8200 Block of Georgia
Family businesses Spring Up
Silver Spring in the early 1900s saw the construction of several private dwellings fronting the east side of Georgia Avenue, originally named the Washington and Brookeville Turnpike. One of these was an American four-square house built in 1909 by John Joseph Dolan for himself and his wife Geneva. Dolan, a plasterer by profession, worked also as a builder, contractor, and a director of the Silver Spring National Bank, founded 1910.
The residential character of this section of Georgia Avenue soon gave way to development pressure. In 1924, with the increasing commercialization and value of property fronting Georgia Avenue, Dolan decided to move his residence several hundred feet around the corner to 918 Thayer Avenue and construct commercial buildings on the vacated site. The December 14, 1924 Washington Post article “Program of Construction Extends into Maryland” reported that Dolan “…expects to erect three stores on his original home site. All of these stores on the east side of Georgia Avenue are expected to be of more valuable construction than some of the present improvements on that side of the street.”
By 1926 Dolan had completed work on three adjoining, two‑story brick buildings at 8223-25-27 Georgia Avenue. The first businesses to occupy these buildings were Richard J. “Pop” Dietle’s Silver Spring Home Bakery (8223), Marcel Zimmerman’s Silver Spring Electric Co. (8225), and Frederic Di Vecchia’s Silver Spring Hardware & Painting Co. (8227). The shop owners and their families lived on the top floor above each business, whose facades are virtually intact.
Finally, a Department Store
“… A full line of Dry Goods and Clothing” was available at Moses Sclar’s Grand Leader Store (8221 Georgia Avenue), which opened in 1926 and adjoined John Joseph Dolan’s project (see opposite side) to the south. In operation for over a quarter century, this Jewish family-owned business was run with the assistance of Moses’ wife, Catherine, and their children Ada, Reuben, Fannie, and Jacob.
Mr. Sclar, orphaned at the age of nine, emigrated from Russia to the U.S. in 1909 and settled in Pennsylvania where he worked as a merchant. In 1926 when he learned that a community in Maryland named Silver Spring had no department store, he packed up his wares and moved. Joined later by his wife and children, his new shop was an early success with farmers who came to town on Saturday evenings to buy shoes, clothing and dry goods.
Because there were no synagogues in Silver Spring, many Jewish couples were married in the Sclar’s apartment, located over the store. Rabbis from Washington, D.C. would officiate at the ceremonies. The Grand Leader’s original ground floor bay display-case windows, second floor balcony, and facade remain intact.
