The open spaces facilitated gardening and other agricultural pursuits.
Gardens for flowers and food were common. There were fruit orchards on
a few lots. The Petzold family of 1226 Noyes Drive grew grapes to make wine.
The Rural Suburb: 1920s
Woodside Park was attractive to home buyers as an escape from the urban crowding of Washington. Silver Spring in general and Woodside Park in particular had a distinctly rural tinge in the 1920s. The neighborhood only had about 70 homes by 1931. One early settler remembered the dense fogs on certain nights, another recalled the owls hooting in the trees, and another commented on the extreme darkness at night resulting from the absence of any street lights in the area for several years. One resident who moved to Highland Drive in 1925 remembered that "it was a beautiful spot of practically wide open spaces. There was a great deal more open land, with no trees. These open fields were a solid yellow at one period in the spring with blooming buttercups; at another period [they] were white with daisies." The neighborhood was so open that Colesville Road could be seen from Warren Seltzer's home at 1234 Pinecrest Circle.
The early residents were presumably a relatively affluent lot since they had
adequate resources not only to purchase lots that were more expensive
than those typical in suburban developments of the time but also to build
expensive houses and commute to 
The Depression Years
The new residents were often not native to the Washington area. Of 29 new residents whose origins are known, most came from the Northeast and Midwest, but some came from as far as Nova Scotia and Ireland. Despite the fact that many people were attracted to Washington from the South during the Depression, only one new Woodside Park resident during this period is known to be from the South.
Despite the growing Woodside Park population, the neighborhood remained distinctly non-urban. There was plenty of room for children to play on vacant lots. Noyes Drive was considered by neighborhood children to be almost a private drive for their bicycles, wagons, and scooters. Because of its fascinating stream, Alton Parkway was also a favorite spot for Woodside Park children to explore and play. They dug clay from the stream near Highland Drive to make pots. One attraction was the grape vines hanging from far up in the trees on which youngsters could swing across the rocks and water. Since it was about in the middle of the neighborhood, rivalry frequently developed between the "east side" youngsters and those from the "west side" of the stream.
The Alton Farm water tower was also a popular, but dangerous, place for Woodside Park children to play until it was removed in 1935. The fence meant to keep people from climbing the tower was ineffective and parents had a hard time keeping children off the steps and away from the top of the tower. Since some of the steps were loose and had even fallen off by the mid-1930s, keeping children off them was a matter of some priority for parents.
The water tower was also apparently a popular spot for slightly older persons after dark. The
Washington Herald reported the water tower's demolition under the headline "Old Silver Spring
Trysting Spot No More:"
When it crumpled under the wrecking crew's onslaught yesterday, one of Montgomery county's
most famous "lovers' landmarks" became only a memory. For four decades the water tower was a
favored trysting spot.
During the Mauve Decade [the 1890s] scores of young blades parked their buggies near the tower
and, in later years, the landmark still lured hundreds of roadsters on summer evenings.
The story also noted that on clear days Sugar Loaf Mountain could be seen from the top of the tower and that the crash when the tower hit the ground as it was demolished was "heard for miles." Neighborhood residents who were not among the hundreds of people who gathered to watch the tower fall report that they heard the crash when it came down. The huge hollow steel pipe must have resounded like a colossal gong when it hit.
The water tower was not the only attraction left from Alton Farm. Parts of the pump system that brought water to the tower also remained into the 1930s. James Seltzer remembers being fascinated as a child by a large steel wheel which had apparently been used to control the water supply.
Home life in the 1930s was somewhat different from today. Although
Woodside Park was cooler and less humid in the summer than downtown
Washington, it was still hot and humid. Air conditioning was a rarity, and
residents had to adapt to the seasons. Slipcovers were placed over
upholstered furniture for protection against perspiration. Lightweight
curtains often replaced heavy ones at windows. Unlike today, sleeping
porches were used for sleeping. Some people 
The World War II Years
Once the U.S. entered the war, Woodside Park residents were a part of the war effort. Some were in the armed forces. At least one worked at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory on Georgia Avenue just north of Colesville Road, where the proximity fuse credited with helping win the war was developed in secrecy. Others worked for the federal government. Fulton R. Gruver, who had been building houses along Dale Drive east of Crosby Road, established the Gruver Manufacturing Company and began building pallets and shipping crates for war goods.
Many Woodside Park residents supported the war effort by planting
Victory Gardens. At least 10 large gardens are known to have existed.
