HISTORY OF
Coming of Age: 1955 - 1969
by Don Leslie (2002)
In the mid-fifties the rate at which lots were developed and new houses built reached a peak. Forty of the original families in the Forest moved in during the period 1954—1956. By 1957 seventy-seven of the one hundred twelve original lots were either occupied or being built upon. But by 1960 the rate had declined significantly to the point where only two to four houses a year were being built; by 1966, the year when the community of Springbrook Forest reached the ripe age of 21, almost all of the buildable lots had been developed. In the same chronological manner as a growing youth, the community had almost stopped growing (in the physical sense of house construction) and had "come of age"
While no statistics are available on the ages of householders - who would have the nerve? - it seems likely that most were in their 30's or 40's upon moving to Springbrook Forest. It seems likely, also, that most families had picked their new homesites in the light of some past experience and with a developed feel for their ideal home. Thus, by the mid-fifties, there were children of all ages in the Forest, from babes to married sons and daughters.
In June 1955 ti was discovered that one of the houses being built speculatively was being constructed in violation of one of the restrictive covenants which run with all lots in the Forest. There was concern on the part of many residents that the builder's ultimate purpose might be to subdivide the lot into two half-acre parcels and build another house later on the other parcel. The covenants specify, among other things, that homes must not be built closer than 40 feet to front or side street lines or than 20 feet to side parcel lines. The original building permit for this particular house had been issued to conform with the 20-feet side restriction, but later amended (in error) to 10 feet.
The Springbrook Forest Citizens Association (SFCA), working through a special committee, retained an attorney to oppose the violation. Some months after this action was started, the house and total lot were sold through an independent realtor. The new purchasers were totally unaware of the delicate situation until the date of settlement. Over the next few months, considerable skirmishing took place between our attorney and the builder's attorney. In light of the new ownership of the property, the mater eventually was settled, in effect, by permitting the existing structure to stand but serving notice that the community would take legal action where necessary to oppose future violations of the covenants or subdivision of established lots. To finance the legal action needed in this case, virtually all homeowners showed the seriousness of their intentions by contributing to a special fund for attorney's fees.
In other actions during 1955 just about every able-bodied man in the community joined in to clear and smooth the Triangle - our nearest equivalent to a town square or "common". Until this time, the Triangle had been an uneven thicket of trees, brush, and boulders, although some preliminary clearing had been done in 1954. Trash collection, which had been handled heretofore on a sometime basis by a commercial collector or by individual homeowners, was finally assumed by the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission. Also the Association persuaded the Telephone Company to rescind its mileage rates charged to Forest residents who, it appears, were considered as living way out in the country. This led to a reduction in 1956 to metropolitan area telephone service fees comparable to those in neighboring communities.
The Springbrook Forest Homemakers Club was organized in 1956 by 27 residents of the Forest. It was one of fifty some clubs in the county under the direction of the Montgomery County Extension Service. The purpose of the Club was to acquire the latest information on nutrition, home furnishings, health education, consumer protection, safety, and other aspects of home management. Members attended lectures and demonstrations on such disparate subjects as international relations, making of wills, clothing construction, floor coverings, and landscape design. They held morning craft workshops in their own homes to promote creative leisure activities and participated as individuals in related community services such as 4-H having organized the Forest groups), American Field Service (sponsored bus stop family entertainment of many foreign students). They baked cookies for Forest soldiers in Vietnam, and cooperated annually in County-sponsored cookie projects for the veterans' hospitals. The Club terminated its association with the Extension Service in 1994. The Homemakers are still in existence in 2002, on a reduced scale. The well attended Christmas meeting, at which gifts and cookies are exchanged, is one of their remaining activities
The community Christmas Party originated in 1956 at the Rantas'. In 1958 the "adult Christmas party" was in the Zindels' rec room. A fee of 1(one) dollar per person was assessed for drinks and refreshments! By 1960 the party had moved to a room at the Wheaton Rescue Squad, 85 people attended and the fee was up to $3/couple, bring your own liquor (BYOL)." In 1961 the party moved to American Legion Post 268 and 15 attended. The story of The Party, which survived (under various names) until 1989, is continued in the next chapter. Also in 1956, our first Community Christmas Tree, donated by the Secks, was planted in the Triangle, and the first Santa Claus/Carol Sing affair was held around it. Decorations were made for some years by our 4-H girls.
