DATE: September 9, 2019 TO: Historic Preservation Commission VIA: Howard S. Berger, Supervisor Historic Preservation Section, Countywide Planning Division FROM: Thomas W. Gross, Planner Coordinator Historic Preservation Section, Countywide Planning Division RE: Evaluation for Historic Site Designation: Findings, Conclusion and Recommendation Historic Resource Washington, Baltimore & Annapolis Electric Railway Bridge MIHP Number 71A-006 Address 8200 bl. Laurel Bowie Road, Bowie, MD 20715 Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Owners (Parcel 14); Adrian J. Rad and Aviva S. Nebesky (Parcel 1) Parcel 1 and that portion of Parcel 14 bounded on the east by Laurel Bowie Road and on the west by a line drawn from the Environmental Setting southernmost point of the western portion of Parcel 1 to the westernmost point of the eastern portion of Parcel 1 Description Map 29, Grid E3, Parcel 14 and Map 29, Grid D3, Parcel 1 Procedural Background September 1974 Survey and documentation of the property initially completed by Michael F. Dwyer. July 1981 Resource included in the Prince George’s County Historic Sites and Districts Plan. September 1985 Survey and documentation updated by Susan G. Pearl January 2008 Survey and documentation updated by EHT Traceries, Inc. August 29, 2019 The property was posted “at least 14 days in advance,” according to the provisions of the Prince George’s County Historic Preservation Ordinance (Subtitle 29-118) and the Prince George’s County Zoning Ordinance (Subtitle 27-125.03). Evidence of sign posting and written notice to the property owner are attached. August 30, 2019 The property owner, the adjacent property owners, and other interested parties were mailed written notice of the time, date, and location of the public hearing on the application. September 16, 2019 Date of HPC public hearing. Evaluation for Historic Site Designation: Findings, Conclusions and Recommendation Washington, Baltimore & Annapolis Electric Railway Bridge (71A-006) September 9, 2019 Page 2 Findings Description: The subject historic resource was constructed in 1907 to carry the Washington, Baltimore & Annapolis Electric Railway over Horsepen Branch. The single-span structure is constructed of reinforced concrete and rests on heavy concrete abutments and retaining walls that flank the waterway. The bridge is located on the WB&A bike and pedestrian trail, under a modern bridge that crosses both Horsepen Branch and Laurel Bowie Road. The railway tracks were removed in the 1930s but depressions remain where crossties had been laid across the bridge. Setting: The Washington, Baltimore & Annapolis Electric Railway Bridge is located in the 8200 block of Laurel Bowie Road, near the southern end of Lloyd Station Road, approximately one mile southeast of the historic center of Bowie. The bridge structure is largely contained within Parcel 14, which forms part of the WB&A Trail property owned by M-NCPPC. The concrete walls that flank Horsepen Branch on the north and south sides of the bridge extend into Parcel 1. The historic resource is located just west of Laurel Bowie Road, in an area characterized by low-density residential uses, woodland, and an adjacent horse farm. A 41.7-acre property to the immediate west of the resource is the subject of a preliminary plan of subdivision application for the proposed Pecan Ridge single-family residential development. This historic resource evaluation is being conducted in the context of the Planning Department’s review of this development application. History: The Washington, Baltimore & Annapolis Electric Railway Bridge is located on property that was part of the 369.5-acre Fair Running patent surveyed in 1813 to Joseph Peach III, comprising parts of the earlier patents Isaac’s Discovery, Farmer’s Reserve, and Peach Plains. The house built by Peach’s grandfather in 1727 was enlarged by Peach in the early nineteenth century and still stands, in greatly altered form, roughly a half-mile south of the railway bridge (Fair Running, Historic Site 71B-015). Joseph Peach sold 251 acres in 1814 to Barton Duvall, and the property and house remained in the Duvall family until 234 acres was sold to Richard G. Cross and Trueman Cross in 1850. The property was purchased “for the use of Elizabeth Page.” Page’s name appears on the 1861 Martenet map of Prince George’s County. Page’s sons mortgaged the property to Trueman Cross in 1874 and defaulted shortly after Cross died; the name of Cross’s executor, Jesse Slingluff, appears on the 1878 Hopkins atlas. The property passed through the Eberhardt, Dutton, and Weller families before being sold to Bernard F. Maenner and his wife, Elizabeth, in 1885. In 1890 Bernard and Elizabeth Maenner sold a roughly 9-acre parcel near the north end of Fair Running to Daniel Boone Lloyd, who owned an adjacent 137 acres to the north that was part of Strife, originally granted to Hugh Riley in 1721. The purchase gave Lloyd