They were often shared by neighbors, friends, and co-workers. The large
lot at 1213 Noyes Drive was used by 10 to 12 families. Another large
garden was at the old Griffith pasture 
The lot where the houses at 1318 Highland Drive and 9115 Crosby Road
now stand was another Victory Garden site. Other lots around the
neighborhood were also used as Victory Gardens by one or more families.
The Silver Spring Volunteer Fire Department used its tank truck to supply
water to the gardens during dry periods. The Wilson Farm sold manure
for fertilizer. It was self-service; you had to bring it home in your own
wagon. Mrs. Charles Williams of 1212 Noyes Drive won the award for the best Victory Garden at
the 1944 Montgomery County Harvest Festival. While Victory Gardening was not as risky as
being in the military, it did claim casualties. One man plowing the Victory Garden at the corner of
Crosby Road and Highland Drive broke his leg 
Once the crops were harvested, they had to be preserved, which was a labor-intensive task. Woodside Park women canned or sometimes froze their produce and stored it for later use. Sometimes they stored it more thoroughly than they perhaps intended. When Tonya Finton moved into 1112 Noyes Drive in 1986 she found old glass jars of produce canned by Mary Morris decades earlier.
In addition to taking up gardening for both patriotic and practical -- food was rationed -- reasons, Woodside Park residents adjusted to the war in other ways. People saved cooking fat and exchanged it for meat coupons. Long lines were frequent. People waiting at the meat counter at the Safeway were even known to bring a stool to help endure the wait.
The wartime housing shortage affected other families as well. Mr. and Mrs. Robert T. Forward were able to rent the home at 904 Highland Drive during the war only because Mrs. Forward was a teacher.
Woodside Park women often aided in the war effort in ways other than
tending their Victory Gardens. Some took war jobs, but others
volunteered with the Red Cross and served at nearby facilities, including
Walter Reed Army Hospital and its new Forest Glen Annex.
Life After the War: The Late 1940s and the
1950s
Life returned to normal after the war, but Woodside Park increasingly became a more urban place to live as suburban development moved ever farther north, vacant lots increasingly were filled with new homes, the last farm land (Wilson's Farm) was subdivided for new homes, and downtown Silver Spring became the busiest and most prosperous business and commercial area between Baltimore and Richmond except for downtown Washington, D.C.
Despite the development, Woodside Park, however, remained a quiet neighborhood and a good place to raise post-war baby boom children, and there were lots of them to raise. The schools did not have enough space to meet the demand some years; split shifts were used and classes were even held in church facilities.
Enough vacant lots remained to provide plenty of places to play. House construction sites were also attractive playgrounds even if they were not endorsed by parents. A particular problem was the unfinished basement left for many months when construction was halted on the house at 1319 Woodside Parkway.
The new Alton Parkway and Woodside Parkway storm sewers also provided an attractive site for play to replace the stream along Alton Parkway. The storm sewers were big enough for children to explore and even ride their bicycles. The fact that the Alton Parkway storm sewer was open at both its Alton Parkway and Noyes Drive ends made it easy for children to enter. Some even popped up at various manholes, much to the surprise of any adults who happened to be passing by. Singing and yelling in the storm sewer was also a popular activity for children because of the echoes.
Winters, too, were fun for children. The hill in front of "Stonecroft" at 1201 Woodside Parkway was a popular place for sledding as it had been since the 1920s and remains today. Dale Drive was even closed for sledding on some occasions.
The Urban Suburb: 1960s to the 1990s
Woodside Park "greyed" in the 1960s and 1970s. Many original residents from the 1930s and 1940s became "empty nesters" and eventually moved to retirement homes or died. Children became much less common in the neighborhood. School enrollment declined and schools consolidated. The older residents were replaced in many instances by younger couples who both were professionals and remained childless at least until they advanced in their careers. Other new residents were affluent professionals who had lived in the District of Columbia but moved to Montgomery County as their children approached school age.
The new residents had to be relatively affluent to afford homes in the neighborhood. A Home-Seeker's Guide published by the Montgomery County Department of Community and Economic Development in 1974 noted that the average home price in Woodside Park in the first six months of 1973 was $50,000 to $65,000 (1997 equivalent: $179,500 to $215,400). The $50,000 to $65,000 grouping was the next to highest grouping listed. Home prices escalated even more in the late 1970s and the 1980s.
