beautiful area is now a dumping ground. There is much poison ivy, as well as wild flowers in profusion. The creek once teemed with minnows and crayfish, as well as snakes. Now, if one sees the end of a snake glide into a hole, he may be sure it is merely the tail of a rat. There are chipmunks and squirrels, and an occasional pair of ducks. In the rear of the businesses on the Avenue, the rats can be seen by the dozen. Quite often, the creek is filled with sewage or oil, and sewer tops or plugs have been removed from their positions for a year at a time. There were culverts leading under Albemarle Street and under Connecticut Avenue which have been "explored" by children. The larger one, under Albemarle Street, had an iron grating erected by the city after a complaint was made to the police of this practice of tunnel exploration. The grating is since down.

North of Albemarle and east of Connecticut was a farm owned by a German. This farm and farmer will be mentioned further on in the section on police.

Albemarle Street just west of Connecticut Avenue once had a short but steep hill which made a perfect stop for our sleds when we coasted down from Grant Road. This made a splendid slide, of a coasting to a stop just as the Avenue was reached.

The creek crossed and re-crossed Albemarle. At the exit of each culvert was a deep hole, and we had many a swimming hole, with little danger of typhoid fever.

To the south of Albemarle and to the west of Connecticut Avenue was Soapstone Hill and the quarry. We boys often snowballed the teams of horses passing way down below. The drivers sometimes would stop and climb the cliffs, but by then we would be elsewhere. The quarry made an ideal place for a series of "forts," with walls made of soapstone. Some publications have placed this quarry east of the Avenue, but it was really at the intersection of Alton Place and 35th Street. Probably at a later date bulldozers moved the remaining soapstone to the east sides. We sometimes built fireplaces of this stone, to gleefully see them explode when heated.

The creek bent at what is now 3503 Alton Place to Yuma Street. There was another series of huge beech trees with another cool spring. We boys cooked and ate frog legs there. In fairly recent years, a man named Perry rented this land and built a large pond much enjoyed by ice skaters. The creek then crossed what is now 36th Street, and formed two ponds, which we called "frog ponds," where the Sheridan School now stands.

Election night in those days was an event. Hopefully, the men would ride the trolley cars downtown to see the results on billboards in front of the big newspaper offices. The women would gather in one house, doors and windows barricaded with dish pans hung to give alarm. Finally, the men would return with the same old news: Bryan had lost again!

The corner of Albemarle and 38th Streets was a very lively place every Saturday night. The firm of Harper and Voight had a stable there, with hundreds of horses and mules. The drivers would gather under the street lights for a game of "craps." I never heard of them bothering anyone nor of the very efficient police bothering them. When this stable was removed some years later, homeless rats roamed the vicinity by the swarms. Pictures were in the papers of them on people's front yards.

There is still another beech tree in this story. This was at about Yuma and Reno Roads. Here, on a Sunday morning would gather the white gamblers for cards and dice. The police would raid this game very often, probably at the request of a wife or wives. I believe little attempt was made to arrest anyone. This leads to personal contact tales of the police of that day.

There was the station on Wisconsin Avenue across from what is now Sears. The men were mounted on beautiful big horses, and were usually big beautiful men. 'There was a Sargeant McLucas, who had a big beautiful moustache and a big beautiful horse. One day, he rode onto our farm, leading my older brother. It seems that these older boys had been bothering the German farmer mentioned earlier. He had a "hex" around his property, but my brother and his pals had teased this man until he got out his shotgun. As he was about to use it, this Sgt. McLucas appeared and took the gun away. Then he set off in pursuit of the boys and found them hiding up in a tree. The good sergeant released my brother to my mother with the understanding that she was not to spare the rod. He departed as my brother howled in make-believe pain. Another time, I was walking my dog "Laddy" along a cinder footpath with no leash on the dog. I received a summons. I think every boy around wanted to be a "horse cop" at one stage of his life.

The creek turned north, under Albemarle Street, and passed through the stables of Harper and Voight. Then it crossed Grant Road, now Nebraska Avenue, to rise in a spring at what is now the Woodrow Wilson High School grounds.

The creek, now leading to Murdock Mill, rose on the western slope of the high land along Wisconsin Avenue and went west past what was known as "Robeyville," a cluster of homes on Alton Place at about 44th Street. It passed through a large pig farm following Murdock Mill Road. At about 45th Street the creek was dammed and made a large swimming pool. The creek went west under Massachusetts Avenue. The old mill race and the site of the old Murdock Mill may still be found, although the water is highly polluted. This creek was directed by a dike and tunnel around the Dalecarlia Reservoir and joins the Potomac.

NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS
Carol Kapstein
Ann Kuttner

The E.V. Brown School was on the land which is now occupied by the Chevy Chase Library and Community Center, at Connecticut Avenue and McKinley Street. The school opened its doors in March, 1898. It had been built by the Chevy Chase Land Company, which also paid its first teacher and principal, Miss Ella Given. Since this was the first school in the entire area, the students came from considerable distances. They came from the areas of Kensington, Maryland and Cabin John Bridge, as well as from both sides of Connecticut Avenue. There were twenty five students in all, ranging in age from six to sixteen years.

Miss Given was a great help to the school and the community. She watched it grow from a small institution of a mere twenty-five students to an overburdened facility of 533. Miss Given organized the first Home and School Association in this area. She is also favorably remembered, by anyone who went to the school, for her interest in teaching the students about nature. Since woods surrounded the school, it was convenient to show the students birds, such as blue jays, catbirds, warblers and other small animals that sometimes invited themselves to class. Hepaticas, bloodroots and other wild flowers filled the classrooms with a sweet smell.

The school building had four rooms featuring outside pumps, toilets, and a wooden plank crossing the mud as a walkway entering the school.

At first there were five grades in the school, and it wasn't until a second teacher, Miss Hendry., came in 1899 that there were seven. The usual subjects were taught such as Arithmetic, English, History and Geography. Many awards were given to outstanding students in these subjects.

Since there was a large playground at the E.V. Brown School, there were Chevy Chase teams. The boys played baseball and the girls played "schlag ball". The seventh and eighth grades competed with other divisions for penants and silver cups, while the lower grades competed between themselves.

After a while more rooms were needed at the school and in 1909 two rooms were added. Gradually additional rooms were built until there were sixteen altogether.

Because of the increased population in the Chevy Chase area in the middle 1920's, the E.V. Brown School became overcrowded. As a result the first portable schools were put up in 1923. These schools were collapsible and had their own heating and ventilation systems which functioned rather erratically. They cost $1800 to build and only $200 to take down.

Towards the end of 1928, however, the overcrowding problem had become even more acute. A group of Chevy Chase citizens formed the New Schools committee. This committee decided to request money from Congress to build new schools. Also, in 1928 it was decided that to help ease the pressure on the E.V. Brown School, all non-residents students would have to leave the District schools. Even this drastic measure did not cure the problem.

By 1929 there were portables covering the entire playground area of the school. There was no place for the children to play and the portables themselves were dark and depressing. They had seemed like a great idea, but they did not work completely. There was no lighting, so in the winter one could scarcely see. The heating systems almost never worked properly; it was either too hot or too cold. In 1929, there were three hundred children in portables and 960 in the school's sixteen rooms, which had a capacity of 640.

Portable schools had also been put up on Connecticut Avenue and Grant Road, now the site of Murch School, in 1928, and in that same year two portables were put up at Northampton Street and Broad Branch Road. The E.V. Brown School was called the "mother school" because all the schools in the community sprouted from her roots.

Nonetheless, with all the portable schools, E.V. Brown still remained overcrowded. So the schools were put on a half day session, a move which resulted in students getting a less effective education.

Fighting for more schools took a long time, but finally, in 1931, Ben W. Murch School was built, which helped to ease the overcrowding. It wasn't until Alice Deal and Lafayette schools were built that the congestion was suitably relieved.

