Glenmont, Maryland

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Glenmont, Maryland
Census-designated place
The Kensington fire station in May 2013.
The Kensington fire station in May 2013.
Location of Glenmont in the U.S. state of Maryland
Location of Glenmont in the U.S. state of Maryland
Country  United States of America
State  Maryland
County Montgomery
Area
 • Land 2.80 sq mi (7.3 km2)
Population (2010)
 • Total 13,529[1]
GNIS feature ID 2583632[2]

Glenmont is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland. The United States Census Bureau had combined Glenmont with nearby Wheaton to create the census-designated place of Wheaton-Glenmont, from 2000 to 2010. It had a population of 13,529 in 2010.[1]

Geography

Due to its unincorporated nature, the boundaries are difficult to precisely define, but the center of the community is located at the intersection of Randolph Road and Georgia Avenue (Maryland State Highway 97).

History

The village of Glenmont (sometimes spelled Glenmount[3][4][5]) in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries contained a few houses and small farms lining the Washington-Brookville Turnpike, as Georgia Avenue was then called. The area had a post office since at least 1900.[6]

Glenmont's first school opened in 1926.[7] Located on current-day Georgia Avenue, the school served students from Glenmont, Aspen Hill, Layhill, and Wheaton.[7]

The area remained largely undeveloped until after World War II, when suburbanization began with the construction of subdivisions in Glenmont. The State Roads Commission began planning to widen Georgia Avenue in 1948.[8][9][10] Commercial and residential development began transforming the rural area known as Glenmont in 1949 with two major developments, Glenmont Village[11] and Glenmont Forest.[12]

In 1947 the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission built the 189-foot (58 m) tall Glenmont Water Tower, which is a multi‐columned elevated water tank with a 500,000-U.S.-gallon (1,900,000 L) capacity.[13]

Transportation

Glenmont is a suburban crossroads of sorts. Georgia Avenue (Maryland Route 97) passes through the community. Southbound along Georgia Avenue is Wheaton, downtown Silver Spring, and the District of Columbia. North of Glenmont on Georgia Avenue is Aspen Hill (another unincorporated community) and Leisure World, a large retirement community. Route 97 continues north through Howard and Carroll counties to Pennsylvania.

Meeting Georgia Avenue at the heart of Glenmont is Randolph Road. The intersection of Georgia Avenue and Randolph Road is heavily congested, and there are plans to replace the current, at-grade intersection with a grade-separated interchange. Georgia Avenue is under study as a bus rapid transit (BRT) route in the Countywide Transit Corridors Functional Master Plan. The State Highway Administration is also studying BRT along Georgia Avenue between Glenmont and Olney.

Layhill Road (Maryland Route 182) has its southern terminus at Georgia Avenue, just north of Randolph Road.

The Glenmont Metro station serves the area.[14] This underground station, which opened in 1998, is at the east end of the Red Line, and has a large parking garage. From Glenmont, the Red Line heads south to downtown Silver Spring and to the District of Columbia before re-entering Montgomery County and terminating at Shady Grove.[15]

Government

The Kensington Volunteer Fire Department has a fire station at the intersection of Randolph Road and Georgia Avenue.[16] The station was designed by architect Ted Englehardy as a large Colonial Revival wing-and-gable building. the exterior of the building is of brick construction and contains an exterior chimney and clock tower.

Montgomery County Police District 4 headquarters is also located at the intersection.[17] The police station was designed by Bagley, Soule & Associates of Chevy Chase in 1958. The construction was completed in 1959. The building has several additions, which reflect a change from the original Colonial Revival design. The complex features traditional details including denticulated cornices, brick laid in American bond course, molded brick surrounds, and double hung sash windows.

The Maryland-National Capital Park Police has its headquarters in an old elementary school on Layhill Road.

Civic associations

In October 2008, the Greater Glenmont Civic Association[18] was founded to address crime rates in Glenmont and to encourage the Montgomery County government to revitalize the Glenmont area, just as the county had done in the neighboring Wheaton and Silver Spring areas. According to Greater Glenmont Civic Association documents, crime decreased in the Glenmont area by about 15% as of June 2010. The Greater Glenmont Civic Association won several awards and grants for its activities.[19] The group became defunct in 2014.[20][21]

Glenmont Exchange was incorporated in 2013 to promote community in the area.[22]

Economy

There is a large shopping center on the northeast corner of Randolph Road and Georgia Avenue.[23] It has a Shoppers, CVS Pharmacy, Staples, local pub, convenience store, barber shop, sporting goods store, numerous small markets and restaurants, a Pizza Hut, and a branch office of the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration. There are also other restaurants and stores scattered along Georgia Avenue.