The new residents increasingly decided to send their children to the public schools in the early 1980s. Sending children to private schools had become quite common in Woodside Park in the 1970s. Woodlin Elementary School, which had developed a somewhat doubtful reputation in the neighborhood, became recognized as providing a quality education. As participation and support for the school increased and as children advanced through the grades, Sligo Middle School and Einstein High School were also seen to have improved and were increasingly supported by neighborhood families.
Woodside Park in this period was no longer seen as a rural retreat from the city. Rather, it was seen as an urban neighborhood, but one which offered quality public services far better than those in the District of Columbia. The neighborhood had become a haven for those who wanted a quality urban environment the city itself no longer provided.
Woodside Park was the site of a movie production in 1991. Ralph Groemping and Joan Sugerman
wrote, produced, and directed "Sleeping Beauty" while living at the "castle" at 9203 Crosby
Road. The movie was "a contemporary romantic fable." It was produced independently and
distributed to cable tv and video, as well as overseas, and was shown at the Cannes Film Festival
in 1992. They shot most of the movie at their home during a 30 day period in the fall of 1991. The
two leads, up to 20 other actors, and the crew often had lunch on the patio in front of the house.
Both the interior and the exterior of the home were used in the movie. When interior shooting
continued into the evening special lights illuminated the exterior of the house so that interior
scenes would appear to be taking place during daytime hours. Shooting a movie on location in
Woodside Park, especially during the fall, involved some unusual problems. The County leaf
collection crews had to be "negotiated with" to silence their leaf vacuum trucks during shooting.
A neighbor's dog that liked to bark at all the activity was another problem. The barking problem
was solved by giving the dog frozen hot dogs, which took him a long time to eat. While eating, he
didn't bark.
Social Life Through the Decades
One constant over the decades has been the social live of the neighborhood. Woodside Park was filled with social activities from the beginning, particularly in the summer months when the lack of air conditioning led residents to spend free time outdoors. People sat on their lawns or took walks on neighborhood streets in the evenings. At least one garden, that of the Williams family in the 1200 block of Noyes Drive, was lit at night so residents were free to browse through it at their leisure. People walking through the neighborhood also were often treated to concerts heard through the open windows. For example, Shirley Packett Gable remembers hearing John Marsh's piano or violin on summer evenings.
The neighborhood's vacant lots also encouraged social activities. The vacant lot at 1010 Woodside Parkway was used for badminton games for many years. Horseshoes were played on a vacant lot on North Noyes Drive. In the 1950s the tennis court where the home at 9203 Crosby Road now stands was a popular place for children's basketball games and even local square dance parties.
Some social activities were organized in a more formal way. Social clubs were first organized in the 1920s. Woodside Park women were active in the Silver Spring Women's Club and also formed the Woodside Park Women's Club, which lasted from 1925 to 1985. Both clubs were active in the General Federation of Women's Clubs. Among the members were Henrietta Hunter, who continued to participate even after leaving the neighborhood, Blanche Marsh, Mrs. Eugene Weeks, Olive Bailey, and Julia Grotlisch. They met in individual member's homes and were active in promoting civic improvements, including the Silver Spring Library and streets and roads. Women who had occupations outside the home seldom participated in the women's clubs, and the increase of working women in Woodside Park ultimately led to the demise of the Woodside Park Women's Club. A Junior Women's Club was also active at one time.
Bridge was a popular activity in Woodside Park. Small bridge clubs were often formed by women who were close neighbors so they did not have to travel far to play when driving was limited by rationing. Among the members of one such group were Helen Bradley of 1525 Dale Drive and Josephine Lyles of 1529 Dale Drive. Because their life was largely domestic and there were not many occasions when an evening dress could be worn, particularly during the 1940s, the women sometimes wore formal dress to a bridge party.
Woodside Park's biggest and longest lasting bridge club, however, was all male. John Ditzler founded the Greater Woodside Park Men's Eating and Bridge Society in 1940. The group lasted 45 years before finally dissolving in 1985. Over the years the membership roster included 31 regulars and 18 substitutes. Original members included Howard Bailey, Barney Brunstetter, John Thompson, Eugene Thoré, and Evarts Wagg. Nate Fuller was also a member. Eight men would meet at one time, every other week. The host would supply the cards and dessert. During World War II, the host's duties were more difficult than had originally been envisioned. Finding rationed sugar to make the desserts was a problem, and the hosts also scrounged to find cigarettes for the group. At Christmas and once every spring the men would host parties for their wives.