The students of the E.V. Brown School went to these schools instead and the enrollment de-creased rapidly. In the late 1940's, the school was closed, but the building was kept as a library and a community center. Then, in 1968, the building was torn down and the new Chevy Chase Library and Community Center were built.

The E.V. Brown School will doubtless be remembered as the community's first school, library and community center.

Tenleytown Schools
The first school constructed in Tenleytown at public expense was the Grant Rd. School, School #3, built in 1876. There may have been some previous community effort to provide education; one source mentions a Grant Rd. School built in 1864.

In 1871, an Act of Congress was passed setting up a public school system for the District and creating 3 Boards of Trustees, one each for "the city of Washington", "the city of Georgetown", and "the county of Washington" (on this side of D.C. from Florida Avenue, then known as Boundary Street, on up). This Act also established a special tax of 85 cents to be levied against each $100 worth of taxable land in the County, 40 cents of which was to be set aside for the establishment of both white and "colored" schools here. The entire sum of money appropriated in that year for the County was $56,247.92.

Later, the administration was consolidated, creating in 1877 a Board of Education having 2 superintendents; one in charge of the colored schools in the city (Washington and Georgetown) and one in charge of both white schools in the city and of white and colored schools in the County.

The Grant Rd. School itself was a small, two-room frame building at the present intersection of Ellicott and 36th Streets, N.W., now the site of Ben Murch Elementary School. Originally, it faced Grant Rd., but the roadway here was later terminated, probably at the construction of Nebraska Avenue. It was one of a number of "freedmen's schools", typically 2- to 4-room frame buildings serving the children of former slaves, and often the older freedmen themselves. These schools were usually located on or near the arterial roads in this case, Wisconsin Avenue leading out into the surrounding countryside where many freedmen maintained small truck and dairy farms. The school at Grant Rd. educated the then sizeable black community at Fort Reno and continued in use as a "colored school" until 1902, when Reno School was built. Another such institution was located on Tunlaw Road, at the present site of Horace Mann Elementary.

In 1882 Tenley School was built, serving the white community of Tenleytown. No one is too sure exactly where it was. The most probable sites seem to be either on the present site of St. Ann's church and school, or else where Sear's is now, on Wisconsin Avenue north of Tenley Circle. Originally the brick building had only four rooms. In 1896, four more rooms were added, leaving the building two stories high, with a basement. It was heated by steam, instead of the more common and less efficient practice of using stoves in the various rooms (as at Grant Rd.). In 1890 there were 80 pupils, grades 1-6 and grade 8, and 7 teachers. The Grant Rd. School at this time was so crowded that the first three grades were run on a half-day basis.

The Grant Rd. school seems to have been phased out around 1902. It is not listed in the school directory for that year. In its place was listed Reno School #139 and the location given is Fort Reno. Reno School was still under construction, however, and was not occupied until 1903. Presumably classes continued at Grant Rd. through 1902, since the school's name is on a list of expenditures for annual repairs ($76.38) in that year.

In our methods of research we had to go purely from the statistics and tables in old Board of Education reports when dealing with these early schools. From these reports it appears that the Grant Rd. facilities were transferred to Reno.

At this time, Tenley School had 350 pupils 8 grades and 9 teachers and was run on a half-day basis. Tenley Annex was built, to relieve the crowding, on the comer of Brightwood Avenue and Flint Street, N.W. Although in 1908 it was recommended that the Annex (along with many other frame buildings in the County) be abandoned and replaced, it was still in existence as a school in 1918. The 8-room schoolhouse as a type was shelved at this time, except as the first stage of a 16-room unit.

Reno School
In 1917, the Reno School for Colored People was put in use as a night school for blacks. Three classes were taught; one "academic" course (probably English) and two "industrial" courses - e.g., cooking and sewing. There were 68 students. Reno was also listed in a 1918 brochure of night schools edited and printed by the students at Central High School. At some date before 1927, the night school was discontinued, and the building was employed as an elementary day school.

In 1925, a 5-year building program was initiated. As part of this program, an appropriation was secured to build Janney Elementary School, an 8 room structure, to replace Tenley School. Efforts were also made to secure a 4 room addition to Reno School. But by 1929 this addition was no longer required, because of shifts in the population ratio of blacks vs. whites. Evidently, the black community had begun to shrink, as large numbers of white families poured into the Tenleytown and Chevy Chase areas. (This population jump eventually necessitated the construction of Alice Deal Junior and Woodrow Wilson High Schools.) Thus, even after Janney',' was built, Tenley School was occupied for several years before being abandoned. At the dedication of Janney in 1929, Bernard Janney himself, supervisor of the Georgetown schools, spoke, as did Thomas Sidwell of the Friends School.

Ben W. Murch Elementary School was also erected in 1929, on the former site of the Grant Road School.

After Alice Deal was built in 1931, Reno School existed side by side with it sometime into the 1940's or early `50's. (Records break down after 1940 or so.) White children attended Deal, while the still existent black community had their "separate, but equal" facilities at Reno. The kids at Reno had their own little playground and the lower field (the soccer field), while the Deal kids had the larger upper field and the blacktop. An old pupil from Deal told us that she remembered seeing the black children playing across the path at recess; she said that in those days no one questioned the situation and no one even thought about it.

Today of all the schools covered in this article, only Janney is still in use, having replaced Tenley School. For a time, the E.V. Brown School in Chevy Chase maintained portables on the old Grant Rd. School site; today Murch School occupies that property. The Reno School building holds facilities for special education. We were unable to trace Reno School much further than 1930 in the records available to us, but personal accounts of former students at Deal indicate that it was occupied through the early 1940's, if not beyond. In the middle 1950's, court ordered integration began and there was no further need for separate schools.

Alice Deal Junior High
Alice Deal Junior High School was built in 1931. Its construction marked the culmination of
five and a half years of community efforts to secure building funds.

In 1926, a $100,000 appropriation was sought, but the money was not granted. The next year another request was made of the District Commissioners. Again they rejected it and instead, passed it on to the Bureau of Budget. Still the funds were not forthcoming.

In the fall of 1928 the school authorities told the District Commissioners to purchase the site of Fort Reno for the use of a school. When the property owners refused to sell the land, condemnation proceedings took place in order to acquire it. A $500,000 appropriation was again sought for construction purposes, and this time $200,000 was granted.

Construction began in August, 1930; the school opened on September 23, 1931.

Alice Deal was built to relieve the congestion that existed at the E.V. Brown School. Portable schools had been set up earlier at the present sites of Murch and Lafayette Elementary Schools, but it was not until Deal and Lafayette were built that the overcrowding at E.V. Brown ended.

Alice Deal JHS was named after Alice Deal (1877 1928). She was a math teacher at McKinley Manual Training School and also the founder of Washington's junior high school system. After Miss Deal came back from World War I in 1918 (having served as a nurse) , she was appointed principal of Columbia High School. She served in this capacity until her death in 1928.

When the first students entered Alice Deal JHS on September 21, 1931, the 24-room building was still under construction. Classes were held in the winter in the basement of the Ben W. Murch School (also under construction, but much farther along), because the rooms at Deal were too cold.

During the first semester, there was absolutely no equipment. There were no desks or chairs and there was no paper. By the second semester all the normal equipment was in full operation.
Miss Bertie Backus was the first principal of Alice Deal. She helped organize the school and was really the one who helped get it started.

Alice Deal was a very active school, both academically and socially. One of the main subjects of the school was science. There was an excellent science lab in the building where the students performed experiments, made terrariums or just studied. Everyone wanted to be a boy or girl scout, and social rings were quite important.

Also, one of the big events of the month was "Heel and Tie" day. That day the girls would wear stockings and heels, and the boys would wear suits and ties. In the afternoon the students would dance in the gym with a live band.

Alice Deal Junior High School is still in existence. The school has expanded. Additional wings have been added, but the early days of the school will always be remembered.

