Silver Spring is an urbanized, but unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland. After Baltimore, Silver Spring is the second largest place in Maryland. (Note: According to the Census Demographic Profiles, Silver Spring is the third largest after Baltimore and Columbia, Maryland; however, census data accounts only for Silver Spring's core and does not include surrounding neighborhoods which would be included in a comprehensive analysis of population.) It is also a major suburb of Washington, DC.

Silver Spring takes its name from a mica-flecked spring discovered by Francis Preston Blair, who subsequently bought much of the surrounding land. Acorn Park in the downtown area of Silver Spring is believed to be the site of the original spring.

Culture

Downtown Silver Spring hosts several musical and ethnic festivities. Furthermore, cuisine culture in Silver Spring is also extremely varied, with the likes of American, Italian, Mexican, Ethiopian, Salvadorean, Jamaican, Vietnamese, Lebanese and fusion restaurants, as well as an extensive array of national and regional chains. Silver Spring has many churches, synagogues, temples, and other religious institutions. Silver Spring hosts the American Film Institute Silver Theatre and Culture Center, on Colesville Road. The theatre showcases American and Foreign Films. Discovery Communications, a company that has wielded considerable influence in cable and satellite programming, has its headquarters in downtown. Downtown is also home to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) -- a branch of the United States Department of Commerce incorporating the National Weather Service, the American Nurses Association, and numerous real estate development, biotechnology, and media and communications companies.

History

The Blair and Lee families are irrefutably tied to Silver Spring's history.

In 1840, Francis Preston Blair, with his daughter, Elizabeth, and his horse Selim discovered the spring, flowing with chips of mica. Two years later, the 20-room mansion Silver Spring was built on a 250 acre (1 km?) country homestead situated just outside of Washington, D.C.

By 1854, Blair's son, Montgomery Blair, who became Postmaster General under Abraham Lincoln and represented Dred Scott before the United States Supreme Court, built a house in the area, called Falkland.

Samuel Phillips Lee married Elizabeth Blair, and they bore Francis Preston Blair Lee in 1857. The child would eventually become the first popularly elected Senator in United States history.

In 1864, Confederate States of America Army General Jubal Early occupied Silver Spring prior to the Battle of Fort Stevens. After the engagement, fleeing Confederate soldiers razed Montgomery Blair's Falkland residence.

In the late 1800s, the area started developing. 1873 brought rails to the area, as the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad's Metropolitan Branch ran from Washington, DC to Point of Rocks, Maryland. The first suburban development began in 1887 when Selina Wilson divided part of her farm on Colesville Road and Brookville Road into 5 and 10 acre (20,000 and 40,000 m?) plots.

In 1893, Francis Preston Blair Lee and his wife, Anne Brooke Lee, gave birth to E. Brooke Lee, who is known as the father of modern Silver Spring for his visionary attitude about developing the region. The Silver Spring Armory, constructed in 1911, housed Company K, 115th Infantry Regiment, Maryland National Guard, which Captain Lee commanded in World War I. Lee eventually retired a Colonel.

The early 1900s set the pace for downtown Silver Spring's growth. E. Brooke Lee and his brother, Blair Lee I, founded the Lee Development Company, whose Colesville Road office building remains a downtown fixture. Dale Drive, a winding roadway, was built to provide vehicular access to much of the family's substantial real estate holdings. Suburban development continued in 1922 when Woodside Development Corporation created Woodside Park, with 1 acre (4,000 m?) plot home sites. In 1924, trolley service on Georgia Avenue across B&O's Metropolitan Branch was temporarily suspended so that an underpass could be built. The underpass was completed two years later, but trolley service never resumed. It would be rebuilt again in 1948 with additional lanes for automobile traffic, opening the areas to the north for readily accessible suburban development. A new Maryland National Guard Armory was built in 1927 on the corner of Fenton Street and Wayne Avenue. The old armory was converted to a fire station. Takoma-Silver Spring High School, built in 1924 was the first high school for Silver Spring. The communities rapid growth prompted the need for a larger school. In 1935, when a new high school was built at Wayne Avenue and Sligo Creek Parkway, it was renamed Montgomery Blair High School.

The Silver Spring Shopping Center and Silver Theatre (designed by noted theatre architect John Eberson) were built in 1938, at the prompting of developer William Alexander Julian. The Shopping Center was unique because it was one of the nation's first retail spaces that featured a street-front parking lot, a feature that was unheard of at the time. Conventional wisdom held that merchandise should be in windows closest to the street so that people could see it, and the shopping center broke those rules.

By the 1950s, Silver Spring was the second busiest retail market between Baltimore and Richmond, with the Hecht Company, J. C. Penney, Sears, Roebuck & Co, and a number of other retailers locating there. In 1954, the Blair mansion Silver Spring was replaced with Blair Station Post office, which opened in 1956. In 1958, Falkland was burned again, to give practice to the local Volunteer Fire Department, and to clear space for Blair Plaza Shopping Center.

Metrorail service began in 1978 with the opening of Silver Spring Station. The red line was built on the median of the old B&O Metropolitan Branch right of way, and went downtown, parallel to Georgia Avenue before descending into Union Station. By the mid-1990s, the red line continued underground to two more locations in northern Silver Spring, with the opening of Forest Glen and Wheaton Stations.

In 1998, the National Guard Armory was demolished, against opposition by concerned citizens, who later formed the Silver Spring Historical Society.

In 2000, downtown Silver Spring began to see the results of redevelopment. Several city blocks near City Place Mall were completely reconstructed to accommodate a new outdoor shopping plaza. The shops included many national retail chains, including Whole Foods Market, Borders Books, and Pier 1 Imports, as well as many restaurants. In 2003, Discovery Communications completed the construction of its headquarters, and relocated from neighboring Bethesda. 2003 also brought the reopening of the Silver Theatre, under the auspices of the American Film Institute (see AFI Silver). Downtown Silver Spring continues to develop with the opening of new office buildings, stores, and restaurants.

Geography

As an unincorporated area, Silver Spring's boundaries are not officially defined. However, residents of a huge swath of Montgomery County have Silver Spring mailing addresses. This area extends roughly from the Washington, D.C., Prince George's County, Maryland and Howard County, Maryland lines to the south, east and north, and Rock Creek Park and Plyers Mill Road to the west and north-west.

SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA.ORG (JUNE 2006)