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Diana Kohn is TP's unofficial historian. As Education Chair of Historic Takoma, Inc., a volunteer organization dedicated to preserving the heritage of Takoma Park, MD and Takoma DC, she helps ensure that Takomans are aware of our rich local history. Learn more at www.historictakoma.com. Diana is also a longtime environmental activist who works at the Institute for Environmental Energy Research. |
The changing face of Takoma's "Main Street"
Last month the two vacant buildings on the 200 block of Carroll Street NW were
finally demolished to make way for the new Ecco Park condominum development on
Carroll at Maple. Their disappearance is a reminder of the changing face of the
Carroll streetscape.
In the early days, sprawling homes shared Carroll with pharmacies and general
stores. Gradually the houses fell victim to an expanding commercial district.
Colonel Kniffin and Dr. Parsons, whose homes originally sat on the same 200
block of Carroll would be surprised to see their lots returned to residential
living, albeit condos.
 This
photo (at right), taken from the fourth floor of the Review and Herald
Building, looks out on Eastern and Carroll in the 1940s. The bank in the center
still stands (now Bank of America) but little else remains the same. Takoma
Park Church now occupies the grassy triangle. The two buildings to the left
are shown in the closeup below.
 A
few residents still remember when Fred Dudley’s house (left) graced
the land now given over to CVS. Fred was one of the early builders responsible
for many of the Takoma Park houses. His home was leveled for a parking lot
in 1970. CVS came 30 years later.
 The
Takoma Park Bank on Carroll Avenue near Maple (right) as it appeared in 1918.
It was demolished in the 1970s to make way for the 10-story General Conference
Building. This picture illustrates how residential and commercial existed side
by side.
The storefronts along Carroll and Laurel may not have changed muvch over the
years, but many residents have fond memories of Park Pharmacy,
which closed when Doc. Fishbein retired in 1998.
These photos are part of Historic Takoma’s archives. We continue to
collect photographs, particularly from more recent decades for inclusion in
a history of Takoma Park, part of Arcadia Press' "Images of America" series.
If you have photos to share, please contact us at www.historictakoma.com
or 301-270-2831.
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