The Glenmont Land and Development Corporation began construction of the shopping center in 1956. The center was not constructed in one building campaign. It was expanded as the developers were able to bring in new businesses. In its original construction, each store had large plate glass display windows held in by tubular aluminum, known as an "open design." One portion of the shopping area, known as the "Arcade," included a 24 lane bowling alley. The alley was named for Alphone "Tuffy" Leeman, who played for the New York Giants in the 1930s and 1940s. By 1957, the shopping center included the bowling alley, a dry cleaner, a hardware store, and a restaurant. By 1962, the shopping center included a hairstylist, barber shop, shoe service, insurance agency, Glenmont Inn Restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, a hardware store, a saving a loan association, a High's Dairy Store, a glass and mirror store, a bicycle store, a People's Drug Store, a post office, and a Grand Union Supermarket.[13]

The Glenmont Shopping Center fell into some disrepair in the early 1990s. Residents of the Glenmont area have repeatedly asked the county and store owners to make safety improvements to the parking lot and to upgrade the facades of the stores.[24]

Housing

There are three large garden apartment complexes and a condominium at the heart of Glenmont. The rest of the area consists of single family homes and a few townhouses. Most of the housing stock west of Georgia Avenue is older and smaller; east of Georgia Avenue, the homes are newer and larger. However, there are a few sites west of Georgia Avenue where homeowners have demolished small, older homes and built larger, newer ones in their place. Nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of the area's housing units are owner-occupied, though this is less than the countywide homeownership rate of 75 percent.

Glenmont Village is a residential subdivision of single family homes on the west side of the center of Glenmont. Financed by the Minneapolis-based Investors Diversified Solutions, Inc.,[25] the homes were constructed in 1949 and 1950.[26] The village originally included 30 blocks and approximately 350 buildings. Sold for sold for $8,890,[27] thetwo-bedroom Cape Cod-style houses were advertised as "Modern Bungalows" by Glenmont Village Inc. The houses featured full basements, gas heat, hot water, and an expandable attic level with a full-width dormer in the rear. There were four basic varieties of houses. Over the years, the houses have been customized.[28]

Demographics

According to the United States Census Bureau's estimates for 2013, Glenmont had 14,565 people, 4,691 households, and 3,373 families.[29] The median household income is $80,808, and the mean household income is $98,719.[30] The racial makeup was 34.0% White, 27.2% African American, 0.0% Native American, 11.4% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 23.1% from other races, and 4.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 33.8% of the population.[31]

Education

Public schools are operated by the Montgomery County Public Schools.

Public schools within the Downcounty Consortium (DCC) serve the Glenmont Sector Plan area. The consortium "includes five high schools and their feeder middle and elementary schools. Two public high schools (John F. Kennedy High School and Wheaton High School) are in the area. There are three middle schools in the area: Argyle, Col. E Brooke Lee, and A. Mario.Loiederman. There four elementary schools in the area: Georgian Forest, Weller Road, Glenallan, and Arcola.

JFK High is in the Glenmont CDP.[32]

There was a school (Glenmont Elementary) located at the intersection of Randolph Road and Georgia Avenue. The original school was constructed in 1935, with a gymnasium added in 1946 (designed by V.T.H. Bien), and a subsequent addition was built in the 1950s. The grounds included a play area and a large grassy field.[33] The school has since been demolished.

Barrie School is also within the Glenmont CDP.[32]

Terrain

The area consists of modest rolling hills broken by small streams, all of them fed mainly by run-off from storm drainage, although the community contains at least one natural spring still producing aquifer-fed water. All streams to the east side of Glenmont are part of the Anacostia River watershed; they flow into the Northwest Branch of the Anacostia, which empties into the Potomac. Streams to the west of Glenmont generally reach the Potomac River by way of Rock Creek, with Georgia Avenue serving as a rough dividing line between the two drainage areas.

Parks

File:Glenmont Greenway Urban Park, Glenmont, Maryland, August 2013.jpg
The Glenmont Greenway Urban Park in August 2013.

There are three public parks near the center of Glenmont: Glenfield Local Park, Saddlebrook Local Park, and Glenmont Greenway Urban Park. Glenfield Local Park is 11.3 acres and features a diamond/rectangular field overlay, a playground, two tennis courts, a picnic shelter, and a petanque court. Saddlebrook Local Park is nearly 15 acres and includes a rectangular field, playground, and a basketball court. Glenmont Greenway Urban Park is approximately three acres, and includes an eight‐foot wide asphalt trail and sitting areas. The land is owned by WMATA, but operated and maintained by the Maryland‐National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M‐NCPPC) as parkland.[34]

In addition to these three parks, there are 11 parks within a few miles of the core Glenmont area, totaling over 1,100 acres. Chief among these is Brookside Gardens and Wheaton Regional Park, both managed by Montgomery County.

Points of interest

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ "Montgomery County Opens Nature Center in Wheaton Park to the Public". The Washington Post. May 11, 1961. p. C22.
  4. ↑ Willard, Hal. "Delegates Stir Up the Dust in Montgomery". The Washington Post. April 24, 1956. p. 24.
  5. ↑ "Mrs. Werner Talks On Zoning Plans". The Washington Post. October 15, 1955. p. 26.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ "About the Exchange". Glenmont Exchange, Inc. 2013. Archived from the original on December 25, 2015.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Herchenroeder, Karl. "Residents discuss future of Glenmont Shopping Center". The Gazette. Post Community Media, LLC. July 21, 2010.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 "2010 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Glenmont CDP, MD" (Archive). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on June 22, 2015.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

 Rockville Layhill Cloverly
North Bethesda Colesville
  Glenmont  
North Kensington Wheaton Kemp Mill

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