Evening star., 1927-05-15

Two miles from this town the
Crane highway and the Washington
La Plata road cross at T. b., flourish
ing crossroads settlement which owes
It's name to one Thomas Brooke, who
once owned the land upon which it is
established. We now are in the truck
farming section of Prince Georges
County. On every hand are finely
cultivated fields of market produce,
destined for the Washington trade.
Between r. E. and Washington is
Clinton, with bank, two churches,
Il high school and numerous stores.
Clinton, formerly Surrattsvile, is be-
coming an important suburban com
munjtv. Only a few miles from the
District line, 1t is attracting more and
more Washingtonians. Pretty new
homes are numerous. Here also Is
center for the truck farmers. The
tragic ASSOCIATION Of Clinton with the
assasSina ton of Lincoln is passing INTO
forgetfulness. 1t always has been IN
volved in considerable mystery which
may never be cleared up. The name
of the town has been changed offl-
cially by the Post Office Department
and only in the village school is the
name "Surrattsville' retained.
Another interesting Prince Georges
town is Seat Pleasant on the DIS
trict Of Columbia line at Chesapeake
Junction. 1t is an ancient town,
whose present population is made up
almost entirely of commuters. st.
Matthew's Episcopal Church at Seat
Pleasant. with it's surrounding grave
ward. affords just such a rural Wig
nette as would be associated with
Grays "Elegy in a Country Church
yard
Northeast Park, on the Washington.
Baltimore Il Annapolis Railroad near
the District line. also is entirely com
munity of Washington workers.
Along the Boulevard.
Prince Georges County is most pop
ulous along the line of the Baltimore
Washington boulevard. Nearly 49,
900 persons dwell in the narrow. fiat
14-mie stretch between Laurel and
Bladensburg. This population is es-
lly suburban. More than Is per
cent of it is employed in the Govern
ment departments and stores OF
Washington. 1t represents the Ma
tional Capitals earliest movement be-
vopd the limits of the District of
Columbia-w which began in the 90s
and gained it's greatest impetus dur
ing the congested days of the World
War.
These villages are like suburban n
communities the nation over.
The oldest of them, and The farthest
from Washington, Is Laurel. This is
the second largest town in Prince
Georges County with population
of about $500. 10 churches. a bank
national guard company and every
variety of store. Laurel today is
largely a community of commuters,
both to Washington and Baltimore.
1t has excellent steam and electric
railway service and is directly on
| the boulevard. The town is being
| developed more and more as resi-
dental community.
| But Laurel. to greater extent
. than any other of these Baltimore
! pike towns, can stand on it's own
| feet. 1t stood upon them for many
wears before committing was feasible
and had grown into a flourishing
manufacturing town before the Civil
! War. 1t still leads the county in
! dustrially. with it's cotton mills max
| ing use of the excellent water power
| of the PatuXent River.
Leader In Development.
| A dominant figure in the develop
|
ron. Nicholas Snowden's son-in-law and
an intimate friend of President Zach,
ary TAYLOR. In 1916 he established a
machine factory there for the manu-
| facture of cotton machinery at an in.
vestment of $4,000. He also farmed
! a plantation of 200 acres, fertilizing
| the land with wood ashes purcha sed
from the District of Columbia. In one
| wear he spent So 900 for ashes. He in
/ stituted a model dairy for those days
and supplied milk to Washington.
Clerks from the Washington depart
ments began to come to Laurel shortly
after the Civil War. buying land east
and west of the railroad tracks. This
| suburban development has grown
slowly ever since and long ago had
eclipsed the industrial Importance of
the town.
Laurel is growing 1t has just com
pIeted building a $4,000 elementary
school. The Episcopal Church there
has recently dedicated $35 900 parish
hall. Within few months work will
start on a $65, 900 armory for the
Headquarters Company. I'd Battalion
lst Infantry, Maryland National