The Historic Preservation Planning staff of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission said the following about Woodside Park, Silver Spring's first automobile-based suburb:
"Woodside Park was more than a typical 1920s development . . . it was really prototypical. . . . Although there are many neighborhoods with some of the same characteristics and architectural housing types as Woodside Park, staff has concluded that Woodside Park is not only the most intact subdivision of the period, but also that its basic design and development is probably the purest manifestation of the '20s/'30s suburban ideal to have been built in Montgomery County. [Other contemporary neighborhoods do not] have the sylvan, park-like character that many subdivisions of the period aspired to but that few actually were able to create. Woodside Park did create this ideal sort of ambiance and has, amazingly, maintained it over the years to a great degree."
This page has links to three documents on the history of Woodside Park. The first is " The Selling of Woodside Park: The Importance of Architecture in the Development and Marketing of an Early Twentieth Century Suburban Neighborhood ," written by Robert E. Oshel, Ph.D. for the "Beyond the Mall: Symposium on the Historic Development of Washington, D.C." sponsored by the Latrobe Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians and the National Building Museum in December 1994.
The second document is Home Sites of Distinction: The History of Woodside Park, a 320 page illustrated book written for the neighborhood's seventy-fifth anniversary by Robert E. Oshel, Ph.D., with the assistance of Marilyn Slatick. Each chapter of the book (except for the maps and photographs, which are not included in the Internet version) may be found through the links below. The entire history is copyright 1998 by Robert E. Oshel. Please sent comments or requests to order the printed copy of the book ($15.00 plus shipping) to oshel@starpower.net .
The third document is the complete Woodside Park Historic and Architectural Walking Tour by Robert E. Oshel. The
walking tour has been published as a continuing series in the Woodside Park Civic Association's VOICE newsletter since
September 1997. The document here presents the entire walking tour (except for the illustrations), including parts of the
tour which may not yet have been published in the VOICE.
Links to chapters in Home Sites of Distinction: The History of Woodside Park:
Introduction, Preface, and Acknowledgments
The Development of Silver Spring
Woodside Park and Suburban Development
Other Additions to Woodside Park before and After World War II
The Woodside Park Civic Association
Churches & Synagogues in Woodside Park
This page was transformed into HTML and posted by Gregory Oshel .
