Farewell Chevy Chase Bank

I have had an account at Chevy Chase Bank since my wife and I moved to downtown Silver Spring in 1992.  Chevy Chase is only the third bank that I have had since moving to the area in 1978.

My first bank as a sophomore at American University was Madison National Bank.  I opened an account with them because they had a branch bank within walking distance in Spring Valley.  During my senior year in 1980, Madison opened its first  automatic teller machine on campus called "Dolley."  I covered the dedication ceremony for the school's Eagle newspaper. 

This ATM (which wasn't even known then by that moniker) was conveniently located in Clark Hall a few steps from my dorm, Letts Hall.  With 24-hour access, I thought "Dolley" was amazing as I would be able to withdraw what little money I had. 

This was the first ATM I had ever seen. My hometown bank in Lorain, Ohio...Lorain National Bank...where I had had a savings account since I was a kid, only had human beings that sat behind an open counter.

(Does anyone know what was the first bank in metropolitan Washington, DC that offered ATMs?)

I stayed with Madison until around 1984 when I got married and moved to Adams-Morgan.  Madison had been experiencing irregularities in its operations and I didn't feel confident in them so I switched to Riggs National Bank, who had a branch at 1779 Columbia Road, NW that was within walking distance of our apartment.  Good thing.  Two years later Madison was shuttered after being in operation for only 23 years.

I really liked Riggs.  This was a bank that had history and even looked like a bank!  Established in 1896 Riggs'a Admas-Morgan branch was designed by George N. Day and constructed in 1928.  With its two-story limestone facade designed in restrained Neoclassical style, this structure certainly symbolized what I had always thought a bank should look like.  That and the fact that 22 U.S. Presidents had banked at Riggs gave me confidence that it would outlive me.

When my wife and I bought our bungalow in pre "revitalized" downtown Silver Spring in 1992, Riggs was unfortunately not located anywhere in the Central Business District.  If they had been present I would still be a customer today...well, with its successor, PNC Financial Services, who took over in 2005.  So instead, we opened accounts at Chevy Chase Bank, then located where Bombay Gaylord is at 8401 Georgia Avenue.

I never liked their name due to the obvious connection with the Saturday Night Live comedian.  But it certainly was convenient to home, especially since they also had ATMs located in Safeway, a mere one block from our house.

I knew that change was coming to Chevy Chase Bank...to be re-named Capital One Bank...but I was still caught off guard when I came across this scene at the corner of  Georgia Avenue and Bonifant Street yesterday on my way home from work.  A worker was getting ready to install new signage over the corner entrance.

I just hope they ditch the "What's in your wallet?" Vikings commercial, but something tells me they will not.  If so, the image of Chevy Chase the comedian wasn't all that bad.

EPILOGUE

What's in your wallet?

Uh, stolen money.

Little did I know when I took these photos of the bank that it had been robbed earlier that day!

DEPARTMENT OF POLICE


MEDIA SERVICES DIVISION

2350 RESEARCH BOULEVARD ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND 20850-3294

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 26, 2010 FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Media Services Division, 240-773-5030

Bank Robber Arrested

Detectives from the Montgomery County Police Major Crimes Division - Robbery Section announce the arrest of a man who robbed a Chevy Chase Bank in Silver Spring this afternoon.

Today at approximately 2:15 p.m., 3rd District officers responded to the Chevy Chase Bank located at 8315 Georgia Avenue for the report of a bank robbery that had just occurred.

The male suspect entered the bank and presented a note to the teller demanding cash and implying that he had a weapon. He left with an undisclosed amount of cash. A weapon was not seen and no one was injured. A look-out description of the suspect: black male, 5’10” tall, heavyset, hair in dredlocks, and wearing a red and blue plaid shirt was broadcast.

Responding patrol units located a suspect matching that description walking casually southbound on Georgia Avenue toward East West Highway. He was taken into custody without incident. The cash stolen from the bank was recovered.

Carl Coleman Purvis, Jr., age 42, of the 500 block of Peabody Street, NW Washington D.C., was charged with armed robbery and theft. He is currently being held at the Montgomery County Detention Center. Bond information is not yet available.

To see a photo of the bank robber, go to http://connectedcommunities.us/showthread.php?t=38458

"Happy" Birthday Silver Spring Armory

On this date 83 years ago, Silver Spring's Maryland National Guard Armory opened. Despite being a designated Montgomery County Master Plan for Historic Preservation structure, this community landmark was demolished in 1998 by vote of the Montgomery County Historic Preservation Commission.

Bordered by Wayne Avenue, Fenton Street, and the no longer extant Pershing Drive*, this monumental structure was eventually replaced five years later by the Wayne Avenue parking garage.  The Armory is "commemorated" by architectural fragments scattered along the sidewalk in front of the garage.

*So much for Silver Spring's honoring of General John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing.  The only segment of the drive that remains in the Central Business District is the short section that essentially serves as Whole Foods' entrance off of Cedar Street.

Regular U.S. postage stamp issued in 1961.

Summer dance program at the Silver Spring Armory. 
Photo copyright 1998 Jerry A. McCoy.

Silver Spring Armory front (west) elevation.
Photo copyright 1998 Jerry A. McCoy.

