July 2008
by Jerry McCoy
Last month I wrote about the distinctive Roadhouse Oldies storefront, a rare surviving example of a pre-fabricated commercial façade designed and erected in 1946 by the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Corporation. Located at 958 Thayer Avenue, the structure is slated to be razed for redevelopment of the site.
I propose the unusual idea of preserving this compact façade, measuring only 12' wide x 14' high x 2.5' deep, by disassembling and reassembling it in to-be-constructed Silver Spring Library. There the store front, along with its vintage Roadhouse Oldies sign and reassembled display windows containing dozens of 45 r.p.m. records, could serve as a display that would impart information not only about Silver Spring's heritage but about our country's technological and architectural past.
by Jerry McCoy
Last month I wrote about the distinctive Roadhouse Oldies storefront, a rare surviving example of a pre-fabricated commercial façade designed and erected in 1946 by the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Corporation. Located at 958 Thayer Avenue, the structure is slated to be razed for redevelopment of the site.
I propose the unusual idea of preserving this compact façade, measuring only 12' wide x 14' high x 2.5' deep, by disassembling and reassembling it in to-be-constructed Silver Spring Library. There the store front, along with its vintage Roadhouse Oldies sign and reassembled display windows containing dozens of 45 r.p.m. records, could serve as a display that would impart information not only about Silver Spring's heritage but about our country's technological and architectural past.
Circa 1960s Maryland News newspaper advertising sign.
Placed in the vicinity of the new library's CD and DVD holdings, this permanent installation should certainly intrigue the "Millennial" generation who most likely have never seen, much less spun, a record album, while at the same time bring back great memories for us "Baby Boomers."
I have no doubt that the inclusion of this storefront would be a highly publicized feature of the new library, much as the 1997 reinstallation was in the current library of the 1937 Silver Spring Post Office mural The Old Tavern. One of only three New Deal-era post office murals located in Montgomery County, this mural had been placed in storage in 1981 and forgotten by the community until I located it in 1994 and the Friends of the Silver Spring Library raised $25,000 for its conservation and installation.
Today this sixteen-foot-long mural, painted by Russian immigrant Nicolai Cikovsky, hangs over the periodical section of the library. It has been promised by the previous County Executive that when the new library is constructed, the mural will serve as the centerpiece of the new facility that will grace the corner of Wayne Avenue and Fenton Street.
Over the past decade, the Silver Spring Historical Society has acquired an eclectic collection of many smaller artifacts whose display on the walls of the new library would be a wonderful venue in which to teach residents and visitors about our community, state, and nation's history. One such object would be the 1937 Silver Spring Post Office's original lobby dedication plaque.
Destroyed was all of the woodwork and plasterwork of the post office lobby's beautifully crafted interior walls and high ceilings, the original wooden writing tables, the patterned terrazzo flooring, hundreds of individual art-deco styled post office box doors featuring little glass windows over which hovered a bas-relief eagle with outstretched wings, and a couple of highly stylized ceiling lighting fixtures designed to look like miniatures of the planet Saturn.
All this and a sweeping mural depicting the intersection of today's Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road as it looked at the end of the Civil War with Union soldiers picking up and reading their mail. Remember this the next time you wait in line at the dreary and claustrophobic Silver Spring Post Office on Second Avenue.
In need of about $3,000 worth of conservation treatment this plaque, which proclaims that the post office was "...Completed During the Administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America," would be an important and fitting companion piece displayed next to the post office mural.
Displayed somewhere near the new library's non-fiction area and representing the "Fourth Estate" could be displayed the society's c. 1960s Maryland News sign, measuring 2' high by 9' long. Silver Spring's first local as well as countywide newspaper, this weekly was published from 1927 to 1973. E. Brooke Lee, considered one of the 20th century founding "fathers" of Silver Spring, founded the publication.
The Maryland News office was originally located in a two-story multi-colored brick building constructed in 1927 that still stands at 8081 Georgia Avenue. Jackie's Restaurant today occupies a portion of the building. Sometime around 1953 the newspaper office moved to 8510 Dixon Avenue. This block no longer exists. Located there today is One Discovery Place, the address of Discovery Communications, LLC.
Or perhaps patrons hovering near the 790 Dewey Decimal Classification shelves (where the Performing Arts books will be housed) might enjoy seeing one of the society's motion picture artifacts. In our collection is a circa 1930s cast metal movie theater seat end panel from the SECO, Silver Spring's first movie theater that opened in 1927 at 8242-44 Georgia Avenue. Measuring 23" high x 9" wide, the interesting design on this heavy end panel combines a bas relief floral garland suspended over an fanned pattern of what looks like rows of movie theater seats flanked by projecting light rays.
And not wanting to miss an opportunity to educate the public no matter where they go in the new library, displayed near the new library's restroom facilities could be the original 1946 Tastee Diner "Men" and "Ladies" doors! Not just any restroom doors these solid mahogany examples measure 76" high x 26" wide and feature a beveled inset panel. While both are in need of refinishing, the "Ladies" door still has its original brass sign (the "Men's" door sign disappeared long ago).