greater access to Horsepen Branch, which might have benefited the farm that Lloyd’s father, Augustus, operated on the property. Daniel B. Lloyd worked as a stenographer for the U.S. Senate from age 17 until his death in 1943 at age 83. He and his wife, Anna Belle, spent summers at “Buena Vista Farm” in “The Forest” and stayed in Washington, D.C. while Congress was in session. Lloyd’s career longevity made him the subject of national media interest, with his obituary appearing in newspapers as far afield as Arkansas, New Mexico, and California. The Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway Company purchased the Annapolis, Washington and Baltimore steam railroad for $385,000 around the turn of the twentieth century and soon began to acquire rights of way for its new intercity line, creating a 66-foot wide corridor extending from near the intersection of 15th Street NE and Benning Road in Washington, D.C. to downtown Baltimore. The portion of the right of way on which the subject historic resource is located was conveyed by Daniel and Anna Lloyd to the railway in April 1906. In August 1902, the company sold bonds to finance the construction of the railway and a new power plant in Hyattsville, expected to cost $350,000. Construction was underway later that year and by January 1903, WB&A officials expressed optimism that the line would be in service by September 1904. This proved unrealistic, and in fact the opening of the railway remained a moving target for several years. Construction of the WB&A was still in its early stages in April 1906, when the Fidelity Construction Company of Detroit was contracted to lay the track between the city limits of Baltimore and the outskirts of Evaluation for Historic Site Designation: Findings, Conclusions and Recommendation Washington, Baltimore & Annapolis Electric Railway Bridge (71A-006) September 9, 2019 Page 3 Washington, D.C. Another firm had already done a large amount of grading along the route by this time, and it was expected that the remaining grading, ballasting, and track laying would be completed within a year. Fidelity advertised for “teams with drivers” for “steady work for [the] entire season.” The project was headquartered at Odenton, near the junction of the three lines to Washington, Baltimore, and Annapolis. By December 1906 the railway company declared the construction of the line to be 60 percent complete, with operation expected to commence before July 1, 1907. At its height, the project employed up to 600 men, 150 teams and five steam shovels, one of which was positioned near Bowie. Among the distinguishing features of the railway touted by its builders was the avoidance of grade crossings along the roughly 40-mile route; as one article put it, “the railway will either pass over or under every country road, and the highway crossings will be solid floor abutments—that is, concrete structures filled in and the tracks laid on ties with stone ballast.” This type of crossing was novel for the region, where trestle bridges had long been standard. One article put the cost of the crossings at up to $15,000 each. The company was eventually forced to build several grade crossings after Anne Arundel County commissioners refused to allow WB&A to construct bridges or tunnels at the crossings of five country roads in the county. Other advantages of the new line, according to company officials, were its powerful electrical system and the relatively straight, flat course of the track; with a maximum curvature of one degree and maximum grade of two percent along the route, trains were expected to reach speeds of up to 75 miles per hour. The Niles Car Company of Niles, Ohio was awarded the contract for the line’s rolling stock, which was to consist of 62-passenger Pullman- type cars with an olive-green color scheme, mahogany interiors and leather seats. The completion of the railway was delayed repeatedly due to poor weather and unforeseen engineering difficulties. The original July 1907 target was pushed back to November, then to December, then to February 1908. Several specific setbacks were reported in the press, including the need to demolish and replace a concrete abutment that had shifted several feet on the marshy ground at Gwynn’s Falls near Baltimore. A test trip on the new railway was made on February 7, 1908, transporting a group of 30 scientists, civil engineers, railroad officials and reporters from Baltimore to Annapolis and then to Washington, D.C., where a dinner was held at the Willard Hotel. An article describing the trip stated that the railway company had spent $5,000,000 to complete the line, which extended a total of 96.33 miles. Regular scheduled service on the railway began in March 1908. The first few months of operation were marred by several accidents, including a head-on collision near Annapolis in April that resulted in over 10 injuries and a larger collision in June that killed nine and injured 16.