Woodrow Wilson High
After Alice Deal J.H. and Murch and Lafayette Elementary Schools had been built, another new school was needed --in this case a new high school. At that time, the students from this area (Chevy Chase, Tenleytown, and Cleveland Park) were sent to Western High School, which was rapidly becoming overcrowded.

In 1931, it was proposed by the Forest Hills Citizens Association that the entire Reno section be bought up for school, park, and recreational purposes. This proposal was left with the District Commissioners.

The Chevy Chase Citizens Association also pressed for a new high school for the community. We followed a series of pertinent articles in old copies of The Chevy Chase News, describing their efforts and concern, and the final general elation at the Commissioners' approval.

By the middle of November the purchase of the site for Wilson had been delayed for 9 months, Congress having granted the appropriations money of $180,000 in February of '31. On November 29 the Assistant Engineer Commissioner, Major H.L. Robb, was finally ordered to buy "Site A" (bounded by Albemarle Street, 41st Street, Nebraska Avenue and Chesapeake Street) for a sum not to exceed the appropriations money. If property owners refused to sell, condemnation proceedings would be instituted.

Major Robb had wanted to delay the purchase until the next session of Congress, but the citizens of the area made sure that the deal went through, utilizing the appropriations money while it was still available.

By the beginning of December 1931, the site for Wilson, 6.5 acres in all, had been bought for $109,700.

Shortly before building was to begin, the architect, Nathan C. Wyeth, was told that his plan would have to be revised since it would cost too much. To get the new plans ready by January 1st Wyeth's staff worked an additional 3 nights a week.

The original plans had Wilson facing Chesapeake Street, and closely resembling the then-existing Roosevelt H.S. Under the revised plan the school now faced Nebraska Avenue, with an athletic field out front instead of to the rear of the school. To cut costs further, a clock tower was built instead of a cupola (we're not sure why one was so much cheaper than the other).

On September 3, 1935, Woodrow Wilson H.S. opened, 3 months ahead of schedule. It had cost one and a quarter million dollars to build. The new structure had a gym, a heating plant, and one of the fanciest home economics facilities in the city, with a cooking lab, a sewing lab, and a completely furnished "living room." Another innovation was the large courtyard off the armory, where the cadets would drill. A Iarge auditorium was soon added.

The school opened with only sophomore and junior classes. All in all there were 670 students and 29 faculty members. The principal was Norman J. Nelson, a former assistant principal at Western.

The first graduating class -- the Class of '37 -- consisted of only 290 students. Wilson has the smallest graduating class that year compared with the other white high schools in D.C.

Wilson had a wide variety of clubs. Almost everyone in the school belonged to one of them. There was a club for riding, badminton, drama, hockey, tennis and different language clubs. There was also a swim team that practiced at the YMCA. One of the popular clubs was the Y-Teens. They raised money and gave parties for underprivileged children.

Wilson was never very different from other schools around the country. The kids followed the latest fads, sometimes adding their own - pearls, sweaters, saddleshoes, 'Dorothy' haircuts and patterned socks (now back in our hallowed halls). In 1945, LOOK Magazine picked Wilson as the most typical high school on the eastern seaboard, one of five around the country.

Cadets were really a big thing for a while. There was a rifle range in the Armory and nearly half the school seemed to belong to the cadet drill teams. After the war there was a drop in enlistments, and school authorities pushed a campaign in the junior high schools trying to revive interest. The resulting upsurge satisfied everyone. The cadet corps still exists today, though in greatly reduced numbers. The rifle range has since disappeared.

Fraternities and sororities also enjoyed immense popularity through the late forties and fifties. At one point there were nearly 17 or 18 in all. They had to be approved by the Board in order to cut unfair entrance regulations and any other unsavory practices. Belonging to an unapproved organization was a big status symbol, but if you were caught it meant you were barred from student government and from any but purely academic recognition. Today the "Greeks" have gone the way of the dodo -- extinct, at least at Wilson.

The Vanishing Breed
Bridget M.A. Coillins
In these days of tall apartment buildings and look-alike houses, there are still a few remaining members of a vanishing breed ---the estate. The high cost of their upkeep, high property taxes and progress have driven them to extinction. To raze or to rave? There are arguments for both sides.

Many of the old estates, however, are already gone and not all the ones that are left can be saved. The latter do add beauty to a neighborhood and, with work and money, they can be used for worthy projects that serve certain neighborhood needs. Each of the estates surveyed in this article has identifying traits that set it apart, whether it is the age of the estate, the previous owners, or how it was finally destroyed.

Many of the estates that were originally in the Chevy Chase-Cleveland Park area have gone the way of the Adlum Dent Sterrett holdings; they became our neighborhoods. In the 19th century, the Adlum Dent Sterrett holdings extended from Rodman Street to Pierce Mill Road, Rosedale Road east to Rock Creek and included the Bureau of Standards, Tilden and Upton Streets and many other parts of the area. The first owner was Major John Adlum, Revolutionary War hero and developer of the of the Catawba and other native grapes. He purchased or inherited most of the tract by 1819, which he named the Vineyards. Adlum died in 1836, leaving a widow and two daughters. The youngest daughter, Anna Maria, married Henry Hatch Dent in 1841. Shortly after their marriage, Mr. Dent bought 50 acres from Charles Nourse and called it Springland Farm. In 1950, Anna Maria died and H.H. Dent moved his three children back to Pennsylvania where his family lived. In 1874, Mrs. John Adlum finally died and the land went to Miss Adlumia Dent, one of Dent's daughters.

This property (that Adlumia Dent inherited) consisted of Adlumia's grandfather's estate, Vineyards, and her father's estate, Springland Farm. Altogether it came to about 280 acres with two fine houses. There is no definite date for the year the house at Vineyards was built.

In 1876, Adlumia Dent married James McBride Sterrett. They lived in Pennsylvania at first but in 1891, they moved back to Washington. By that time the large Adlum Dent Sterrett holdings were greatly decreased. Between 1888 and 1890, Adlumia D. Sterrett sold 230 acres of Vineyards and 17 acres of Springland Farm. All that remained were 33 acres surrounding Springland Farm. The land that the Vineyards occupied was sold to the growing Bureau of Standards and in 1911, it was razed.

Mrs. Adlumia Sterrett died in 1925 and her land was further divided between her five sons; Douglas B., John Adlum, Henry Hatch Dent, Robert and William Dent Sterrett. H.H.D. Sterrett was the rector at All Souls Memorial Church from 1917 until 1948. John Adlum and William Dent Sterrett were the primary ones concerned in building up their land on and around Springland Lane (originally known as Sterrett Lane). John A. Sterrett was the owner of Sterrett Operating Service, later sold to Hertz Corp., and part initiator and owner of Foundry Rubber, Inc. There are a few permits issued to him for building on Springland Lane, but he lived on first Rodman and then Tilden Streets and in 1929, he built a house on Tilden Street called the Vineyards. It now faces onto Reno Road.

William D. Sterrett was the real developer of Springland Lane. Between 1936 and 1941, he built 11 houses by himself, not to mention the ones he was hired to construct by his brother and others. Perhaps it is because some houses were already there when he started building, but Springland Lane has a curious set-up to it. On the left hand side of the street, there are a few houses and then woods with a small creek running through. There are houses that can only be reached by using someone else's driveway or backyard. Then there is a little milk-house, complete with well, that looks as if it had been there since Springland itself. At the bottom of the street there is a flight of stairs and a cobbled path leading up to an overgrown lane -- what is left of Idaho Avenue. Idaho Avenue was built and on the maps it runs from Tilden Street to Rodman Street where it merges with Rodman. In reality, between Tilden and Rodman, with the exception of a few houses at Tilden, Idaho Avenue is an unpaved lane with sewers.

At the bottom of Tilden is Springland, the original manor house of Springland Farm. It is made of red brick and is extremely well taken care of. Springland was built, according to the assessment guides, in 1807. Both Vineyards and Springland are still owned by the Sterretts, along with certain other properties in the immediate area.

