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Posted on 01/07/2012 8:28:48 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Drivers leaving the newly opened Intercounty Connector at Exit 10 for Layhill Road have a choice listed on the big, green overhead sign: They can head south onto Layhill to go to Glenmont or travel north to go to Norwood.
Norwood?
“Anybody who’s lived here any length of time would say, ‘Norwood? Where’s Norwood?’ ” said Elizabeth Hartge, a lifelong resident of the area whose great-great-grandfather built the family homestead in 1855.
Even local history buffs are stumped.
“I wouldn’t know to call it Norwood,” said Cathy Case, interim director at the nearby Sandy Spring Museum and a resident of the Layhill area for two decades.
Sure, Layhill Road (Route 182) north of the ICC ends at Norwood Road before turning into Ednor Road. But the ICC exit signs list destination communities, not roads.
ADC maps of Montgomery County include a “Norwood” at the intersection of Layhill and Norwood roads. But historians say the only community that went by the name was a farming village in the late 1800s that eventually lost its post office.
The rural hamlet barely commands a few pages in local history books and is apparently so obscure that the Montgomery County Historical Society doesn’t keep a file on it. Montgomery’s parks department, which owns the vacant Red Door Country Store where the Norwood post office was housed, lists the historic property as being in Sandy Spring.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Maryland Norwood Nowhere Freak State PING!
This is MARYLAND. We’re a blue state here, honey. Did you expect competence? Be realistic.
Norwood has always been Norwood. I was born and raised in the County so perhaps it is an “old time County” resident bit of knowledge. Newcomers would probably get a bit confused....
Perhaps you could clue in this Elizabeth Hartge?
I grew up in the Ashton area so anyone from Olney, Ashton, Brookeville etc... knew the area. Perhaps Hartge grew up in Silver Spring or another area further away. It just has never been a “secret”... just a small area between Ashton and Sandy Spring.
When they referred to the ADC maps (which used to be excellent before the take-over), I actually would’ve been surprised if they referred to something that never existed. I’m sure ADC wrote “NORWOOD” in light blue, referring the area name, which may or may not be popular to use. Sometimes it harks back to an old town, sometimes a development. After all, looking at truly old maps, the big intersection near where I grew up was once called “Columbia”, but you’d never know it now. I never heard of that until I looked up old maps.
If you have the time, could you explain this? I loved the ADC maps and have a cartonfull of them in the trunk for much of the mid-Atlantic region.
They were a local co (Alexandria Drafting Co.) which did its own original work in our region (at least, starting in our region).
Since they were bought by German language/map behemoth Langenscheidt, they changed. They’re still excellent, but sometimes more out of date than they used to be. I hear they’re owned by another co., now.
I learned about them when my mother was in Real Estate - huge thing. They were still local. We always had some of the most local maps on hand. I started relying on them heavily just for my local forays looking for graveyards, etc, just exploring the back roads.
After Langenscheidt I noticed some errors, sometimes just things that weren’t updated for new traffic patterns.
Regardless, I love the things and as a birthday present, my husband bought all ADC maps for Maryland, so we had them all on hand and all were consistent with each other, at least!
Thank you for the explanation! I much prefer the ADC maps to GPS, MapQuest or even to iPhone mapping; although the latter is really handy if you don't have an ADC book of the area. You get a more comprehensive slug of information at a glance, such as where the post offices are and all the surrounding street names, parks and points of interest.
Oh, and WOW! That's an awesome gift! Kudos, OILineHubby!
He appreciates your appreciation. ;-D
Yes, it is VERY nice to have them. Especially for our graveyard group meetings which are often in difficult to find place, and not in my county! Any time we want to day-trip, we have something on hand.
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