Woodside Park has long had formal social activity for children. Boy Scout, Girl Scout, and Bluebird troops were all active. The Girl Scouts were active as early as 1928, when Louise Grotlisch was a member. The troops were usually centered in churches. Many parents were active volunteers and troop leaders. In the 1990s, Joan Phalen's Woodside Park Kids Chorale provided another popular social activity for children.
As Woodside Park children matured, they sometimes saw each other in a whole new light. There
were at least three marriages. John Thompson, Jr., of 9111 Crosby Road married Judy Anderson,
who lived around the corner at 1314 Highland Drive. Bob Vernier of 1119 Woodside Parkway
married the girl next door, Betty Sartain, who lived at 1115 Woodside Parkway. One of the
Wilhelm children of 9114 Fairview Road married one of the Chatelain children of 1206 Noyes
Drive.
Many notable people have lived in Woodside Park over the years. Early residents were often
people who had grown up in Silver Spring or Washington, D.C. An unusual number were
architects and builders, who were attracted by the opportunity to design or build their own home
on a large lot. In the 1930s and later many residents were attracted to the Washington area in
general and Woodside Park in particular by opportunities resulting from the expansion of the
federal government in the Depression and World War II periods. The neighborhood was also
attractive to professionals such as attorneys, physicians, scientists, journalists, and engineers.
These residents brought a lasting interest in the quality of the neighborhood and an enthusiasm for
civic affairs which continue today. This chapter provides brief listings of many notable early
residents as well as the residents of Woodside Park who followed in their footsteps:
Willard (Andy) Anderson -- Mr. Anderson worked at the Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury, which was responsible for the design of all federal government buildings. Later he became Mechanical Superintendent of the Government Printing Office. He designed the home at 1314 Highland Drive for himself and his wife Gretta.
Howard P. Bailey -- Mr. Bailey was a writer and assistant to the managing editor of the Evening Star newspaper. He joined the newspaper in 1921 as a copyreader in the newsroom. He also served as a radio newscaster for the Star. He lived at 1010 Woodside Parkway.
Art Brown -- Mr. Brown, a prominent Washington broadcaster, lived at 1312 Woodside Parkway. He began his on-the-air career on WOL, which later became WWDC, in November 1935. He hosted a program from 6 to 10 a.m. six days a week and also had a show which ran from noon to 1:30 p.m. He often played the studio organ on the shows. Before going into broadcasting, he had played the organ for downtown Washington theaters. In the mid-1950s he hosted "Let's Go Fishing" on WTTG, Channel 5, at 7:15 p.m. Wednesdays. For a time he also owned a fishing tackle store on Fenton Street at Bonifant Street. In later years he broadcast his radio show from his home and joked about his Woodside Park neighbors.
Marian G. Brown -- Marian Brown came to Woodside Park in the mid-1930s. She became head of the Cynthia Warner School in Takoma Park. Later she joined the staff of the Grace Episcopal Day School. She lives at 9104 Woodland Drive.
Rachael Carson -- Ms. Carson was the first of two noted authors to live at 904 Highland Drive. She was the author of Silent Spring which in 1962 awakened the nation to the dangers of pesticides and was a major influence on the developing environmental movement. She rented the house at 904 Highland Drive and lived there in 1938 and 1939 while she worked as a biologist for the Fish and Wildlife Service. She eventually became the Editor in Chief of all U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service publications and wrote The Sea Around Us, which was on the New York Times Best Seller List for a record 86 weeks in 1952 and 1953. The book was so successful that she quit her job and built a new house at 11701 Berwick Road in White Oak, where she wrote Silent Spring.
William K. Cave -- Mr. Cave was chief of the electrical and mechanical branch of the Army Corps of Engineers. He lived at 1316 Woodside Parkway.
Armin G. Clement -- Mr. Clement was an attorney for the Library of Congress, Labor Department, War Manpower Commission, and chief counsel of the Civil Service Commission before becoming an Administrative Law Judge for the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1960. He was also a president of the Woodside Park Civic Association. He lived at 1221 Clement Place.
Merv Conn -- Mr. Conn, of 1015 Noyes Drive, is the "King of the Strolling Accordionists." In
1948 he founded the "Merv Conn Music Company Accordion School" in Washington, where his
students included both Julie and Tricia Nixon 
Martin O. and Margaret Cooley -- Dr. Martin Cooley was an assistant executive officer of the medical services branch of the Veterans Administration. Early in his career he assisted in the creation of sanitary conditions during the construction of the Panama Canal. He also handled similar duties for a railroad construction project in Brazil before returning to the United States and joining the U.S. Public Health Service. Mrs. Cooley was secretary of the Woodside Park Civic Association from 1947 to 1952. They lived at 1019 Woodside Parkway.