The neighborhood that has grown up around Sterrett property has been lucky. With a little careful planning, the houses that were built fit right in. Not many blocks southeast of the Adlum Dent Sterrett holdings lies Tregaron, an estate whose subdivision would not add to the beauty of the surrounding neighborhood.

Tregaron is a 20-acre estate located between Macomb Street and Klingle Road. The homes near it on Newark Street and Highland Place were all built around the 1890's. The estate was once part of the neighboring Twin Oaks (now the Nationalist Chinese Legation), owned by Gardiner Green Hubbard. In 1911, half of Twin Oaks was sold to James and Alice Parmelee. Their home (Tregaron) was built in 1912.

The red brick house is in the Southern style and was designed by Charles A. Platt. The Parmelees did come from Cleveland, but Mrs. Parmelee had been a Washingtonian before her marriage. The house was originally named the Causeway because it could only be reached by passing over a bridge. The Parmelees lavished much attention on it, and it became a mystery house to the Washington community.

Mr. Parmelee died in 1931, leaving an estate of four million dollars, three fourths of which went to the National Cathedral and other charities. Mrs. Parmelee died nine years later, following a short illness. She also left gifts to the National Cathedral, Folger Library, and many worthy charities. The bulk of her fortune, however, was divided into two unequal parts: one third for her nephew and two thirds for the Washington Episcopal diocese for missions. In November of 1940, the Causeway was sold to former Ambassador Joseph Davies and wife for a sum rumored to be near the half million dollar mark.

With the coming of the Davies, the Causeway changed. First, Mr. Davies renamed it Tregaron which is Welsh for "the village of the three wells." Then in the spring of 1941, Davies held a book drive for the war effort and Tregaron was finally opened to the public. Mr. Davies had been the ambassador to Russia and it was he who had an authentic dacha (Russian summer cottage) built. That dacha is still in use today. Mrs. Davies added a Japanese garden to the grounds.

Between 1941 and 1955, Tregaron was frequently very visible on the Washington society pages. And once, in 1950, there was a fire at the servants' quarters between Tregaron and Twin Oaks that injured two firemen and cost $30,000. In 1955, the Davies were divorced. Mrs. Davies returned to her maiden name, Marjorie Merriweather Post and Mr. Davies got Tregaron.

After their divorce, Mr. Davies tried frantically to give Tregaron to the U.S. Government as a school for graduate students in international affairs or a home for the Vice President. When the government refused the estate, Davies separated the house from the lands and ordered it to be sold after his death. He died in 1958, at the age of 81. He divided the land between his three daughters ofa previous marriage, with bequests to his son-in-law Millard Tydings, his grandson, Joseph Davies Tydings, and his first wife. His fine collection of Imperial Russian historic and artistic works, which had been housed in Tregaron, went to the Smithsonian, Mellon and the Corcoran galleries. The money from the sale of the house went to the Joe Davies Scholarship Foundation in Watertown, Wisconsin and to the completion of the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Chapel in the National Cathedral.

A year later, Mr. Davies' three daughters had to buy the house themselves. For Mr. Davies had left no outside access roads when he divided the house from the land. The house was an island amid family property.

In 1960, a renter was found for Tregaron and part of Mr. Davies' dream came true. The Fund for Foreign Service Education Inc., a volunteer organization of retired and active foreign service officers, set up the Advanced Study of International Communications and Understanding at Tregaron. They held seminars there, largely to prepare people who were going overseas professionally, for the foreign language and customs. After a while the school faded.

The heirs were trying to sell the place when a stroke of luck hit. The newly formed Communications Satellite Corp., in need of office space, leased Tregaron for two years at the comparatively low price of $1400 a month. Initially, they had evinced a dislike of the house, but they soon discovered that in the first hectic weeks of organization, its isolation was actually an asset. Twenty months later, Comsat moved to more conventional quarters on L Street.

In 1965, the Russian government began investigating the possibility of buying Tregaron for their new embassy/chancery. This was after the Russian attempt to purchase Bonnie Brae had already died. Mr. Davies' heirs liked the idea because their taxes had become too high. The Russians liked the idea as did the U.S. government. But unhappily, Tregaron's neighbors and the local citizens' associations did not. Accordingly, they raised sufficient objections so that the plan never even reached the zoning boards.

The heirs rented the house to the L'Enfant Montessori School until 1972, at which time the school could no longer afford its rent. That summer, the Washington International School leased it and is still operating there. This school started with 3 children in a basement and now goes from Junior House and Middle House to Tutorial House. It teaches in English, French, and Spanish and hopes to add other languages beginning with Japanese and Arabic. Most of its pupils are from foreign countries.

Of course, the interior of Tregaron does not look like a school, but it has adapted. The dining room is now the gym and the bedrooms are all classrooms, filled with books and desks. It's a bit shabby, but Mrs. Goodman, director of the school, has more plans for Tregaron.

Mrs. Stephenson, also of the school, told me that they hope to buy Tregaron and put certain recreational and cultural facilities in for the community. She said there were also two other groups trying to buy Tregaron, high rise developers and a group that wishes to buy it so they can hold international prayer breakfasts there. The high rise will probably be stopped by the neighbors. Although the other group would not detract from the neighborhood's charm, the Washington International School would probably be best for the neighborhood.

An estate similar to Tregaron was Bonnie Brae, located on Oregon Avenue. Bonnie Brae shows a third possibility for a fading estate. It became neither a neighborhood nor a school, but was razed to make way for a group of modern townhouses separated from the rest of the neighborhood.

The Mathews Woods Corporation originally owned the seven acre estate in 1926 when the house was built. That year, Miss Emma T. Hahm bought the house and land. She also helped found and own the Allies Inn. She lived there happily and quietly until her death on August 11, 1949. By 1954, the house and land were owned by Nathenal Lutherell. He acquired additional surroundings and sold it all to Martin Decker in 1962 or 1963.

Decker is responsible for the emergence of Bonnie Brae into the news headlines. He tried to make a deal with the Russian Embassy wherein he would trade them Bonnie Brae in exchange for their property on 16th Street and also get the contract to build their new embassy/chancery. The zoning board changed the zoning to allow the Russians to build there. However, the citizens associations claimed that the zoning board had acted under pressure from the U.S. Government, and therefore brought the case into court. District Judge Pine overturned the zoning board's decision.

The reason the government was anxious for the Russians to get a new embassy was because the American mission in Moscow also wanted a new embassy. The Soviet government refused to let the American embassy move until the Russian Embassy here did so first.

When the Russians informed Judge Pine that they intended to appeal for the third time (twice the zoning board ruled for them; both decisions overturned by judge Pine), he recommended that a new board should hear the case. The Commissioners asked for the board members' resignations and appointed a new board which ruled 3 2 against the Russians. Thereafter a Senate District Subcommittee approved a bill which banned chanceries from residential neighborhoods. The Russians gave up.

The Hawthorne citizens' associations and the Chevy Chase citizens' associations recommended Bonnie Brae as the perfect home for the Vice President in 1965. No answer was given.

By March of 1967; the 16-19 acre estate belonged to a group of real estate developers who wanted to build 80 townhouses on the property. Their names were Arnold, Richard Dorfmann and George Panagos. They obtained a change in zoning and permission to build.

Three months later, the Tudor style house burned down. The cause is still a mystery but the facts are that the blaze started around 5:00 p.m., June 8, 1967, in a mattress. It burned out of control for about half an hour. The interior was devastated and the slate roof caved in. The next day the city condemned the building.

Bonnie Brae is a neighborhood legend and no one seems to like the townhouses that replaced it. Before Chatsworth (the townhouses) was built, neighborhood children used to sled on Bonnie Brae's slopes and dare each other to enter the deserted house. It was even supposed to be haunted. Bonnie Brae was never perfect while it was vacant, but a good owner would have been preferable to Chatsworth, which is at best an artificial community.