These are but of the few historical artifacts that the Silver Spring Historical Society is eager to share with the public. If you have a Silver Spring artifact that you would like to donate to the society, or if you would like to help us conserve any of the objects that we currently own, please contact me at (301) 537.1253 or sshistory@yahoo.com. Our web site is www.sshistory.org.
I have no doubt that the inclusion of this storefront would be a highly publicized feature of the new library, much as the 1997 reinstallation was in the current library of the 1937 Silver Spring Post Office mural The Old Tavern. One of only three New Deal-era post office murals located in Montgomery County, this mural had been placed in storage in 1981 and forgotten by the community until I located it in 1994 and the Friends of the Silver Spring Library raised $25,000 for its conservation and installation.
Today this sixteen-foot-long mural, painted by Russian immigrant Nicolai Cikovsky, hangs over the periodical section of the library. It has been promised by the previous County Executive that when the new library is constructed, the mural will serve as the centerpiece of the new facility that will grace the corner of Wayne Avenue and Fenton Street.
Over the past decade, the Silver Spring Historical Society has acquired an eclectic collection of many smaller artifacts whose display on the walls of the new library would be a wonderful venue in which to teach residents and visitors about our community, state, and nation's history. One such object would be the 1937 Silver Spring Post Office's original lobby dedication plaque.
1937 Silver Spring Post Office lobby dedication plaque.
Destroyed was all of the woodwork and plasterwork of the post office lobby's beautifully crafted interior walls and high ceilings, the original wooden writing tables, the patterned terrazzo flooring, hundreds of individual art-deco styled post office box doors featuring little glass windows over which hovered a bas-relief eagle with outstretched wings, and a couple of highly stylized ceiling lighting fixtures designed to look like miniatures of the planet Saturn.
All this and a sweeping mural depicting the intersection of today's Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road as it looked at the end of the Civil War with Union soldiers picking up and reading their mail. Remember this the next time you wait in line at the dreary and claustrophobic Silver Spring Post Office on Second Avenue.
In 2006 I learned that a retired postal employee living in western Maryland owned the dedication plaque and he wanted to know if the historical society wanted it. Even though the plaque had sat in an unheated barn for twenty-five years and had suffered some corrosion, I eagerly made the two-hundred plus mile round trip journey to return this important piece of our community and nation's history.
The Old Tavern, painted by Nicolai Cikovsky, was a prominent "New Deal" feature of the 1937 Silver Spring Library.
In need of about $3,000 worth of conservation treatment this plaque, which proclaims that the post office was "...Completed During the Administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America," would be an important and fitting companion piece displayed next to the post office mural.
Displayed somewhere near the new library's non-fiction area and representing the "Fourth Estate" could be displayed the society's c. 1960s Maryland News sign, measuring 2' high by 9' long. Silver Spring's first local as well as countywide newspaper, this weekly was published from 1927 to 1973. E. Brooke Lee, considered one of the 20th century founding "fathers" of Silver Spring, founded the publication.
The Maryland News office was originally located in a two-story multi-colored brick building constructed in 1927 that still stands at 8081 Georgia Avenue. Jackie's Restaurant today occupies a portion of the building. Sometime around 1953 the newspaper office moved to 8510 Dixon Avenue. This block no longer exists. Located there today is One Discovery Place, the address of Discovery Communications, LLC.
Or perhaps patrons hovering near the 790 Dewey Decimal Classification shelves (where the Performing Arts books will be housed) might enjoy seeing one of the society's motion picture artifacts. In our collection is a circa 1930s cast metal movie theater seat end panel from the SECO, Silver Spring's first movie theater that opened in 1927 at 8242-44 Georgia Avenue. Measuring 23" high x 9" wide, the interesting design on this heavy end panel combines a bas relief floral garland suspended over an fanned pattern of what looks like rows of movie theater seats flanked by projecting light rays.
And not wanting to miss an opportunity to educate the public no matter where they go in the new library, displayed near the new library's restroom facilities could be the original 1946 Tastee Diner "Men" and "Ladies" doors! Not just any restroom doors these solid mahogany examples measure 76" high x 26" wide and feature a beveled inset panel. While both are in need of refinishing, the "Ladies" door still has its original brass sign (the "Men's" door sign disappeared long ago).
These are but of the few historical artifacts that the Silver Spring Historical Society is eager to share with the public. If you have a Silver Spring artifact that you would like to donate to the society, or if you would like to help us conserve any of the objects that we currently own, please contact me at (301) 537.1253 or sshistory@yahoo.com. Our web site is www.sshistory.org.
The Maryland News & Silver Spring Advertizer were only at the house at Dixon Ave. for about 2.5 years. They then moved back to a new building Built about a block away from their original Sligo and Gist Ave. site. The building was at 916 Gist Ave. built by Davis Skull local Republican Party leader,in 1956.
I grew up from 1954(age 9) thru 1964 at 942-944 Sligo Ave,directly across street from James H Cissel's house. My house was originall built for a Dr Halet,in 1932. I remember quite a bit about the businesses and people in the 900 block of Sligo Ave.,and would love to get with you sometime.