West Lanham Hills

HISTORICAL COLLECTION-DOCUMENTS FROM OUR COMMUNITY'S PAST

Items of Interest from our Community History-by Jim Gunther

The documented history of our community dating back to 1941 is stored in five cardboard cases held in the custory of Association Secretary Margaret Gunther.

These documents tell a rich and touching history of a community banding together to ensure its improvement and preservation.

Residents down through the years have fought many battles against such enemies as mud, mosquitos, poor streets, lack of trash collection, and development, to name a few.

I have decided to embark on a major project in which I review the Association record and scan into the computer items of significance or interest. I will then post these items so that they can be viewed as picture files.

I expect this project to be ongoing for quite awhile and will upload more documents and pictures as time permits. Items will be placed in chronological order and will be accompanied by some explanatory text.

Clicking on the links in the text should take you to the documents and pictures. If that doesn't work you may have to cut and past the links into your web browser.

When you get to the document or picture, click when you see the magnifying glass to make the image bigger. Hit the back arrow to come back to this page. So here we go!

The first meeting of the West Lanham Hills Citizens Association was held on March 11, 1941. The link below tells you what happened at that meeting:

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The link below shows the back of the page shown above-its lists those present at the first meeting:

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The next link takes you to the bottom half of a plat map that is found in the Association folder dated 1941.

This plat map is dated 1931 and is hard to read, but it does show that the community turned out to be quite different than originally planned.

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Here is the top half of the plat map-it was too big to put into one picture:

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Someone placed this 1943 phone book in the Association records. On the front cover it asks that calls not be made during an air raid! Some West Lanham Hills residents are listed in the directory:

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Here is a page from the classified ads in the 1943 phone directory. If you look down about half-way in the ad on the left for "Paints and Walpapers", you will the the name "H.M. Brunk." This refers to Henry M. Brunk, the original developer of West Lanham Hills. He signed the letter discussed below concerning the sale of land to the Association:

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Someone decided to include a 1943 edition of Reader's Digest in the Association files. One of the lead articles tells "How Hitler Plans to Win the War." Hitler planned to use the resources seized from conquered countries and an extensive fleet of submarines to accomplish this task. Obviously that strategy didn't work and here is what the magazine looks like:

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The "West Lanham Hills Fire Department" was created by community volunteers. Here what it looked like in 1945:

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Also in 1945, the Association addopted its first set of governing rules, known as the "Constitution and By Laws." This four-page document was the predecessor of the by laws we now operate under, a document that is currently 11 pages long. Here are the four pages of the original document from 1945.

Page 1:

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Page 2:

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Page 3:

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Page 4:

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The West Lanham Hills Citizens' Assn. was incorporated in 1945. The below document, dated November 6, 1953, is the first use of the corporate seal I could find in the record. The document notifies the State Tax Commission of a change in resident agent for the corpoation:

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In the early 1950's, the Association was renting the land where the fire house now stands from a Mr. Brunk. The below letter was one of the early steps in which the Association eventually owned the land:

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The first community newsletter in the Association record appears in 1953. Primitive by today's standards, it contains three pages:

page 1:

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Page 2:

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Page 3:

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This handmade flyer from 1963 shows that someone had quite abit of artistic skill. It advertises the "Annual Party" which featured Tommy Burke's Orchestra.

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Someone decided to put the PTA handbook from 1963 pictured below in the Association record.

This handbook states that lunches are 30 cents, milk is 2 cents and parents are reminded not to send a thermos bottle to school with their child "unless they can manage it without help."

Parents are advised that they are "...legally responsible for seeing that their children are in school and on time when they are physically fit."

1963 was the year after the Cuban Missile Crisis, during which the United States and the Soviet Union were at a high point when it came to Cold War tensions and the threat of nuclear exchange. The PTA Manual points out that Civil Defense and other emergency drills will be conducted on a regular basis.

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This community flyer from 1963 demonstrates the fact that even in those days, residents were concerned about development near West Lanham Hills:

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In 1964, the Association received this award from what was known in those days as the "Prince George's County Recreation Department."

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In 1969, the Association sued Regal Construction Company which was dumping building materials on Association property. A young man who witnessed the wrongdoing testified in court, and the Association won the lawsuit. Present James Dodson wrote the below letter of thanks to the young man:

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In 1971, the Association purchases a parcel of land located in the area where the PEPCO facility on Ellin Road is now located. This "Deed of Release" gives the Association full title to the property with the note paid in full:

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In 1973, Association President James Dodson volunteers to be on the New Carrollton Metro Citizen Advisory Committee, a group of people who will make major decisions about the future of the New Carrollton Metro station and the surrounding area. Below is the letter of appointment:

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The below letter dated August 1, 1973 is from the Department of Transportation and responds to community concerns about the plans for the future New Carrollton Metro Station. The letter states that the station is to be completed in 1976, in reality it didn't open until 1978.

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By 1975, the Association was sending flowers to memorial services for deceased members. This year, the first thank you note from a member in response to the flowers was preserved in the Association records. Inside the folded card, it reads "Sam Munson and Family."

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THIS PROJECT IS JUST GETTING STARTED-MUCH MORE TO COME!!!