The last house in this article is Firenzie House at Albemarle and Broad Branch Road. Firenzie House was built in 1927 on land that was previously owned by Edward P. Mertz. Then it was bought by Col. and Mrs. Arthur O'Brien. They named it Estabrook after Mrs. O'Brien's maiden name, Blanche Estabrook Roebling. Estabrook and the O'Briens avoided notoriety until they rented the house to the Hungarian minister and moved to Washington State. John Pelenyi had leased it for the Hungarian Legation and it was often in the social pages. He soon had political trouble with his government and was recalled. The new Hungarian Minister, George de Ghika, was considerably quieter. In 1941, Estabrook moved back into the spotlight when Col. and Mrs. Guggenheim bought it.

It was Col. M. Robert Guggenheim who changed the name to Firenzie House. Firenzie is Italian for Florence, his mother's name, and he had named many other possessions of his, including his yacht, Firenzie, too. They lived there during the summer season for five years. Then in February 1946, Firenzie House caught fire and turned into a three alarm fire with $1,000,000 worth of damage. The greatest damage was to Guggenheim's paintings and other objets d'art. Many rare and first edition books, two Titians, a Tenierrs, an organ, and French furniture worth $250,000 were destroyed. Chandeliers, tapestries, wood carvings from the library of Sir Christopher Wren, and a portrait of Col. Guggenheim's grandfather were also ruined. The fire was started by a faulty generator. Part of the roof collapsed and more damage was done by the rain pouring through the holes. The Guggenheims were away at the time and they had the house completely restored.

Firenzie House was left open in 1953, the year Col. Guggenheim was appointed ambassador to Portugal.

In 1959, Col. Guggenheim died of a heart attack after dining with a friend, Mrs. Kowles Morris. He was 74. Mrs. Guggenheim was in the hospital at the time with a heart condition. His estate was mainly divided between his fourth and last wife and his eldest son.

Firenzie, in 1961, was the eighth most expensive house in Washington. The assessed value was $470,000. A year later, the government claimed that Col. Guggenheim's estate owed them $169,548 in back taxes. It seemed that he had given a woman friend $800,000 in cash, jewels and property without paying the proper gift taxes, in the four years preceding his death.

Some time after that Mrs. Guggenheim married Mr. John Logan. Until 1970, Firenzie was quiet. Then Mrs. Logan announced that she might sell it because she spent so little time there. The Italians were interested in buying it for an embassy, but that came to nothing. The name of the owner as listed in the 1972 assessment guide is the American Security and Trust Company. Recently, it has been in the news again when there was a fire in the gatehouse. It is definitely up for sale at the present moment.

Though only one of these houses is really old, all of them have shaped their neighborhood. Sterretts built their neighborhood, Bonnie Brae and Tregaron united theirs, and Firenzie House might just have to do the same thing to remain in existence.

How Green Was Washington
Margaret Murray
Patty Blakely

Most of us rarely stop to think about what a friend we have in trees, especially here in Washington. Without the trees, our streets would be unbearably hot and polluted, as trees offer shade from summer sun and release oxygen while taking in carbon dioxide. Trees provide a shelter for the birds and squirrels that help make the city livable, and trees give a home or an entire neighborhood a sense of peacefulness and privacy. From an economic viewpoint, our trees can save money in serving as sun and wind blocks that cut down on the cost of cooling or heating a house, and, if planted correctly, trees can prevent erosion of soil which would be costly to repair. Even without mentioning the simple beauty a tree offers, they are very useful gifts of nature that are often mistreated.

The history of the appreciation of trees in Washington begins with our founding fathers, who were impressed with D.C.'s fine woods when the city was planned. In fact, the dense treelands covering much of the D.C. area played a major role in George Washington's choice of the site. Twentieth century observers have wondered why Washington, an experienced surveyor, would have chosen a site where oppressive heat and humidity would blanket the region. The reason is simply that the area in the 1790's had such a dense growth of trees that it enjoyed a kind of natural air conditioning. Unfortunately, Washington also conceded to new land owners the ownership of the "woods on the land", and the right to remove same. Citizens then proceeded to cut many of the trees down, using the wood for the construction of cabins and other structures. Washington became concerned when D.C. settlers destroyed the trees, and feeling there was a need for conservation, he and Pierre L'Enfant included space and money for the planting of trees in their plans for the construction of the federal city. However, not enough attention was paid to the city's trees until later in the 1800's.

"Plant trees! Dammit, I tell you to plant trees and keep on planting them!"

This exclamation was made in the early 1870's by Governor Alexander Shepherd of Washington, concerning his plan to make the city a tree-shaded capital. He initiated his plan formally in 1872 with the volunteered services of William Saunders and John Saul, employees of the Department of Agriculture, and William Smith of the Botanical Gardens. These gentlemen gave their time to be administrators to the newly formed Parking Commission, a branch of the old Engineers Department. Their responsibility was planting and caring for the trees and keeping the area around them tidy.

A small crew of approximately seven nurserymen and laborers was hired, and despite the frugal manner in which the Parking Commission conducted its business, it was always plagued with financial troubles. Nevertheless, Washington did become greener each year, until it was informally christened "City of Trees".

The men truly responsible for the greening of Washington were Trueman and Clifford Lanham. Trueman Lanham was the first supervisor of the Parking Commission, and subsequently, his son Clifford took the job. So, from 1872 to 1943, a span of 71 years, the Lanhams planted trees in Washington.

The Parking Commission operated from the National Arboretum which is still located at Bladensburg Road at M Street, N.E. Young trees are still planted there, and at an appropriate time are transplanted to streets and other public places. The Department of Highways and Traffic is the modern version of the Parking Commission and is still headquartered at the Arboretum.

Since the days of the Lanhams, the attention paid to the city's trees has declined sharply, and Washington has begun to lose its distinction as a city of trees. Since 1969, however, the city has been divided into three areas for tree maintenance and, supposedly, all the city's 350,000 street trees are now checked at least once every six years.

On November 8, 1960, in tribute to the trees in Washington, the scarlet oak, known for the brilliant color of its autumn leaves, was designated the official tree of Washington.

If apathy about the city's trees is on the rise, Arbor Day, a familiar holiday, helps keep us aware of our magnificent trees.

In 1872, when tree planting here was encouraged by Governor Shepherd, J. Sterling Morton of Nebraska established Arbor Day, a time for the celebration of the beauty of trees. Morton had planted trees around his home to block wind and hold topsoil, and when news of his success spread, many of Morton's neighbors followed suit. On the first Arbor Day, over one million trees were planted in Nebraska alone, and after sixteen years, Nebraska became known as the "Tree Planter's State".

As for the success of the founder, Mr. Morton wrote several articles on trees in the Nebraska City News and later became Secretary of Agriculture under President Cleveland.

At present, Arbor Day is celebrated on or near Morton's birthday of April 22, with ceremonies and tree planting in every state of the country except Alaska. Arbor Day is a good opportunity to spread knowledge about the planting and care of trees, and as a monument to J. Sterling Morton reads, "Other Holidays Repose Upon the Past; Arbor Day Proposes for the Future".

Climatically speaking, Washington is well adapted to tree planting. It has mildly cold winters and very warm and humid summers. For this reason, foreign and exotic trees as well as native varieties grow to be hardy specimens, and large trees of seventy to ninety feet are not uncommon, even on cramped streets. In wandering one can find many species which are adapted to street use in Washington, such as elms, sycamores, the many varieties of oak and maples, tulips, lindens, sweetgums, and hickories. Therefore, to appreciate fine trees, going to parks and forests is not always necessary.

Naturally, as Washington is plentiful in tree species, there are many varieties which yield products. Since we live in the city, we need not worry about living off these products, but it can be fun and economical to avail yourself of Mother Nature's most bountiful provider. Below is a list of some of the edible and less commonly known tree products.

