Civil War History in Poolesville
The Town of Poolesville is filled with all kinds of interesting history from the Civil War.
History
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Last November, the Netflix show “The Crown” reached Netflix’s top 10 most watched shows. The hit drama follows Queen Elizabeth II’s long reign of Great Britain. Unfortunately, the show didn’t cover the Queen’s tour to the United States and Canada in 1957. On October 19, she and the Duke of Edinburgh cheered among 45,000 other fans at a University of Maryland (UMD) football game.
The Maryland Terrapins were playing against the North Carolina Tar Heels. While watching her first game of American football, the Queen stood next to Maryland governor Theodore McKeldin (to the right in the photo) and University of Maryland president Wilson Homer “Bull” Elkins (to the left in the photo).
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John F. Kennedy’s Time in Montgomery County
It’s spring of 1960 and the democratic candidates are campaigning for the presidential election. Most candidates are putting a focus on Maryland — a state that doesn’t gain much attention in today’s elections — but John F. Kennedy planned to make the most of his time in Maryland.
Tastee Diner
National Jukebox Day comes around every year– November 25th, and one of the only places you’ll find a jukebox is in a diner. So, in honor of National Jukebox Day, let’s take a moment to celebrate one of the most famous diners in Montgomery County: Tastee Diner.
Congressional Roller Skating Rink
Do you remember this popular Rockville destination from decades back? Once located at 140 W. Bouic Ave, adjacent to Congressional Plaza off of Rockville Pike, this airplane hangar turned roller skating rink drew local crowds from 1956 to 1983.
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Tuffy Leemans played in the NFL from 1936-1943. In his rookie season, he led the league in rushing and was named an All-Pro.
In 1978, Alphonse “Tuffy” Leemans was inducted to the NFL Hall of Fame for his time with the New York Giants. At that point, he hadn’t just achieved one of the highest honors in the NFL… he had also become a local legend among Duckpin Bowlers in Montgomery County.
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These are a couple quotes from people who commented on a picture of the Glenmont Arcade sign on when we posted it last week on Instagram. Despite its name, this wasn’t a gaming arcade. Originally built in 1952, the Arcade was a mini mall inside a strip mall. 11 store fronts were open for “one-person businesses.”
A number of local businesses have opened and closed in the Glenmont Shopping Center. In 1957, a 24-lane bowling alley, Tuffy Leemans, first appeared at the strip mall located in the basement of the arcade and stayed open until 2002. There, you could find multiple pinball games, which many believed was the reason for the “arcade” name. Later on, arcade games were brought in, but that was long after the sign and name came about.
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Did Abraham Lincoln spend time at Silver Spring Mansion with the Blairs?
Lincoln and the Blairs were close. The Blairs already had a strong family friendship with the Lincolns in Kentucky. Francis Preston Blair Sr. had advised U.S. presidents before Lincoln, which means that Lincoln and Blair Sr. would most likely have had at least a close work relationship. The two families were clearly political allies since Lincoln made Montgomery Blair, Blair Sr.’s son, the administration’s postmaster general.
During the post-war boom in the 1950s, Montgomery County’s population more than doubled in size and rivaled the population booms of Los Angeles and Houston. The number of residents in the County had shot up from 164,401 to 340,928, increasing by 107%.
The thriving job market in MoCo helped facilitate its growing population. In the 1960s, multiple federal government agencies in Montgomery County, such as Walter Reed Hospital Annex and the National Institute of Health, continually employed professional workers. Other private businesses like IBM Federal Systems, Inc. and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory were also offering work.
Retro MoCo Ads – 1985
Today we’ll be looking at local ads from thirty-five years ago from the County Courier!
Montgomery History & Germantown Historical Society Host Emancipation Event November 3rd
Montgomery History and the Germantown Historical Society will be hosting a virtual event this Tuesday, November 3rd at 2PM.