The new owners built a springhouse, which residents liked. Then came the day in 1900 when a fence and “No Trespassing” signs barred public access. The residents rose up in protest. Years of drama ensued. Finally, a referendum vote in 1908 resoundingly passed ordering the Town Council “to reassert the rights of the people of Takoma Park.” A deal was struck, the Town took possession and restored the “free and public access” that Gilbert had originally promised.

For decades, it remained a popular stop for kids to and from school, or on a hot summer’s day. In times of drought, Big Spring supplemented water shortages. The upper level of the springhouse served as a stage for summer concerts. The local constable occasionally used the lower level as a jail cell. 

 Then in the mid-1940s, the water quality began to suffer from unsanitary pollution. Neighbors complained of unsupervised and annoying users at the springhouse. After some debate, Council agreed in 1948 that the time had come to demolish the springhouse and turned it into Spring Memorial Park. Several years later Big Spring itself was capped.  

Water continued flowing, but no one came to drink. In a final chapter, the City arborist and gardener freed the spring water in 2008 and created a wetlands garden.

How did it get here? Andrew Ellicott, who ended up creating almost all state boundaries east of the Mississippi River, scientifically calculated the location and the boulder was dragged into place. Inscriptions for “DC” and “Maryland” and the date are still faintly visible. His crew then cleared a 10 foot wide path through underbrush to the next location (near today’s Eastern Ave-New Hampshire Avenue intersection). 

In 1873, the B&O Railroad established a train stop on the boundary line a short way west of the stone. Twenty years later Benjamin Franklin Gilbert arrived with his vision of a commuter suburb centered on the train stop. Residents paid little heed to the dividing line and resisted efforts to link the two stretches of Eastern Avenue.

Thus the boundary stone remains an unmarked border crossing except for the two “Historic District” signs and a change in pavement material where Maple Street DC becomes Maple Avenue Maryland.

Why the iron cage? In 1912, the Daughters of the American Revolution installed wrought iron fencing to protect and showcase all 40 stones. It worked: 38 of the stones remain today and it helped  the Takoma boundary stone survive its encounter with a car in 2002.

Want to know more? Check out this interesting article from the Columbia Historical Society in 1918.

Soon there was momentum for a permanent station. Land was purchased, and boulders dragged up from Sligo Creek for the building’s façade. Money came partly from the city, but mostly from direct fundraising. For several memorable summers, a carnival set up on the empty lot next door.

The fire station quickly became the unofficial center for community activities. A large paneled room with fireplace offered space for Town Council meetings, honorary dinners (such as the 1933 semi-centennial gathering), and all manner of local club meetings. Youth basketball took over the downstairs gym along with regular roller-skating nights. 

In 1948 the station was renovated and enlarged as part of a reorganization, which brought the department under city control. For the first time, firefighters received a salary, though many volunteered for extra shifts when off-duty.  For some, especially the Jarboes (seen here in a 1959 group photo), firefighting was a family tradition. 

Jimmie Jarboe was still around in 2010, when the station was totally rebuilt to accommodate the much larger fire engines. The current building retains some of the original Sligo Creek boulders from 1928. As part of the deal, the County assumed authority over the department, though local residents still volunteer their time to assist the county firefighters. 

A number of churches also used the building along with many community events. Despite the enthusiasm and commitment of its members and the community the Union Chapel Association struggled. By 1891, facing continued debt and no permanent ministry, the Association began discussions with the Presbytery of Washington City. In 1892 the property was formally transferred and became a mission of the Presbytery. In 1893 the church was organized.

The church continued to grow into the 20th century. In 1913 a building committee was established to address the lack of space for the growing congregation.  Since adding to the original Union Chapel building was not feasible, planning began for a new structure to occupy two lots the church owned at the corner of Maple and Tulip. Although plans for the new building were approved in 1915 the First World War interrupted the project and it was not resumed until 1921 when fundraising for the new building began. The cornerstone was laid in the spring of 1922, with services in the new stone building beginning in September 1923.

The original wooden Union Chapel continued to exist, now behind a stone facade. It served as a location for community organizations and events for years to come until replaced by the Education Building in 1950.

Today a replica of the Union Chapel can be found in the form of a Little Free Library near the entrance where the original building stood.

In 1960 the church purchased the adjacent property at 310 Tulip Avenue. This was the site of the first school in Takoma Park, later incorporated into an apartment building. The church razed this structure and constructed the Fellowship Hall which opened in 1962.

Images from Takoma Park Presbyterian Church 75th Anniversary, 1968

In the decades that followed, the creek briefly served as the town’s water supply (1901-1921) and as the setting for a short-lived summer resort (1900). The Adventists arrived in 1904 and chose the bluff overlooking the creek for their Sanitarium. 

Local residents led by E. Brooke Lee lobbied in 1932 for the creation of Sligo Creek Parkway, following the old bridle trail of the Blair family. The floodplain was of little interest to developers and the resulting parkland was protected for future generations. Today Sligo Creek in Takoma Park is part of the Montgomery County Sligo Creek Stream Valley Park. Beginning in 1992, the Takoma Park section of the parkway was closed to car traffic on Sundays, giving walkers and bikers free rein. 