Silver Spring Armory architectural fragments placed alongside
Wayne Avenue parking garage.  Photo copyright 2005 Jerry A. McCoy.

The ultimate sacrilege committed against the Silver Spring Armory was the severing of the concrete bas-relief Maryland State flag into four quadrants. Two of the quarter sections were placed back to back, on this pylon, and erected at one of the parking garage's entrances. The other two quarter sections were similarly placed at the opposite end of the garage. This disrespect would have never been shown if this had been the United States flag. The same etiquette applies to state flags but our Montgomery County Government was/is ignorant of this fact. Photo copyright 2005 Jerry A. McCoy.

Greetings from Silver Spring, Maryland

During the brief, violent storm that blew through Montgomery County last Sunday, I was standing in front of my house under the porch and watched in amazement as a torrent of water flowed south down the full width of Grove Street.  Suddenly, the transformer at the top of the telephone pole on the corner of my lot exploded...a deafening, chest-thumping sound that I am all too familiar with.  I immediately thought to myself, "Well, how many days will we go without power this time?"

After three days of living and trying to sleep in a dark house where the post-storm temperature quickly climbed into the nineties, my wife and I bailed and checked into the Courtyard Marriott.  Located on Fenton Street a short three blocks from our house, I couldn't believe that we were paying $199 a night.  This was more than we paid last year at this time when we stayed at the historic Sir Francis Drake Hotel off of Union Square in San Francisco!  But desperate times call for desperate measures.

I quickly decided to experience our visit as if we were first-time visitors to Silver Spring and to see how well this corporate chain hotel acknowledged the community beyond its Dryvit-covered walls.  Walking into the hotel's Fenton Street lobby across from Whole Foods we were greeted with three large framed vintage photographs of Silver Spring.  "Nice," I thought.

I should know, as the Silver Spring Historical Society provided them to the hotel when it opened in 2005.  Three more framed photographs are located up on the third floor, two behind the registration desk and one next to the fake fireplace in the lounge area.  All have descriptive labels indicating what the images show.

Other than these photos, that was it for informing a visitor unfamiliar with Silver Spring what local "attractions" were available.  The complimentary USA Today and Wall Street Journal newspapers were on the counter.  I guess having copies of the Gazette or the Silver Spring Voice would have taken up too much space.  I couldn't even find the traditional hotel rack of brochures publicizing local businesses...a perfect venue for copies of the Buy Local Silver Spring Guide.

I didn't even bother to check the postcard rack in the hotel's small gift shop for a "Greetings from Silver Spring, MD" postcard to send the folks back home.  Has it really been 70 years since the last one was published? 

Tichnor Brothers, Inc. of Boston published this 1940s Tichnor Quality View postcard.  A generic design, the postcard featured a blank pennant upon which a community's name could be overprinted.  From the collection of the Silver Spring Historical Society.

I decided to make my own postcard and hereby share it with all.

The photo was taken out of the window of Room 525 at 6:23 am on the morning of July 29, 2010. The steeple belongs to St. Michael's Church.  I was really impressed by the tree canopy of our East Silver Spring neighborhood (PEPCO blames the area's prolific trees for all of the power outages in the area that it serves...the third-densest "tree population canopy" in the US behind Atlanta and Portland, OR ).

Why, Silver Spring almost looks like a New England village!  Wish you were here.

Dog Days of Summer

I'm at work today at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library at 901 G Street, NW in Washington, DC.  I just went outside to mail some letters and the temperature is approaching 100* F.  Out on the library's plaza I came upon this site.

I felt so sorry for these dogs. The black puppy looked absolutely lethargic.  There was a bowl of water.

The owner was certainly inside the library.  Gotta wonder where he is peddling from and where he is going.

Acquisition - Silver Spring Society of Model Engineers B&O RR Station Arch. Drawing

The Silver Spring Historical Society recently received this reproduction of an architectural drawing of the 1945 Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Station, located at 8100 Georgia Avenue.

Donated by Mr. Frederick Dorsey, the 17 1/2" x 23 1/4" copy was drawn by C. F. Wilding in September 1950 for the Silver Spring Society of Model Engineers.  The scale is 3.5mm = 1'0" "Full Size for HO Gauge."  The location of the original rendering is unknown.

Nothing is known about the Silver Spring Society of Model Engineers, Mr. Wilding, or for what purpose this copy was created.  It could have possibly been a souvenir of the station for the members of this society.

If anyone has additional information, please post it to the comments section.  Thank you.

See the Fake Children...

I was pleased to see this recent commentary written on the backside of a LONG FENCE metal sign that had been bent backwards. The sign is attached to the chain link fence that surrounds the empty lot in the 900 block of Thayer Avenue.

The fake children refers to an art installation that appeared in this lot last month and surprisingly is still on display.

"This Used to be a Helluva Town, Officer"

These were the last words uttered by Lloyd Nolan's character to a Los Angeles police sergeant played by George Kennedy in the 1974 camp disaster flick Earthquake.

Silver Spring may not have been destroyed, but based on all the anecdotes posted on various area listserves, the 3.6 magnitude rumble felt by many this morning at 05:04:47 AM left quite an impression.

Help add to the historical record by taking a few minutes to recount your experience at the U.S. Geological Survey's Earthquake Hazards Program.