Albert F. Dallachiesa -- Mr. Dallachiesa was a pharmacist and head of the personnel division of Peoples Drug Stores. He served as a Navy pharmacist's mate during World War II. He lived at 1320 Woodside Parkway.
James F. Dalton -- Mr. Dalton was chief construction inspector for the District of Columbia until his retirement in 1951. He built his residence at 1611 Dale Drive in 1937.
Robert Aubry Davis -- Mr. Davis hosts the "Around Town" arts program on WETA (channel 26) as well as a nationally syndicated radio program "Millennium of Music." He lives at 1201 Woodside Parkway ("Stonecroft").
Michael Dirda -- Dr. Dirda is a writer and Associate Editor for the Washington Post's Book World section. He won the Pulitzer prize for literary criticism in 1993. He lives at 1200 Woodside Parkway.
John and Geneva Dolan -- One of the first new houses built in Woodside Park was built for John and Geneva Dolan at 1430 Highland Drive. Mr. Dolan resided there until his death in 1958. The lot originally also included the area that is now 1428 Highland Drive, where his daughter Helen Sherbert still lives. Mr. Dolan was a builder, banker and civic leader. He built three of the store buildings on Georgia Avenue between Thayer and Silver Spring Avenues. He was a Director of both the Northwestern Building and Loan Association and of Suburban Trust Company, which was eventually merged into Sovran Bank and then NationsBank in the 1980s and 1990s. He was also a charter member and treasurer of the Silver Spring Volunteer Fire Department and its president in 1925. His wife, Geneva Dolan, was a pioneer in the civic development of Silver Spring. She was active in the Women's Improvement Club and helped organize the Silver Spring Volunteer Fire Department.
John Faulconer -- Mr. Faulconer was a builder by trade who built his own house at 1437 Highland Drive and also owned a farm off Georgia Avenue near Thayer Avenue. After building 1437 Highland Drive, he constructed two houses at the corner of Noyes Drive and Woodland Drive, 8916 Woodland Drive and 1300 Noyes Drive. He also built the home at 9000 Colesville Road in 1925 and sold it to Clara B. King and Wanda K. Denire.
Elton C. and Florence E.Fay -- Mr. Fay was an Associated Press reporter who came to Washington in 1932 to cover news of interest to New York state. He covered the Pentagon from World War II into the Vietnam War and was one of a handful of reporters to be briefed in advance about General Jimmy Doolittle's 1942 Tokyo air raid. After the war, he reported first-hand on the U.S. Bikini Atoll atom bomb tests. Mrs. Fay was active in civic affairs and was a president and secretary of the Women's Club of Woodside. She was a regular blood donor in her 70s and was a Meals on Wheels volunteer into her 80s. She celebrated her 75th birthday by walking from her home to the Washington Monument. She made her last annual Bay Bridge walk at the age of 87. She died at the age of 93 in 1994.
Nathan F. and Edith C. Fuller -- Before World War II, Nate Fuller worked for the U.S. Steel Corporation. He later worked for the War Production Board, the State Department, and the Treasury Department. He has been a Woodside Park resident since December 7, 1941 and was active in the Civic Association in the 1940s and 1950s, serving as treasurer in 1950. During World War II Edith Fuller was active as a Gray Lady Red Cross volunteer at Garfield Hospital, one of the predecessors of the Washington Hospital Center. She also worked for Fulton Gruver's Gruver Manufacturing Company and later the C. Robert Gray Real Estate Company. The Fullers lived at 1606 Dale Drive.
Allen H. Gardner -- Mr. Gardner was one of the founding fathers of home rule and modern government in Montgomery County. His Montgomery County Civic Federation committee recommended a major independent scientific study of the County's form of government in 1938. After the idea gained broad popular support, the Board of County Commissioners engaged the Brookings Institution for Government Research to conduct the study. Brookings reported in 1941 and recommended among other things replacing the Board of County Commissioners with a nonpartisan County Council and a County manager. This led to a split between the civic associations and the E. Brooke Lee political organization which had controlled the Park and Planning Commission and the County government. In 1942 Mr. Gardner spearheaded efforts to adopt a home rule charter. The charter proposal was adopted at the November election. This led to drafting of a charter itself, which was defeated in the 1944 election by the Lee organization. This victory, however, was Lee's last hurrah. A home rule charter was adopted in 1948. The charter was revised in 1968 to establish the current County Council and elected County Executive system. Mr. Gardner lived at 1515 Dale Drive.