Long after the Native Americans had come and gone, Irish immigrant laborers for the C&O canal named it Sligo. That name appears on early maps for both the creek and a post office at today’s Colesville-Georgia intersection. 

In 1811, Sligo Creek attracted the interest of Daniel & Charles Carroll (cousins to their more famous namesakes). They bought 414 acres on the south bank of the creek and built a grist mill, now buried under New Hampshire Avenue. By the century’s end the mill was abandoned, as were many of the mills across the county. (Charles’ grandson Gen. Samuel Sprigg Carroll would inherit much of the land and build his home at Manor Circle.).

Meanwhile, Alva Wiswell arrives in 1900 with dreams to turn the mill pond, millrace and the original structure into his “Wildwood” entertainment resort. His elaborate plans to rival Glen Echo were washed away in a flash flood the following year. A gambling syndicate from Baltimore reopened the property for high-stakes racetrack betting, only to have dramatic police raids spell the end of this part of Sligo’s story.

The water filtration plant built at the foot of Geneva Avenue in 1900 as a local water supply was abandoned by 1921 with the takeover of Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC).  Decades later in 2002, Friends of Sligo Creek formed to monitor water quality in the creek, to lobby for cleanup, and to raise awareness of the native flora and fauna.  

Last, but not least, the bridges. A pedestrian bridge crossed at the foot of Old Carroll predating Gilbert. The arrival of new-fangled automobiles as well as of the Adventist Sanitarium on the bluff prompted a rerouting of Carroll to the current higher elevation. It opened in 1917 and lasted 25 years. A sturdier concrete arch bridge was constructed in 1932 as part of a State Highway upgrade to local roads.

The grand opening of this $70,000 bridge drew Gov. Albert Ritchie and 3000 spectators. A few years later the State Highway extended New Hampshire Avenue north from the District line which included a new bridge over Sligo Creek.

For more information about Sligo Creek visit the Friends of Sligo Creek website.

 

Reliable train service made it possible to work in Washington DC while raising a family in a livable, rural setting. Many took Gilbert up on his offer. Stores clustered around the station as new homes, grand and small, sprouted up among the trees. Trains delivered the mail, along with furniture and family belongings, even kit houses.

The trains ran ten times a day, and even when trolley cars showed up to compete, Takoma Park station continued to dominate the streetscape. Old photographs reveal that the crossing was originally at grade level.

Then in 1911 a mammoth engineering project cleared way under the tracks to create the underpass we see today. 

Over time, the trains became less important as cars and buses took over the commuter role. But a major shakeup in the 1960s gave these tracks and Takoma station a new lease on life. Years of protest against freeways that would carve up neighborhoods was finally resolved by turning to light rail. 

The new transit system took advantage of the B&O route from Union Station to Silver Spring. As part of the construction of Metrorail the existing B&O roadbed was widened. The site of the Takoma Park B&O Station is now under the southbound B&O tracks behind 6925 4th Street, NW (S&S Liquors). The “Takoma” Station on the Red Line Metro opened on February 6, 1978. A new entrance on the NE corner delivers riders to the boarding platform.

Adults and children alike looked forward to the Saturday matinees and new movies each week, stopping for ice cream at the adjacent shop. Talkies arrived in 1929 and a few years later air conditioning brought welcome relief from the summer heat.

In 1935, amidst of the Depression, Warner Brothers purchased the Theatre as part of its acquisition of 451 theatres in 17 states.  Takoma Theatre notably became one of the first theaters in America to racially integrate in the 1950s.

Warner Brothers sold the building to local businessman William Wolowitz in 1972. Single screen venues like Takoma were suffering as more moviegoers patronized suburban multiplexes. Wolowitz began subleasing the theatre auditorium, eventually contracting with local residents Sara Green and Richard Holzsager as the Neighborhood Films Association to show family and children’s movies on weekends. The first Takoma Park Film Festival in 1978 was launched in part to raise money to save the Theatre. 

Five years later, local playwright Milton McGinty purchased the building and converted the interior into a live venue for his own plays as well as for other groups like the Takoma Players. In 1996, Chris Rock brought attention to Takoma with the filming of his HBO Comedy Special on its stage. From 2002 to 2005, the newly formed Takoma Theatre Arts Project (TTAP), a local non-profit, offered a variety of programs to foster local arts. 

McGinty meanwhile made plans to demolish the building and sell the land for development. TTAP reorganized as the Takoma Theatre Conservancy in 2007 and succeeded in blocking his plan. However, despite great effort, the group was unable to raise enough money to buy the building from the McGinty family and create a sustainable arts program.  

In 2015 the McGinty family sold the building to Rock Creek Property Group, who worked with TTAP and Takoma residents to renovate the interior space for Children’s Hospital while preserving the façade and legacy of the original Takoma Theatre.

In February 2021 the coffee shop Lost Sock Roasters opened its doors in the building.