The Washington herald., 1922-01-15
TAKOMAPARKKEEN
FOR BETTER ROADS.
And FINE SCHOOLS.
Citizens Association
5 Gives Impetus to Civic
improvements.
BY MARY M'DuFFIE HAMP.
TON.

when the Takoma Park Citizens
Association Is under consideration
there is more at hand than first
thought seems to promise. You
see Takoma Park Is not q handful
of city blocks seeking improve
ments, but q whole little city by
Itself. And, furthermore. a city 80
situated that should II be Ill treat
ed by the District Of Columbia Il
can proudly hold up its head and
say, "The most Of me Is Maryland.
anyhow" So the Citizens .Associa-
ton Of Takoma Park, aside from
its size and activity which alone
gives 1t unusual prestige among Its
brother associations, has the un-
usual honor of practically ruling
the affairs Of a whole, very pro-
gressive, real city, both IN the ter.
ritory Of the District and In Mary
land
To make certain that you do not
underestimate the dignity and i'm
portanee of this association It must
be emphasized at the start that
1900 independent living. independ-
emit thinking and homecoming
citizens make up the beautiful
city-suburb, 500 of whom are Mary
Ianders and the remaining as"
citizens Of the District Of Column
bfa. 1t is a very ambitious and
foresighted community. with a toe in
Montgomery County and a heel In
Prince Georges County. And as the
shining star in Takoma Parks crown,
be 1T known that last statistics have
revealed the fact that Takoma Parfl
is the largest city in Montgomery
County, not excluding Rockville
There Is endlessly much more to be
said, Of course. Those citizens could
not justly let you pass by unobserv-
ant of their little Broadway" with
everything from the real estate ONCE
to the movie.
Meets Responsibilities.
that the Citizens Association has no
added, looks out for those same re-
sponsibilities in no mean way.
Records will; be records and wan
der of to the land OF the lost, and
people will be careless. So the early
records OF the Takoma Park Citizens
Association are nowhere to be found
and only a few word-of-mouth tradi-
tions here and there.
The association is thirty-five
years old and is most proud of its
age. In 1884 a few stragglers dis
covered a garden spot of beauty
and decided they would settle there.
One very far-sighted man foresaw
that others would feel as he did
about the choosing OF a spot for
his home. and in his civic-sentiment
did for Takoma Park the same no
Bile deed that none less than Wash
ington himself did for this city
nc laid it off. Benjamin F. Gilbert
was earliest mayor and the father
of that suburb. And two Of his CO.
settlers who with him began and
reigned in the first citizens asso-
citation. were Col. G. C. Kniffen and
c. NJ. Heaton, jr.
The first citizens organized the
Takoma Park Improvement Associ-
alton. Time went on and the asso-
citation grew with the development
of the community. Finally certain
members found the old title too mar
row for the expression of the &C
tual scope of the associations
work, and the name was changed to
the Welfare Society of Takoma
Park. 1t continued under that name
along those uprecOrded years until
about 1902 when the association had
changed its name a third time to
Takoma Park Citizens Association.
The earliest meetings took place in
the home of Byron C. COON, and
one of the earliest presidents was
Wilmer G. Plat.
First Interest in school,
As a community of homes and
children It's first natural interest
was in the school. The school sit
uation is unusual. On account of
the Maryland line cutting the sub
urb in two, there has been a school
on either side. supported by respec-
tive tax payers. In those earliest