1.Pignut, shagbark, bitternut and mocker nut hickories have nuts which can be collected in fall.
2.Nuts from the beech tree and the chestnut tree are also collected in fall.
3.Red mulberry trees yield a delicious fruit which can be collected from early to midsummer.
4.Persimmon trees yield a fruit which is best when picked in winter, as the fruit becomes sweeter the longer it stays on the tree.
5.Black walnuts can also be collected in the fall.
6.Sassafras roots can be dug to be boiled in water, making a sweet pink tea.
7.Basswood or linden trees yield small flowers in spring which, when dried, make a fine tea.

The nuts mentioned are all enclosed in a husk which can be pounded off to reveal an inner shell. The best foraging can be done in Rock Creek Park or other densely forested areas, and sometimes on the city streets. But remember to never eat a wild product unless you have made a positive identification, and don't harm or break the trees in your enthusiasm.

Some of the interesting foreign trees we mentioned that can be found in Washington are the gingkos.

The ginkgo tree is an immigrant of China, growing in temperate areas. It is considered a living fossil which at one time had as many species as the oak does now. It is extremely suited to street tree use because of its resistance to smoke, dust, wind, ice and insects. It gives shade yet is very compact. Its leaves are small, fan shaped, have approximately two lobes and turn bright yellow in fall. Yet for all its perfection, the ginkgo has one nasty drawback --the annoying smell of the female fruit. In fall when the fruit drops to the sidewalks and streets, streetcleaners must come to carry it away before the smell saturates everything. The fruit does have an edible nut which is highly prized in its native China, but few people here can stand the smell.

The ginkgo tree itself has an illustrious history. In the Orient it is revered and grown in temple gardens. The translation of its name is "silver fruit". In our country the ginkgo fruit was used in the 1950's as an aid to cancer research. In 1961, after three years of research, the University of Virginia extracted a chemical called hexenol from the leaves of the ginkgo, which is now believed to be the key to the tree's resistance to insects and bacteria, and might be used to strengthen other trees.

Some fine specimens of the ginkgo tree in Washington grow on Gramercy Street between 38th and 39th Streets, N.W. These trees are female and reputedly pungent, so the best time to see them would be in the spring or summer.

Aside from providing us with edible and sometimes smelly fruit, some of Washington's trees provide us with snatches of fascinating history. Here are the stories of two of those trees which unfortunately are no longer in existence.

* Hundreds of years ago, the Indians of this area used a gigantic oak tree to mark their course while sailing up the Potomac River. This tree, known as the "Signal Oak", stood at a point higher than all the surrounding land and treetops, at what is now the corner of Wisconsin and Massachusetts Avenues. The tree was used similarly by the men who conducted the river commerce from Alexandria to Georgetown in the days of the American Revolution. Still later, it was used by the soldiers and seamen of the Civil War as a navigation point, and as the site of countless meetings. When Massachusetts Avenue was laid out in 1911, the historic Signal Oak was found to be too large and its roots too extended to be able to spare. So on July 3, 1911, the tree was removed. It took sixty sticks of dynamite to destroy a landmark that had served the people of this area for hundreds of years.

* In 1765, John Bartram, Royal Botanist of England, discovered a tree deep in the woods 'of what is now Georgia. Bartram named the tree after an American inventor and statesman. This "Franklinia" tree has never been seen in the wilds since, but in 1927 a Franklinia tree was discovered in the wilds of Chevy Chase Circle. At that time, one hundred and fifty years after its discovery, about a half dozen Franklinia trees were known to be in existence. A suggestion was made to transplant the tree to a safer place but it was discouraged by Chevy Chase residents, and with the passage of time, the Franklinia tree disappeared. Perhaps the rare tree died at a ripe old age, or was later moved without notice. At any rate, the National Arboretum has several hardy specimens of John Bartram's "Lost Rose of Georgia" in its care. We hope that perhaps the tree from Chevy Chase Circle is with them.

If all the wonderful trees of Washington are to survive, it is important that their owners be aware of the tragedies that can befall them, and what to do about a diseased tree.

Washington has already lost its beautiful chestnuts partly due to negligence during the blight which occurred here from the turn of the century and lasted until most of the chestnuts were destroyed. The chestnuts blight was caused by a fungus and spread by insects. This fungus is known to be damaging to post oaks as well.

Another devastating disease to kill our city's trees has been the Dutch Elm disease, caused by the fungus ceratostomella ulmi. The disorder was discovered in the Netherlands in 1919 and came to this country from England in about 1930 with bark beetles found in the wood of shipping crates. The first case of Dutch elm disease was discovered in Washington in 1947, has killed hundreds of elms since, and has caused the United States in excess of $1 billion in damages. DDT sprays used in 1964 to counteract the fungus were not found entirely helpful, and the chemical was known harmful to birds and animals.

In recent years however, since DDT has been banned, a chemical called methoxyclor, rated 10 to 34 times less toxic than DDT, has been found effective in killing the elm bark beetle. In advanced cases, the diseased parts of the tree can usually be destroyed in order to let the rest of the tree survive.

As elm bark beetles can spread the disease more than 1 or 2 miles in a single season, the most important thing is to be able to detect it. The Dutch elm disease causes wilting and yellowing of leaves during June or July, and later, the discoloration of the bark.

Presently, new sprays are being developed to combat the Dutch elm disease, and trees resistant to the disease are being bred. In the meantime, if any of your trees seem discolored or weak, contact the Department of Highways and Traffic at 629-4435 for advice.

With all the enemies that trees must live to resist, perhaps the most devastating threat of all is mankind and "progress." The average tree is not quite as average as you may think. Each tree is chosen to fit its space according to soil types, width of planting space, setback of buildings, location of street lights, atmospheric conditions, prevailing winds, character of neighborhood and possibility of zoning changes. As easily as these factors can be dealt with to pro duce a fine, healthy tree, they can also be turned against one.

The soil around city trees is usually hard as rock, as humus is not allowed to build up to retain the soil's moisture. The sidewalks drain away the moisture and attract extreme heat and cold which harms fragile root systems. Planting spaces are so narrow that often surface roots are forced to growaround sidewalks and curbs. Overhead wires are nooses waiting to strangle and bruise tender bark.

Sometimes limbs of trees are hacked off, destroying symmetry and beauty. Street lights are hot and singe the leaves, and also attract damaging insects. Atmospheric conditions are so bad that dirt and toxic particles filter through and accumulate a layer of black soot, plugging the stomata (airholes) and slowing down the photosynthesis. Gentle prevailing winds are turned into monotonous air currents by tall corridors of buildings, and can permanently bend trees. People in the city scar the bark with cars, lawnmowers and penknives. Trees often become vulnerable to disease from these scars and can die.

Every winter when the snow falls, trucks come out and spread salt on the roads. Have you ever considered that this salt is saturating the roots of trees, draining the life out of them? At the turn of the century, commercial ice cream makers would dump their salt water on the trees and it was punishable by a fine.

As "progress" continues, people often forget about our trees, and lose their sense of
responsibility for them. But when a tree is planted, a new life has begun, and you are honor-bound to care for your trees.

CITIZENS ASSOCIATIONS
Marc Fishman

The first D.C. Citizens Association was organized in 1871 by a group of Capitol Hill property owners and was called the East Washington Citizens Association. These Washingtonians had felt a lack, as Washington almost always has, of active, competent, and effective leadership and administration in local planning. The Citizens Association, which became an institution in many parts of Washington, was usually a formal organization of residents within a geographical boundary, most often a neighborhood, which had come together to fight civic evils and better or protect their home environment. Such organizations were more important as focal points for their individual neighborhoods than as influential political assemblies on a city-wide scale.

In 1874 Congress dissolved the territorial government of D.C., just three years old, and with it all forms of municipal suffrage. Although this date doesn't exactly coincide with the date of the formation of the first citizens association, directly following 1874 more citizens associations began to sprout and by the 1880's the movement had caught on. There may not have been a direct causal relationship between the abolition of the D.C. government and the advent of citizens associations but many conditions which arose because of the abolition influenced the shape and direction of the associations.