Theodore Herz -- Mr. Herz was an accountant for the government and in private industry. He directed a two-year audit of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation for the General Accounting Office. In 1948 he was staff director of the first Hoover Commission task force on government lending agencies. He served in a similar capacity for the second Hoover Commission in 1953 and for a Senate subcommittee on the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in 1950 and 1951. He lived at 1313 Woodside Parkway.
Charles A. Horsky -- Mr. Horsky was an attorney and advisor to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson
on District of Columbia Affairs and was an early architect of D.C. home rule. He was instrumental
in the creation of a regional transit system in the Washington area. He served as chairman of the
D.C. Board of Higher Education. His efforts also contributed to the redevelopment of Southwest
Washington, the establishment of the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Commission, the
restoration of Union Station, and the creation of the National Building Museum. Earlier he had
served as an assistant prosecutor at the Nuremberg war crimes trials after World War II. He
founded and then chaired the local American Civil Liberties Union branch. He circulated petitions
calling for an investigation of the FBI and defended people accused of disloyalty during the
McCarthy period of the 1950s. He was accused of being a Communist
during an 
Thomas W. Hunter -- Mr. Hunter was an economist with the Department of Interior's Bureau of Mines. He specialized in energy. He lived with his wife Henrietta at 1604 Dale Drive from 1938 to 1952. Henrietta Hunter was a secretary to Senator Bourke Blakemore Hickenlooper of Iowa.
Karl E. and Mary Jarrell -- Karl E. and Mary Jarrell were developer Thomas E. Jarrell's son and daughter-in-law. They moved to 1001 North Mansion Drive, where Mary Jarrell still resides, in 1926. Karl E. Jarrell became Vice-President of the Jarrell company. After the deaths of both Thomas E. Jarrell and Karl E. Jarrell, Mary Jarrell ran the firm.
Hiram and Estelle Johnson -- Mr. Johnson was a "clerk" in the War Department. The Johnsons were among the first residents on Highland Drive. They purchased a house that had just been completed at 1506 Highland Drive in 1924.
Howard W. Kacy -- Mr. Kacy was Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Acacia Mutual Life Insurance Company. He also served on the boards of directors of other Washington area companies. He lived at 1011 North Noyes Drive.
Granville Klink -- Mr. Klink was a radio and television engineer for WJSV and WTOP. He came to Washington in 1941 and became the radio engineer for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and traveled with him. He was responsible for construction of the WJSV/WTOP transmitter facility and towers in Wheaton. Later he became chief engineer for WTOP-TV and help design and build the first microwave TV system used for broadcasting the 1953 Presidential inaugural. His wife Marion was a piano teacher for neighborhood children. They lived first at 1013 Spring Street. When they moved to Noyes Drive, they had the same house number, 1013.
Irwin I. Kaplan -- Mr. Kaplan was chief civil engineer for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. He lived at 1000 North Noyes Drive.
Gregory J. and DeLois (Mimi) Lanigan -- The Lanigans moved to 9002 Woodland Drive in 1959. Mr. Lanigan was a reporter and circulation director for E. Brooke Lee's Maryland News in the 1930s. During World War II he allocated steel to container industries for the War Production Board. He was recalled for a similar position with National Production Authority during the Korean War. Later he worked for the American Flange and Manufacturing Company.
William H. Maerlender -- Mr. Maerlender was associated with the United Clay Products Company for 31 years and was the president of its subsidiary United Industrial Associates. He lived at 1309 Pinecrest Court.
John C. and Blanche Marsh -- Mr. Marsh worked for the War Production Board during World War II regulating forest products. He later joined the Veterans Administration as a management analyst. He was an active musician, playing piano and stringed instruments. Blanche Marsh was a school teacher. Both John and Blanche Marsh were active in the Woodside Methodist Church's music program. They lived at 1225 Woodside Parkway.
William F. Mehling -- Mr. Mehling was an attorney and advisor to the chief counsel of the Coast Guard. During World War II he was a commander in the Pacific for the Navy. He and his wife Catherine lived at 1605 Dale Drive.
Dr. Harold P. and Mary Morris -- Dr. Morris was a biochemist specializing in nutrition at the National Cancer Institute. When he retired from federal service, he became a professor of biochemistry at the Howard University School of Medicine. His wife Mary Morris was a Home Economics teacher at Howard University. Both were avid gardeners.