Having Santa and caroling at the Triangle also started in 1956. In 1960 Santa arrived "on a white reindeer-type Chevy". Santa still arrives at the triangle in December, conveyed by a fire engine.
Perhaps the most important issue that faced the community in 1957 was the question of street lights: Should we or shouldn't we have them? The matter was thoroughly discussed by the SFCA and an investigation of the "mechanics" was made by the Streets and Lights Committee. The advantages of lighted streets lie obviously in the case and safety with which residents can walk in the community at night; the chief disadvantages appear to be some los in the rural nature of the community, as well as added taxes. After a full discussion of the matter, members voted overwhelmingly against street lights.
By this time the community had grown to the point where prompt snow plow service was being provided by the County. At the same time, more children were sledding on our hilly streets after each snow. An inquiry to the County was made concerning the possibility of blocking off "Dykers Hill" on Remington Drive and leaving this stretch unplowed for the benefit of sledders. We were informed that formal arrangements were unnecessary but that, no doubt, our friendly snowplow driver would be glad to bypass the hill on request.
During 1957 the initial tree donated to our community by the Seeks to beautify the Triangle gave up the ghost and died. (The present tree is a replacement donated by the 4-H girls.)
In another action, the system of Block Captains was started in order to speed and personalize communications within the Forest.
In February, 1958, the worst blizzard in the history of the community occurred. KempMill Road was covered by drifts more than six feet deep. The only way in or out was by foot. For three days we were snowbound. For some residents, this presented a real hardship. Travel commitments had to be honored; milk, food, medicines had to be obtained on foot from Wheaton. Some newly-arrived residents were ready to depart "this wilderness" to return to "civilization." But the situation had its happier side. Our latent pioneer spirits were aroused and most of us found ways of postponing commitments, rationing or sharing food, etc., to make do for a few days. Many people joyfully kicked over the traces in their daily routine for a few days and joined the kids in sledding on the streets. Neighbors visited neighbors to a degree never before tried, and the storm turned out to be quite a social success.
Then, just a month later, the big ice storm of 1958 hit us. In late evening with temperatures hovering around the freezing mark, the rain fell gently and, almost silently, ice began to form on trees, power lines, and telephone lines. By midnight the effects were no longer silent. Ice had accumulated to a thickness of about two inches on everything exposed, and the overloaded trees began to give way. In the eerie quietness, the reports of cracking trees sounded like gun shots throughout the Forest. By early morning, the situation had become chaotic with fallen trees lying helter-skelter across roads, power lines and telephone lines everywhere. Some lines suffered as many as a dozen separate breaks. Power service was interrupted in most homes for about four days. This meant not just that we were without lights but that furnaces would not operate Even more acute, water was not available from our wells. But the roads became passable rather quickly, and many families deserted the Forest for heat and water at the homes of friends or relatives. A hardy few stayed on, using fireplaces for heat, cooking, and melting ice for water (that was when we discovered that toilets are voracious users of water). For a second time that winter, we felt truly like pioneers - a little too much like pioneers for some.
Two other matters regarding the original Moss covenants and internal zoning restrictions arose in 1958. The first of these involved a part-time boat-repair business conducted at one of the homes in the community. An enquiry by the Citizens Association to the County regarding the legality of this sort of enterprise resulted in independent action by the County (not at the request of the Citizens Association) to have the business terminated. The second concerned the stabling of horses in the community for riding purposes. The County normally prohibits the stabling of livestock on lots smaller than 5 acres. A special exception to this rule may be granted, however, provided most immediate neighbors offer no objection. One of our residents applied for such special exception. The matter was debated at length at a special meeting of the Association, with the applicant present to present his views. The final action was a vote to oppose the application. Notwithstanding this opposition, the County later granted the special exception in January, 1959.