Congressional action of 1874 deprived the people of Washington of any vote or of any government responsible to them. The void left by this action certainly helped stimulate communities to take action on their own behalf. The citizens associations, as well as providing other functions, served as a political vehicle for interested Washington residents.

The lack of industry in Washington was another factor which influenced the particular evolution of the citizens associations. "Clerical and consumer interest" occupations prevailed. This usually limited the associations to natters of commercial as opposed to industrial nature; the labor question was never a big issue, but consumer questions were always high on the list.

Also, the high level of transience in the city provided potential hindrance to citizen participation in public affairs. There were many winter-only residents, many people on assignment from elsewhere, and these people were, of course, very reluctant to get involved.

Taxes in D.C. were (and still are) levied without the consent of the taxed, as well as without representation. This helped make the issues of taxes and the D.C. budget particularly popular. An important factor in shaping Washington history in almost all respects, especially politics, and specifically the citizens associations, has been the existence of those two gods --the House and the Senate District Committes. The citizens associations had to run to Congress for an appropriation in the budget for any improvement that it felt necessary, as well as, for example, to have a bill passed to approve Daylight Savings Time for D.C. This and the problem of taxation and the budget gave a frantic, complex tone to the activities of the citizens associations and to all citizen participation in politics.

Initially, the citizens associations were neighborhood groups concerned only with their own section of town. Law forbade D.C. borrowing and all appropriations had to be expressly tabbed for specific projects, so there was fierce competition among the various associations for funding.

The Federation of Citizens Associations was formed in 1911 because of a need for unified action and the existence of several topics of common interest. Its purpose was to assume collective leadership for its member bodies as well as deal with civic problems of city wide scope.

The black communities of the city, being subject to, of course, all the same (and worse) conditions, had organized into Civic Associations, again to fight civic evil and improve the home environment. At some point, ten of these recently organized civic associations were warmly invited to attend a meeting of the Federation of Citizens Associations, to discuss the question of their membership in the federation, only to have their hosts expel them and vote to exclude them. In 1919 these associations formed their own central organization: the Federation of Civic Associations.

Since the associations had no official political power, victories were relatively hard to come by, especially during the earlier years. They did a lot of lobbying (lobbying then did not involve the large- scale political machinery as it does now), mostly indirectly and through the Federal and D.C. Commissioners. They made many proposals and recommendations, and issued ultimatums to the public in general. At the same time, all requests for action were generally addressed to the Commissioners as were copies of all resolutions.

The associations' influence with the Commissioners is amply demonstrated by the following statement from Louis Brownlow, who was chairman of the D.C. Commissioners during WWI,and was later more widely known as city manager for Petersburg, Virginia and Knoxville, Tennessee.

"I used to think these little citizen's associations were funny. I wondered if they thought they were really doing anything; but as various questions affecting the localities of the District, about which I had no particular information, began to come before me as Commissioner, found myself looking around for the little citizen's associations to find what it had to say. And during my term as Commissioner, I think what the Citizen's Association had to say about any given subject was the controlling factor in the decision."

In addition to its advisory powers, the citizens association also had ways of dealing with neighborhood problems through local resources. By means of its own treasury (membership dues) and funds it could finance projects of a modest scale (e.g., fund raising campaigns, small scale support programs, and committee work). But the stronghold of citizens association power was the ability to be both a vehicle and an agitator of public sentiment. Once aroused, the community would rally around its citizens association.

Louis Brownlow once called the citizens associations a "new and powerful instrument of dynamic democracy for the control of the community..." Brownlow had an interesting theory about the political role of citizens associations. He said that they provided for and demonstrated the possibility of "continuous democratic participation in local governmental affairs without the aid of the ballot box, or in spite of the hindrance of the ballot box..." He goes on to say:

"The presence of the ballot box in those two cities (Knoxville and Petersburg) meant that the citizen had accustomed himself to express his will with respect to community affairs by choosing between PERSONS, and that done he felt that he was not called upon to do more; the absence of the ballot box in Washington meant that the citizen, thwarted of his desires to express his will with respect to local government by choosing between PERSONS, found himself in his neighborhood association actually choosing between POLICIES..."

Citing that what was needed in the matter of community organization and administration was more and more continuous democratic participation, he said that this can only be gotten by means of the neighborhood association and not by elections. In conclusion, he said that all this means that,

"...in many respects the government of the District of Columbia, autocratic in form, is more democratically responsive to the people of the city than is the government of many cities in which the government is, in form, of the most advanced democratic model..."

At the same time Brownlow went into some of the weaknesses of the citizens associations. He cited as an internal structural deficiency of the associations the fact that not all the people with "public interest or public spirit (two entirely different things, sometimes found both in the same person and sometimes not)..." in any given community are citizens associations members.

In mentioning the great difference in the character of the various citizens associations he said that whereas, "Some have nearly approximately the wide community participation that have laid down as an ideal. Some have been tight little cliques representing a certain coterie of individuals. Some not many have been merely aggregations of me too poll parrots grouped around a single individual, who to all intents and purposes was himself the association."

As an external weakness he listed the ignorance and closed-mindedness of people who arbitrarily rejected the associations, as well as those who didn't allow for some level of imperfection, therefore underrating the potential importance of the association. In his 1926 article he also gave a warning of future dangers facing the associations. He said that as they would grow in power and influence, there would be the potential for domination by a petty politician.

Senator Arthur Capper who, for sometime, was the Chairman of the Senate District Committee, also felt strongly about the role of the citizens associations. (He is probably best remembered for his support of national representation for DC through the Sumners Capper-bill proposing a constitutional amendment.)

"Though the people of the District of Columbia have no direct representation in Congress, it is quite apparent to me, based on my experience as chairman of the Senate District Committee, that the residents of the National Capital are fully as interested and concerned with the problems of local government as the citizens of any State or municipality in the entire country. Indeed, it seems to me that a larger percentage of Washington people to be an active, instead of a merely passive interest in local affairs than is generally the case in a large city.

This is no doubt due to the fact that there is a very high standard of intelligence among Washington people, and while they do not enjoy all the rights and privileges of a democratic form of government, they have not by any means supinely resigned themselves to what might easily become an extremely autocratic regime if less interest were displayed by District residents. I firmly believe that the things which have contributed most to the general welfare of the DC are its fine body of civic and neighborhood associations, and the effective aid and support of the local development... Of one thing there can be no doubt whatever; the citizen associations of the DC are of real value in the upbuilding of the community and should have the active support of everyone who claims to be an American citizen."

Chevy Chase's Citizens Association began in 1909. Although this association was a civics oriented organization, during a portion of its existence, there was another role, the political role, for it to fill. Since the Washington political situation provided no other local decision-making body for Chevy Chase, the Citizens Association assumed a certain amount of political responsibility. Through its political, as well as other functions, the Citizens Association was instrumental in community development, representative of community dynamics, and contributed to Chevy Chase's status as a community.

The first meeting of the Chevy Chase Citizens Association was held on January 14, 1909, in the living room of its first president, P.L. Ricker. At the time there were 18 property holding families in Chevy Chase. Sixteen of them attended the meeting. By January, 1910, the membership had grown to 28. In his annual statement in 1910, President Ricker reported that during its first year, the association had been instrumental in the improvement of postal, milk, ice, garbage and trash collection services. In addition, the association had helped secure the replacement of oil street lamps with electric tungsten lamps; the placing of gas mains, the installation of sewer lines; the installation of fire hydrants; the building of an addition to the school; arrangement for police service during part of the summer and fall; the filling of several mosquito breeding, frog ponds; as well as the purchase of two fire ladders and some fire extinguishers. President Ricker also proposed goals for the association's second year. He mentioned surfacing or regular sprinkling of several streets to control dust, and establishing a permanent police patrol during school hours.