Janet Naumburg -- Ms. Naumburg was a civic activist who lived at 9103 Woodland Drive. She headed the Citizens Referendum on Overdevelopment which was an attempt to prevent funding for a parking garage to serve the Silver Triangle redevelopment project in Downtown Silver Spring. She was also president of the Silver Spring-Takoma Traffic Coalition.
William Harold Packett -- Mr. Packet moved to Silver Spring in 1930 as a young pharmacist. At one time he owned Packett's Pharmacy at 8706 Flower Avenue and Packett's Chevy Chase Lake Pharmacy at 8551 Connecticut Avenue. He and his wife Virginia were the original owners of the home at 1226 Pinecrest Circle. The Packetts were also part owners of the block at Spring Street and Georgia Avenue known as the "Packett property" which eventually became the site of the Woodside Station Townhouses.
Robert L. and Flora Petzold -- Mr. Petzold came to Washington before World War I to work for the Interstate Commerce Commission after having previously worked for a railroad. Flora joined him after World War I. He became an auditor for the Internal Revenue Service. They built the Sears house at 1226 Noyes Drive in 1925 and lived there until 1959.
Joan Phalen -- Joan Phalen of 1000 Highland Drive organized the Woodside Park Kids Chorale in 1992. From sing-alongs for 20 children, the Kids Chorale has grown into a chorus for 150 children from the neighborhood and beyond who perform at Children's Hospital, give concerts, and go caroling each winter. Ms. Phalen sang with the Chicago Lyric Opera. She was selected as one of the "Washingtonians of the Year" for 1997 by Washingtonian magazine for her work with the children and the Kids Chorale.
Philander D. Poston -- Mr. Poston built "Stonecroft" in 1927. He had been a Major during World War I and was credited with organizing the tank corps. After the war he was known as Dr. Poston and was listed in telephone directories as a Natural Therapist or "Naturalist." He was also a real estate promoter in Silver Spring and was involved with commercial real estate sales as well as up-scale residential sales of "beautiful homes and unusual home sites in the attractive and parklike subdivisions of Silver Spring." Besides promoting lots in Woodside Park, he was later involved in promoting Burnt Mills Hills, which has larger lots than even Woodside Park's original lots. His biggest commercial deal was securing the land for the Hecht Company's Silver Spring store in 1945. Mr. Poston was an incorporator and the first vice president of the Civic Association.
Abe Pollin -- Mr. Pollin, owner of the Washington Capitols NHL team and Washington Bullets/Wizards NBA team, lived at 1221 Burton Street in the early 1950s. He was one of the sons of Morris Pollin, who developed the former Wilson Farm as an addition to Woodside Park after World War II.
J. Everett Schrider -- Mr. Schrider was a home builder in Silver Spring and was later chief of the estimating for Veterans Administration construction contracts. Before World War II he worked with the Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury. He was president of the Civic Association in 1951 and 1952. He lived at 1515 Grace Church Road until shortly before his death in 1994.
Warren R. Seltzer -- Mr. Seltzer was an architect with the Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury. He was involved in the design of the Federal Triangle, the Supreme Court Building, and many post offices, including the Silver Spring post office which was built on Georgia Avenue just south of Wayne Avenue as a Works Progress Administration project in 1936. He also designed (at no fee) the home at 1519 Dale Drive for his sister-in-law and her husband, Margaret and Paul Miller, and was involved with design of the entrance, altar rails and other elements of St. Luke Lutheran Church. During the first few years he lived in Woodside Park, he kept chickens at his new home.
Helen Dolan Sherbert -- Mrs. Sherbert is a Silver Spring native who has lived in Woodside Park since 1926 when she moved as a teenager with her parents, John and Geneva Dolan, to their new home at 1430 Highland Drive. She built her own home at 1428 Highland Drive on part of her parent's lot in 1961. She worked at the Johns Hopkins Advanced Physics Laboratory as a travel consultant for 35 years.
Rudolf Siegrist -- Mr. Siegrist was with the National Security Council in a communications capacity. He served in the Navy during World War II and the Korean War. He lived at 1300 Highland Drive.
Floyd Smith -- Dr. Smith moved to Washington in 1929 from Ohio to work for the Department of Agriculture. He was an entomologist specializing in insect control. He was apparently skeptical about organic methods, one telling a neighbor that "organic farming is picking the worm out of the apple with a pen knife." He was an avid gardener and a founder of the Montgomery County Men's Gardening Club. He had a greenhouse in his back yard at 9022 Fairview Road, which he and his wife Dorothy had purchased new in 1936. He also founded the Bear Garden Nursery in Ashton, Maryland. He was interested in the beautification of Woodside Park and with his son Dwight planted many of the willow oaks still found in the neighborhood.
