Measure Twice, Cut Once
Joseph R. Griffin (center with mustache), millwork estimator for the Silver Spring Building Supply Co., poses with millwork employees on July 18, 1924. The millwork was located diagonally across Ripley Street (then Poplar Street) from the back of 8222-26 Georgia Avenue. A Baltimore & Ohio Railroad siding extended half the length of Ripley Street from the main line of the B&O’s Metropolitan Branch, allowing for ease in delivery of lumber and other supplies. Courtesy Silver Spring Historical Society and E. Brooke Lee III
“A Finger in Almost Every Pie”
James H. Cissel (center with mustache), president of the Silver Spring Building Supply Co., poses with his employees in this photo taken July 18, 1924 in the ground floor office at 8222-26 Georgia Avenue. Cissel’s sister-in-law, Rose A. Clark, sits in the background. Cissel was the first president of the Silver Spring National Bank, founded in 1910. He was a founding commissioner of the Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission in 1927, donating portions of his vast land holdings to preserve the original bucolic nature of Silver Spring, and helped create the M-NCPPC park system. Courtesy Silver Spring Historical Society and E. Brooke Lee III
Building Business
This photograph shows the recently completed Silver Spring Building Supply Co., 8222-26 Georgia Avenue, as featured in a September 24, 1922 Washington Post advertisement proclaiming “All Kinds of Building Material.” Courtesy Washingtoniana Division, DC Public Library
All in a Day’s Work
This is a still from a 1927 silent film produced by the North Washington Realty Co. that promoted downtown Silver Spring and its neighboring residential communities. The man in the white shirt looking out the second floor window of 8222-26 Georgia Avenue is likely E. Brooke Lee. Courtesy Silver Spring Historical Society
Neighborhood Tavern
Harry F. Duncan poses with a model of his flagship restaurant, Little Tavern #1, built in 1938 at 8230 Georgia Avenue. The iconic building design was by architect George E. Stone and engineer Charles E. Brooks, partners in Stonebrook Corp. of Baltimore, Md. Wellner Streets took this photograph for the Star-News, December 11, 1972. COURTESY DC PUBLIC LIBRARY, STAR COLLECTION, © WASHINGTON POST
Civic Minded
In 1949 Duncan held an organizational meeting in his corner executive office on the second floor of 1007 Ripley Street, the corporate headquarters of Little Tavern. There, the groundwork was laid for the establishment of a Silver Spring branch of the Boys’ Clubs of America. Duncan, serving as chairman of its board of directors, spearheaded construction of a permanent club facility opening in 1958. Located at 1300 Forest Glen Road in Silver Spring, the “Harry F. Duncan Building” continues in 2009 as part of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington. 2003 photo by Judy Reardon. Courtesy Silver Spring Historical Society
Early Eatery
A 1927 postcard shows Jack’s Lunch & Confectionary, Eugene Corrigan, proprietor, at 8236 Georgia Ave. Fussell’s signage refers to a popular ice cream. By 1940, Florence McCann was operating McCann’s Lunch Room here. COLLECTION OF JERRY A. MCCOY
Table service denied
In 1957, the NAACP began a survey of Montgomery County eateries that served African-Americans. The Georgia Ave. Little Tavern was the only Silver Spring establishment to deny blacks table service. Black patrons could only order take-out. This article appeared in the Washington Post, Aug. 26, 1957. Courtesy of The Washington Post.
Serving without discrimination
In May 1958, the NAACP released a list of Montgomery County, Md. restaurants where African-Americans would be served without discrimination. The list includes O’Donnell’s in Bethesda, Normandy Farm in Potomac, and the Olney Inn. Asterisks denote establishments that changed policy between August 1957 when the survey began and May 1958 when it was published.
Caught in Time
Painting by Silver Spring resident and historic preservationist Judy Reardon of Little Tavern #1 as it appeared in 1991. Courtesy Silver Spring Historical Society
Promoting Preservation
Silver Spring Historical Society founder Jerry A. McCoy points out the intact 1922 “Cissel-Lee Building” at 8222‑26 Georgia Avenue to a group of visitors during a 2008 walking tour of historic Silver Spring. The photo shows the original gray slate roofline canopies and 3-over-one double-hung wood sash windows (the “eyes” of the structure). Photo by Marcie Stickle