At this time there was no real community in Chevy Chase. Once the population increased to the point where there was a greater sense of self sufficiency a sense of community consciousness began to develop. And, as is generally true, as the beginnings of a completely functioning neighborhood appeared, the people also gained a greater sense of attachment to the neighborhood. With the advent of community consciousness, as well as the need for improvement, the local residents began to think mainly about growth. They saw large-scale expansion as inevitable and valuable, but because of a certain number of past misfortunes in planning, they felt a need to control and direct this growth. They wanted to set limits to protect their interests, at the same time wanting to stimulate growth to promote these interests. The community was fresh and undeveloped; as was the citizens association CIVICS! and the enhancement of the home environment were not to be compromised. Above all progress was the key.

In November 1920, there appeared in the Chevy Chase News (the "official organ of the Chevy Chase Citizens Association," started that same year), one of many such mini-orations characteristic of the civic and "progressive" spirit of the association.

"Money cannot buy good citizens, but a judicious outlay of a comparatively small sum (the $1.00 membership dues) will do more than any other one thing to turn the activities of child life into the proper and natural channels which lead to good citizenship." --Jacob Riis

Indicative of the association's influential role and its diligence in trying to solve matters of local importance, were its actions and accomplishments during its prime. In 1920, a campaign for the resurfacing of Connecticut Avenue was undertaken, because of the disintegrating and dangerous condition of the road. "Because of the association's having put pressure on all sorts of people (especially the Commissioners) and having kept at the Congress for appropriation, within two years, over $150,000 had been spent, more was on its way, and Connecticut Avenue was pretty much near paved.

Also in 1920, the Citizens Association was raising funds to cover installation and initial budget costs of a community library at the E.V. Brown School. It was assumed that after a few months the public library would take it over as a branch. Five years later the association was still funding the library. At this point, it was the association's decision to end support of the library, and its pressure on the public library and Congress for funds, that made possible the library's continued existence.

Among other things, the Citizens Association was instrumental in creating and focusing popular demand for more and better school facilities, and the paving of Military Road and Nevada Avenue.

The Citizens Association in these formative years of Chevy Chase helped give the area many of the dynamic characteristics of a community and some sense of community identity. Although the Citizens Association never had all the integral components of local government and had no legal mandate, it served many of the same functions as would a conventional political machinery. The activity and presence of the Citizens Association very closely approximated the status of government and corresponding citizenship that a community political system gives to its constituents.

The Association was also important in its role of boundary maintenance. Through this process, the definition and maintenance of community boundaries (both physical and otherwise), the Association helped preserve the identity of the community. Some of their activities relating to boundary maintenance included the juggling of membership territory, zoning battles, and other efforts to preserve the residential, and, as a separate issue, the elite character of the area.

The Citizens Association served in many cases as the institution through which community values were formed. The Association was also a vehicle for public sentiment. This is true of its dealings with almost all aspects of community life including the school system; building and growth plans; D.C. suffrage; and much later, political ideologies. Especially well reflected in the Chevy Chase News were such popular topics as church, home, America, and racial issues.

Chevy Chase continued to grow, especially once the trolley lines connecting it with the rest of the city began to have their expanding effect. Of course with added population came new businessmen, more money and greater development; by about 1935, the civics of the community and the Citizens Association had taken on a different character. The call for progress was waning. Although growth was still needed in some areas (specifically schools), the marathon period of modernization was over. The area had paved roads, gas mains and public transportation. Although everything could always use improvement, the area was already built up, and if anything, the Association was now more concerned with controlling runaway development and protecting their already established interests.

The people finally got around to recognizing that they were no longer villagers. They became obsessed with the "rural ideal" and the Citizens Association itself became an agent of the community's nostalgia and longing for a "simpler life." This is expressed by the following excerpt from the Chevy Chase News.

"Were Bygone Days The Better Days?"
"Deploring time changes has ever been an outlet for adult protests, and never was the theme more fruitful. But gone are the corner-store forums on politics; the sewing circle monitor on town ways and morals. People no longer meet merely to visit as they once did; we are too busy working for things, buying things, utilizing the products of invention and efficiency."

As a result of their immersion in the "rural ideal" and subsequently the recreation epidemic that swept the country with the advent of leisure time, the community and the Citizens Association became fierce park advocates. In order that they and their children could engage in wholesome play and escape from the "city jungle", an enormous campaign for the establishment of playgrounds, parks, and public recreation facilities was set off. Also indicative of this trend was that for a number of years the Association committed itself to a very hard-sell program to raise money to send boy scouts to summer camp.

As the activities of suburban and city government became more complex, the Citizens Association became too cumbersome a mechanism to make real and effective decisions. Chevy Chase was becoming part of a complicated big city environment, as well as taking on many of the stereotyped characteristics of a suburb. The average citizen or citizens association couldn't be expected to understand and make educated decisions on all the complex issues and problems that would arise. As the Citizens Association found the substance of public affairs, and the various responsibilities it had taken on, increasingly unmanageable, it was forced to decrease its civic duty to keep its role functional. Many such powers and responsibilities were assumed and absorbed by a variety of commissions, agencies, appointed officials, and other such elements of the bureaucracy.

The Chevy Chase Citizens Association is still active in community affairs. However, after around 1935-40, as the association was redefining its role and the realm of popular decision making in Chevy Chase, its political function was eliminated. Because of the increasing size of the community and the reduced capacity of the Association, it no longer served as a major representative focal point of the community. Although still useful in the strengthening of a sense of community and sometimes effective, as in community policy making, it had ceased to even approximate an instrument of popular government.

IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE MAXINIJM ACCURACY, A NEIGHBORHOOD HISTORY PROJECT MUST RECEIVE INPUT FROM THE WHOLE COMMUNITY. SINCE THE FIRST PRINTING OF ORIGINS THE NIPICI STAFF HAS RECEIVED SEVERAL CALLS IN REFERENCE TO ERRORS IN ITS ARTICLES. THE STAFF APPRECIATES THIS SHOW OF INTEREST AND ACKNOWLEDGES THE FOLLOWING CORRECTIONS OF ITS FIRST EDITION:

Page 18, paragraph 5 - After Rev. Ludwig retired Dr. Hudnut took over as the interim minister at the Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church. In 1969 Rev. Dr. John G. Marvin became the head minister. At present the staff of the church consists of Rev. Orville E. Chadsey who has been minister of Christian Education since 1970, Chaplain Albert C. Wildman, minister of visitation, Dr. Hillman J. Hollister, pastor emeritus since 1953, and Rev. Marvin, head minister.
Page 18, paragraph 9 - Following Rev. Archibald at, the Chevy Chase Baptist Church was J. Herbert Gilmore, Jr. He was succeeded by Joseph W. Wortman who served as interim pastor until 1969 when he became the full time pastor. Rev. Wortman died in a plane crash in 1972 and was followed by the present pastor, Richard E. Drehmer.
Page 20, paragraph 10 - The present Monsignor of Blessed Sacrament is Fr. D. Joseph Corbett.
Page 23, paragraph 4 - The second sentence should read, "This made a splendid slide, of a halfmile in distance, and we formed long sleighs, coasting to a stop just as the Avenue was reached."
Page 27, paragraph 5 - The Tenley School was located in front of the present St. Ann's School building where the parking lot is now. It was a two-storied building with a two-storied addition on the front. The Tenley School building was sold to St. Ann's in 1933 and torn down in 1969.
Page 27, paragraph 8 - The Tenley Annex was not located in Tenleytown. The Corner of Brightwood Avenue and Flint Street, N.W. was where Georgia Avenue and Longfellow Street intersect today.
Page 29, paragraph 9 - Columbia was a Junior High not a Senior High School and was on 0 Street between 6th and 7th.
Page 39, paragraph 3 - "Firenzie" is correctly spelled "Firenze."
Page 35, paragraph 1 - Springland was most likely built in 1841 shortly after Mr. Dent married Miss Adlum although there is some uncertainty about the exact date.

Local history as told by high school students.
Includes nice old pictures of area throughout the years.