West Lanham Hills

WEST LANHAM HILLS HISTORY

by Jim Gunther

PLEASE NOTE: Below is a brief history of West Lanham Hills. In response to student requests for a detailed community history to be used as reference material for school assignments, I have prepared a written history which is ongoing and currently extends to about 20 pages. For a copy of this document for school or other purposes, please contact me at the e-mail address listed below.

Back in July of 1998, my wife Margaret sat down with Wilma Smith, one of the original residents of West Lanham Hills, to see what she could reveal about the origins of our community.

Wilma and her husband Robert, who served for a time as association president, purchased their home in 1940 for $2,650 with $150 down and payments of $25 per month. West Lanham Hills was one of the first FHA-funding housing developments in the area.

There was a gas station and some small corner stores on route 450 (called Defense Highway in those days), but little else. There was a pond used for ice skating during the Winter months across from the existing fire station. At the top of Garrison Road was a Veterans' park where people used to relax and congregate.

Ms. Smith provided the above picture which shows the The West Lanham Hills Fire House shortly after it was built by community residents in 1945.


On March 11, 1941, a group of West Lanham Hills residents met to form
an organization whose purpose would be to represent the interests and concerns of the community. Roads, street lights and sanitation were issues of the day.

Residing in an unincorporated area of Prince George's County and thus lacking a mayor or city council, residents of West Lanham Hills took it upon themselves to band together to give the community a strong, unified voice to represent their interests when dealing with government and private agencies. The Association was incorporated in 1945.

In the early years, many of the basic community services we take for granted today were fought for by members of the Association: better streets, reliable electrical and home-heating oil service, a public sewer system and improved public transportation.

During World War II, Korea and the Cold War, residents were involved in such efforts as plane-spotting, civil defense and aid to families of military personnel serving overseas.

As the area became more developed, members of the Association participated in various decisions affecting the community, such as the construction of the New Carrollton Metro station and the surrounding transit district overlay zone, a special zoning category designed to encourage commercial development adjacent to Metro stations.

It has been a continuing tradition of the West Lanham Hills Citizens'
Association, Inc., to sponsor various events and activities that currently include the bus trip, dinner dance, family fun day, Christmas and Halloween parties, and similar activities.

The Association also publishes and distributes a community newsletter and directory.

All services of the West Lanham Hills Citizens' Association, Inc. are provided free. This is possible because residents in the past purchased parcels of land in an effort to construct a building to be used for community activities.

Circumstances prevented the completion of such a structure and the parcels of land were sold. The proceeds from these sales were sufficient to generate an interest income that allows the Association to operate without the need for fund-raising activities.

The Association has no regulatory powers and has no control over
property standards or operation. All violations of law, community nuisances, or disputes between neighbors are referred to the proper government agency.

Unlike homeowners associations, which operate common areas in a given community and enforce property covenants decided upon by residents, the West Lanham Hills Citizens' Association, Inc., functions solely to represent the concerns of residents and does not impose restrictions upon them.

The Association does not own property. Monthly meetings are held on the first Wednesday of each month at 8:00 p.m. at the West Lanham Hills Neighborhood Park located at 7700 Decatur Road. This park is owned and operated by the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission. The West Lanham Hills Citizens' Association, Inc., has
free priority use of the building.

Email us
jimgunther@msn.com