S. Thomas Stathes -- Mr. Stathes is an architect who designed many houses throughout the area and was also one of the designers of the Pentagon. In 1938 he won the Paris Prize and studied in Paris in 1938 and 1939. He entered private practice in 1946. Among his other projects was the Postal Service's Northwest Station at 5632 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. He designed three houses in Woodside Park, 1118 Woodside Parkway for his sister and her husband, 9021 Alton Parkway for his own home, and his second Woodside Park home at 1213 Noyes Drive. He was president of the Civic Association in 1966.
Alfred Steinberg -- Mr. Steinberg, a noted journalist and author, was the second author to live at 904 Highland Drive. Among his books are a biography of Eleanor Roosevelt, Mrs R.; a biography of Harry S. Truman, The Man from Missouri; Bosses; and a biography of Lyndon Johnson, Sam Johnson's Boy, A Close-up of the President from Texas. He was also the author of the children's book series called "Lives to Remember" and many other books and articles. He lived at 904 Highland Drive until his death in 1995.
Louis Straus -- Mr. Straus was manager of the Raleigh Haberdasher store in Chevy Chase. He lived at 1604 Dale Drive.
Marian K. Tate -- Rev. Tate, of 1311 Noyes Drive, was a founding member of Christ Congregational Church in 1944. The church was formed to "bring men together," and her name was not recorded with the other founders, who were all men, despite the fact that she was director of religious education.
John B. and Evelyn Thompson -- John B. Thompson was a civilian engineer with the Army Signal Corps. Both Mr. Thompson and his wife Evelyn were accomplished pianists. Before moving to Washington, Mr. Thompson had a dance orchestra in Illinois. Mrs. Thompson taught the piano to neighborhood children. They had two grand pianos in their living room at 9111 Crosby Road and played duets.
Eugene Thoré -- Mr. Thoré was an attorney who was president of the Life Insurance Association of America from 1965 to 1970. Before joining the Life Insurance Association, he was general counsel of the Acacia Mutual Life Insurance Association. He lived at 1222 Woodside Parkway.
Richard Larson Tuve -- Dr. Tuve, who was born in 1912 in Clanton, South Dakota and died in 1995, moved to Woodside Park in 1954 and lived at 9211 Crosby Road. He was employed by the Naval Research Laboratory from 1938 to 1970. During World War II he developed "Shark Chaser," a shark repellant which is credited with saving at least 158 lives. Later he developed "Purple K Powder" which is used to increase the effectiveness of foam fire extinguishants used on oil and gasoline fires. He also developed fluorocarbon chemical agents known as "Light Water," which makes water float on top of gasoline and other fuels and, thus, fireproofs them. Dr. Tuve was the author of Principles of Fire Protection Chemistry and many technical articles and papers. He was also known in Woodside Park for establishing many of the flower barrels at entrances to the neighborhood.
Steve Twomey -- Mr. Twomey is a columnist for the Washington Post who won a Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 1987. He lives at 1216 Clement Place.
Evarts J. Wagg -- Mr. Wagg was Assistant Statistician for the C&P Telephone Company. He lived at 9013 Alton Parkway and was the author of the Woodside Park history booklet distributed by the Civic Association in the 1970s as well as other summary histories of Woodside Park distributed to local schools and libraries. He was president of the Civic Association in 1944.
Graham H. Woolfall -- Mr. Woolfall was an architect employed by the Office of the Supervising Architect of the Treasury. He lived at 1227 Pinecrest Circle.
Duke Zeibert -- Mr. Zeibert was a noted Washington restauranteur who owned Duke Zeibert's restaurant. He opened the restaurant in 1950 at 17th and L Streets, N.W. His restaurant was frequented by many notables including Presidents beginning with Truman, Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, J. Edgar Hoover, Mikhail Gorbachev, notorious mobster Jimmy Roselli, and Teamsters Boss Jimmy Hoffa. The restaurant was also popular with sports figures. The Redskins' three Super Bowl trophies were displayed there. He bought the new house at 1200 Noyes Drive in 1952.
Sidney Zimmerman -- Mr. Zimmerman was corporate vice president for finance of Operations Research, Inc. and previously vice president of the International Bank of Washington. He lived on Woodside Parkway.
