Takoma Park

Understand

Takoma Park is bordered by, and often confused with the adjacent Takoma neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The Takoma Metrorail Station is in D.C., near the border of the 2 cities.

The area is populated with many Hispanic, African and Asian immigrants. Together with nearby Hyattsville, they form an area that is one of the most politically liberal districts in the U.S. and home to a sizable percentage of Maryland's immigrant population.

The Old Town area of Takoma Park is composed of three historic districts which run along Carroll Avenue from 4th Street NW (in Washington, D.C.) to Takoma Junction in Maryland. This is an artsy, counter-cultural area anchored by the Metro station, Takoma Theater, the Washington Opera warehouse and the House of Musical Traditions.

More densely forested than the surrounding city, with huge oak trees, Takoma Park is known as a "tree city" and is bisected by numerous steep hills, narrow streets at odd angles, and the gorge-like Sligo Creek Park.

With its small-town ambiance and residents determined to preserve its charm, it is one of few areas to successfully discourage chain stores and national franchises in its Old Town commercial district and instead encourages privately owned, unique commercial establishments.

History

A train station was located here on the B&O railroad in the 1880s, around which the Victorian community of Takoma Park and neighboring Takoma, D.C. developed, at a time when much of D.C. was still farmland. Takoma Park quickly became the central commercial area for farmers, commuters and gentry commuting into Washington, D.C. by train and streetcar. Now it is a vibrant satellite city with a "small town" ambiance and a reputation for post-1960s era counterculture political activism.

Founded by B.F. Gilbert in 1887, the hilly town became a haven for Seventh-Day Adventists, who moved their World Headquarters here from Battle Creek, Michigan (home of the Matthew Broderick cereal drama Road to Wellville). At the turn of the century, they built several downtown churches, a small Christian liberal arts college, a printing press, a vegetarian health food co-op, elementary schools, and a sanitarium. Since then, gentrification has brought in academics and political consultants who restored many of the area's group houses into Victorian mansions.

Takoma Park's legendary socialist mayor, Sammy Abdul Abbott, was widely known in the 1960s for fighting successfully (alongside future DC Mayor Marion Barry and other members of SNCC) to prevent Takoma Park and central D.C. from being torn apart by a 10-lane freeway, which was projected to bisect Dupont Circle and at one point, the Lincoln Memorial. His slogan was "No white men's roads through black men's homes." As a result, there are no continuous freeways running through D.C. today. Ironically, Sam Abbott was white, and the son of a banker who had disowned him when he became a card-carrying Communist in the 1930s; most of the residents of Takoma Park at the time were elderly white civil servants and Seventh-Day Adventists, and as a result of the numerous decaying Victorian buildings, the area was flippantly known as "Tacky Park" or "Glaucoma Park". Hippies fleeing Adams Morgan were attracted to Takoma Park in the 1970s by its reputation as a health-conscious, Victorian Village populated by eccentric artists such as John Fahey, the founder of Takoma Records.

In 1997, after a referendum, the portion of Takoma Park that was in Prince George's County was annexed to Montgomery County.

Because of its proximity to the Silver Spring estate of noted abolitionist Montgomery Blair (after whom the local high school is named, and whose family continues to own part of downtown Silver Spring), Takoma Park is also home to two former Freedmen's Villages from the Civil War era. One of these is now a high-rise apartment district along Maple Avenue, while the other was built on the site of an old Civil War fort and amusement park located on Sligo Creek. It is now populated by art houses in addition to the historically black community near Sligo Creek. A similar Freedmen's Village, much more preserved, is on Hawkins Lane in the affluent town of Bethesda.

Today, Takoma Park has a strong bohemian artistic culture, to complement its radical activist history. It is an eclectic blend of alternative and often offbeat culture with a surprisingly robust dining scene ranging from farm-to-table restaurants and cafes to independent bookstores and vintage stores on Carroll Avenue. Takoma Park melds seamlessly into the Takoma section of D.C., which shares its left leaning roots. You'll find a lively mix of old hippies, bikers, retirees, students, immigrants, skaters, yuppies and families in all living in harmonious co-existence.

Get in

By Metrorail

Takoma Park is served by the Red Line of the Washington D.C. Metrorail. For more information on riding the Metrorail, see Washington DC#Get_In.

Most of the "Old Town" is within a 6-block walk of the Metrorail Station.

By bus

Metrobus and Ride-on-Bus operate service to Takoma Park from either D.C. or Silver Spring.

By car

Route 410 (East-West Highway) runs through Takoma Park. It connects Takoma Park with I-495 (Capital Beltway), the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, and Bethesda.

From Silver Spring or D.C., take Blair Road, (another 2-lane cow path and the former driveway for the Blair estate). From the East End, follow North Capitol Street which becomes Blair Road. After passing the Takoma Metrorail Station, Blair Road runs into Georgia Avenue at the D.C. line, just south of the railroad underpass in downtown Silver Spring. From Blair Road, turn under the Takoma Metro station on Cedar St. NW, which becomes Carroll Avenue.

Alternatively, take 13th St. NW all the way to Fort Stevens where it turns into Piney Branch Rd. Turn right on Cedar St. and go under the Metrorail Station. This is also the bike route.

By foot or bike

Sligo Creek Trail is a 10.6-mile asphalt trail that runs between Hyattsville and Wheaton, through Takoma Park.

If biking from Washington D.C., follow the 13th Street (Takoma) signed bike lane north of Downtown D.C. to Piney Branch Road and turn left on Cedar.

For information on bike sharing programs in the Washington D.C. area, see Washington D.C.#Get_around.

Get around

By foot

The old town is best explored by walking. In general, Takoma Park is extremely hilly. Some side streets go up a 50-ft incline in the space of a block.

By car

Langley Park / International Corridor and its ethnic restaurants are best explored by car. Parking is available both off-street and on-street.

By bus

Metrobus and Ride-on-Bus operate service around Takoma Park.

Go next

• Rock Creek Park, one of America's largest urban parks
• Hyattsville - accessible via the Sligo Creek Trail
• Wheaton - accessible via the Sligo Creek Trail
• Mount Rainer
• Silver Spring
• Rockville
• Bethesda
• Petworth