Action by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1948 and of the US Congress in 1968 effectively removed the Springbrook Forest racial covenant.
The first 4-H Club (The Foresters) was started in 1958 by Doree West, using as a nucleus the old Bluebird Club organized two years earlier by Dorothy Winslow. In 1966, a second 4-H Club of younger girls called the Cloverleaves was started by Mary Carter, and in 1967 a still-younger group, called the Acorns, by Strib Dahl. The 4-H girls were very active over the years, winning a number of County Fair ribbons, County and State citations, and contributing to various community projects such as the planting, care and decoration of our current Triangle evergreen tree.
The Forester, an occasionally published community newsletter of the SFCA, made its first appearance in 1958, construction of Springbrook High School was started and Wheaton Plaza was nearing completion. Land purchases forWheaton Regional Park. which began in 1958, peaked in 1959. Our Association heard and endorsed detailed plans from the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and gave strong support to the overall effort.
In 1960 St. Andrew's Catholic Church was under construction.
The big news of the year was the opening barrage by the County to put a road through Springbrook Forest across Northwest Branch. This started in the form of a proposed road identified as P-15, extending Stonington Road across the Branch to Colesville. After a full airing, our Citizens Association went on record as opposing the new road for various reasons. The road came back with a vengeance as the "P-5 Road" project and is fully discussed later as the big event of 1966.
Things were rather quiet in the Forest during 1961. Witness this excerpt from a letter by our President at the time (Dale West) to the Montgomery County Board of Education, concerning school bus service in the Forest:
"In particular, we would like the present bus service to Springbrook Forest to be a little less hairbrained. At present, we have two buses taking children to Arcola. One arrives with dash and verve, gathering all in sight with great magnanimity, including some for other schools, and carting them of to school by whatever variations in itinerary our poor road system affords. The other arrives timidly, if the weather isn't a bit bad, and picks up the stragglers... The list of complaints includes a scheduled early departure from Sligo that severely tests the agility of the children. If they fumble with the lock, they get left. If the driver's watch is a trifle fast, the trip is hardly worth the effort."
This elicited a long letter from the Board explaining their problems and promising to do what they could to improve the situation.
Construction of sewer extensions from the Northwest Branch trunk line to some homes and building sites in the Forest was started in 1961 and completed in 1962.
KempMill Elementary School was under construction during 1962 and was scheduled for completion in September, 1963. At about the same time, funds were appropriated by the County to widen Kemp Mill Road from the Arcola intersection to the entrance of Springbrook Forest.
During the Fall of 1962, there was considerable interest around the Forest in Springbrook High School, which had just opened, and in the possibility that our children might go there. Although the school area boundary is Northwest Branch, our community lies almost adjacent to Springbrook High property, making this High School much closer than either Northwood or the later John F. Kennedy High School. The question was raised as to whether our children could go to Springbrook High if a path and footbridge across the Branch were available. After considerable discussion at the November, 1962, meeting, a vote was taken with the majority favoring a footbridge. But the vote was by on means unanimous, and the pragmatic aspects of the mater led eventually to the proposal being dropped.
In May, 1962 camping as a group project for Foresters got started. Soon Kimball Point at Kerr Dam on the Virginia - North Carolina border became the spot where it seemed that half of the Forest encamped for the Memorial Day holiday each year, while the other half of the Forest stayed home and guarded the vacated houses. Most of the campers brought their boats and either sailed or fished. In 1968 there were 12 families or, one should say, "groups", because everyone seemed to have extra children with them from the neighborhood. The 21 groups yielded a total of 123 humans, 4 dogs and 1bird. Not everyone can manage to upset a sailboat in four feet of water and get the mast stuck in the mud on the bottom while the hull is waving in the breeze, but Nick Carter managed it. The number of campers was well down in 1974 because of the gasoline shortage of that year. After that group camping at Kerr Dam never returned to its former popularity, but remained an organized affair until 1978.
