Hillandale History

When the first Europeans settled along in the land between Paint and Northwest Branches, the area was populated by Piscataway Indians, who harvested corn, wheat and oats in the fields, hunted bear, deer, raccoon, opossum, fox, mink, squirrel and woodchuck in the forest, as well as grouse, partridge, quail and wild turkey and fished for trout, bass, perch and other fish in the streams.

The first European settlers arrived in the 17th century, as Hillandale, along with all of Maryland, was part of a grant given to George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore. by King Charles I of England. Slaves that arrived soon thereafter harvested wheat, corn and tobacco.

In 1716, Alexander Beall was deeded a 920 acre tract of land between Northwest and Paint Branches. The estate was called Friendship Enlarged. When Beall died, his land was parcelled to his heirs. One such parcel along Northwest Branch was called .Hills and Dales..

During the Revolutionary War, as supplies were scarce, the Maryland Convention encouraged through gratuities the development of powder and woolen mills to increase the supply of clothing and war munitions. Hence, the development of powder mills along the .fall-lines. of the streams of our area. This is most likely the origin of Powder Mill and Old Gunpowder Roads.

After the Civil War, the area continued to be mostly agricultural, with many former slaves choosing to stay as free farmers or farm workers.

In 1879, a 200 acre farm owned by Edmund Burgfeld occupied the site that would later become Xaverian College and the Meany Center. Burgfeld reportedly owned several stage theatres in Washington. In 1899, the farm was sold to William and Florence Wimsatt.

In 1930, the Brothers of St. Francis Xavier purchased the property for a site for a college. These Brothers also ran the St. Mary.s Industrial School in Baltimore, where Babe Ruth attended and learned to play baseball from the now immortal, Father. Matthias. Xaverian College opened in 1933 as a two-year junior college under the direction of Catholic University.

At this time, most of what is now Hillandale was the vast .Sitka Farm,. owned by H.M. Hitchinson. Hutchinson made his fortune trading in fur in Sitka, Alaska; His huge white mansion was located on a knoll near Qaklawn Ct. and the farm.s stone entry gates were wh~rethe Centers for the Handicapped now stands. Hutchinson also built the Sitka Baptist Church for his black hired men and women. It stood on a lot on the south side of Powder Mill Rd. where 2 houses were built a few years ago.

G.T. Greenfield, a sod merchant, owned the old Patton farm north of the Hutchinson place. Greenfield was married to the granddaughter of J.M. Clark, who had a farm at the time near Northwest Branch> John Ruppert (Ruppert Rd.) also had a farm where NSWC now exists. The family of James T. Clark owned the .White Oak Farm. which was named for a 400 year old tree that stood near White Oak Shell. The stately brick home still standing in the Oak Hill apartment complex behind Sears was built by Clark.s grandson, John. Across New Hampshire Avenue, near The Point, was a farm owned by John Hopkins who was murdered at Lockwood and Burnt Mills Avenue by an unknown assailant who struck Hopkins with a wagon seat to the head. Anna McCeney (McCeney Ave.) owned a farm where Burnt Mills Hills now sits. The Lusbys and Harpers (Harper Ln.) also owned property west of the .main road.~. The land now occupied by Oakview was owned by William Rapley, who reportedly owned the National Theatre; His mansion was called .Avenel...

In 1933, Merritt Lockwood purchased the 375-acre Hutchinson tract. It was here that Hillandale developed. At that time the only main road was Piney Branch Road, which ran approximately to White Oak. What is now Overlook Drive, which is really a circle, was a horse show tract on the farm. The caretaker.s house was the farmhouse which still stands on the east side of New Hampshire Ave., just south of Overlook. The Hutchinson farmhouse and barn were sold to a Catholic order which occupied them for some time.

The main original streets were Overlook, Greenacres Dr., Mantz Rd, Sweetbriar and Edgewater Parkways and Parkman, Naglee and Rodney Roads. Powder Mill Rd. was called Franklin Ave.. Among the first homes were those of the Wildings and the Chalupskys on Greenacres, and the Edwards and DeNeanes on .the Hill.. The Chalupskys had a garden, and often, at night, they would hear a chain dragging and a loud chomping noise. Mr Chalupsky would have to run out and chase the cow back to the Sisters. place from his choice vegetables. They also had tomatoes planted in the middle of what is now Greenacres. These extended only as far as Edgewater Parkway, which was a dump for unused building materials.

About this time, another contractor was building homes on Cresthaven Dr.. .County Road.: ran off Cresthaven, and a goat farm was there. The goats grazed all through the fields, which are now covered with houses (Royal Rd., etc.). At this time, the sites of the other communities in our area were woods and farmland, except Avenel (Oakview) and Burnt Mills Hills.

As Hillandale grew. the number of children grew too, and the school problem arose. Most of the early Hillandalers went to either East Silver Spring or- Parkside. There were only about two bus stops in the entire community, one on each side of Piney Branch Rd.. Later, some of the children went to Silver Spring Intermediate (known to some as Sing Sing Institute), and then to Takoma Jr. High. The only Senior High School was Montgomery Blair.

In the following years, many changes took place. The volunteer fire department was incorporated and granted a charter in March 1941. The men began their activities with one piece of equipment, and the firehouse was the barn next to the Hutchinson house. - There was a single-lane road running up to the barn, and, when the alarm would sound the later volunteers would have to wait for the truck to come down the narrow road driven by the one who had arrived there first. One of the Fire Department.s first and biggest fires was that of the Hutchinson house, which caught fire during the day when most of the firemen were at work.

During World War II and in the years that followed, a wonderful community spirit grew up in Hillandale. It was like a small town where people visited one another and supported community activities together. The Ladies. Auxiliary to the Fire Department worked tirelessly and had suppers and festivals, shrimp feasts, and bake sales going on all the time. Among other things, a newspaper was started, the first issue coming out in November 1943. it was a weekly at first until the Womans Club took it over as a monthly. In this first issue, incidentally, was a notice that Trailways had applied to the District of Columbia for permission to run buses through Hillandale from Laurel to Washington -- the first public transportation!

On every July Fourth, for some years, the children had a parade -- long enough and important enough for the police to provide an escort - - which ended at the Rec Center for a patriotic program and picnic. Everybody attended. No one even thought of being out of the community for the Fourth.

In 1944, N.O.L. purchased nearly one thousand acres of land. Thirty were set aside for the Rec Center. The Fire Department bought a small portion in the northwest corner. Along Piney Branch Rd, where the NSWC fence now runs, there was a farm and a chicken yard. Back, along Paint Branch, was Devil.s Den, which was like a cave and some say was built by runaway slaves. Another story is that it was used as a storage place for powder during the Civil War. This area also contained a good swimming hole known to some as .seven foot..

When the firehouse was completed in the winter of 1945-46, the big doors did not come for a long time. Then, in March, when the doors were installed, the apron was a sea of mud and the trucks could not get in.

In the March 16, 1946 issue of the .Hillandaler,. the following notice appeared: .An eight-room elementary school for the Hillandale area is planned and will be quickly constructed so as to be ready for use in September.. But, by the time it was built --about five years later -- it was no longer an eight-room school.

The Shaw tree, named for George H. Shaw, one of Hillandale.s first and finest citizens, was originally where Hillandale Shell now stands. The tree was later moved to its current spot in front of the Centers for the Handicapped.

The Xaverian College closed its doors in 1971 when the AFL-CIO Executive Council authorized purchase of the acreage to house a Labor Studies Center, which was dedicated in 1974.