It was announced in February, 1964, that water service would be extended to Springbrook Forest. Also in 1964 under "Project 1842", construction got underway for widening KempMill Road from Arcola to a point 200 ft. north of Stonington (the Fritz's driveway). The new road embodied an 80-ft. right-of-way with the road surface itself being 40 feet wide. This section was completed in 1965. Shortly afterward, work was started on the remaining section to Randolph Road, this portion reaching completion in 1967.
Somewhat to our distress and chagrin, the old cement entrance marker was ignominiously bulldozed under by the road builders. The present entrance signs, installed in 1965, were based on a design prepared under the guidance of Ray Tuttle, Roland Fritz, and others.
As other suburbs mushroomed all around our forest oasis, our community became a rather unique wooded haven or cul-de-sac almost on the edge of town. No longer were we "out in the country" as in earlier days. Nearby Wheaton, almost overnight it seems, no longer was a sleepy country crossroads, but emerged as a major suburban center. High-rise apartments were appearing in the suburbs with increasing frequency. Springbrook Forest had "grown up" to the mature age of 21. But, as we "came of age " a new and vital threat was presented to the community: the road project identified as "P-5" on planning maps.
We have noted earlier efforts by the County to open a second road into Springbrook Forest from the east: the P-15 Road proposal to extend Stonington across the Northwest Branch in 1960, and an early hearing on the P-5 Road proposal (extending Brookhaven across the Branch) in 1961. Now, suddenly in 1966, residents living on Brookhaven Drive and a part of Stonington Road received notices of new plans to build the P-5 road which would have resulted in assessments of front foot benefit taxes against their property ranging up to $14,000 per home. Thus was touched of the most massive group action in the history of the Forest.
P-5 as approved by the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission as part of the Northwest Branch Watershed Master Plan, was to be a 36 ft. wide macadam thoroughfare with concrete curbs, gutters, sidewalks, lights, and sod. It was to include the widening of Brookhaven Drive and Stonington Road to the entrance of the Forest. By February, 1966, detailed planning and survey work had been essentially completed on the bridge across the Branch and connecting roadways. Ultimately, it would have directly affected the homes and property values of 39 residents of the Forest, with front-foot benefit charges of $26 to $40 per front foot. Indirectly, it would have altered drastically the entire character of Springbrook Forest. No longer would we live in a quiet cul-de-sac. Many trees would be lost and substantial traffic would flow through the community.
In perhaps our "finest hour", residents rallied around the SFCA and organized an opposition both rapidly and effectively. A Special Roads Committee was formed under the leadership of Lloyd Nelson. Special notice "Alerts" were distributed. Contacts were quickly established with other affected Associations to the east of Northwest Branch as well as with official bodies such as the Park and Planning Commission, the County Department of Public Works, the Board of Education, and with traffic officials. Many meetings were held. Acting jointly with the other Associations, we retained an attorney, and subsequently a realty appraiser and a traffic engineer. The committee prepared a special informative booklet for all residents. Donations for financial support were collected through the block captain system with near-100% cooperation.
The crisis reached its peak at a Council hearing in the County Office Building, Rockville, on March 22, 1966. Over two hundred united, determined citizens were there to support our position, as presented by our attorney, Mr. Howard Thomas, and by Mr. James Pammel (consultant on city planning and traffic) and Mr. Lowell Hendrick (consultant on real estate values).
Under Mr. Thomas' instructions, the tense audience maintained its decorum. The case against the road was excellently presented by Mr. Thomas. Then the County Road Commissioner rose to present the case for the road. To everyone's surprise, he turned to the audience instead of to the Council to defend his position. Finally, he addressed the Council, and to the astonishment of one and all, he said that he agreed that the road should not be built! Although the Council was not expected to vote on the issue that day, a motion was made and by a six to zero vote, the project was deleted from the year's budget. The Council's action was met by shouts and applause. Subsequently, the road was removed from the master plan.
In 1967, construction work on Viewerest Terrace was started. Hermleigh Road was hard surfaced and widened to 26 feet. It was announced that gas service would be extended to parts of the Forest.
We now faced the 70's as a young adult community, 24 years of age.