Are there graves on the Intelligence Community Campus in Bethesda?

A new report on burial sites prepared for the Montgomery County Planning Board adds new information about a hidden cemetery where members of the Brooke family were buried on their 19th century farm in Bethesda. Based upon the typical distance and topographical characteristics of burial plots on family farms in Montgomery County, planners have delineated the most likely area of the Brooke farm property where the cemetery might be located. The largest portion of the cemetery zone lies within the Intelligence Community Campus at 4600 Sangamore Road. Smaller portions of the cemetery zone are at the corners of the Sangamore Road-Brookes Lane intersection, including a tiny part of the Shops at Sumner Place property, one garden apartment building of the Sumner Highlands development, and the ground under Sangamore Road itself.

The proposed Apartments at Sumner Place project site does not fall within planners' estimated cemetery zone (encircled in blue on the map above). But it does lie within the larger footprint of the Brooke farm (delineated in red on the map above). As a result, that - and any other future development within the former Brooke farm property lines - should proceed with caution during the excavation process.

Another important question yet to be answered: Are any of the Brooke family's slaves - there were at least 18 owned by Thomas Brooke and his wife, Henrietta, between 1820 and 1850 - buried somewhere on the farm property area? One of their slaves, Lydia Garey, ran away from the Brooke farm in 1835, and Henrietta Brooke bought a "runaway slave" ad in a local newspaper at the time. Some of their slaves were as old as 80 when recorded in the census of 1850. Would they have been buried with the family, or in a separate plot elsewhere on the farm? 

How many of the Brooke family members are buried on the farm land is also an unknown at this point. It is believed that the remains of Thomas and Henrietta were exhumed and relocated to Rockville Cemetery in 1918, but the fate of other family graves - and of those who were enslaved on the farm - is unclear.

Given the desecration of the Moses African Cemetery at Westbard Avenue and River Road, and the disgraceful way Montgomery County elected officials have handled that matter over the last 12 years, questions about the Brooke farm should be taken seriously and addressed in an appropriate and sensitive manner by the County and property developers. That will not be the focus of the presentation of the new burial site report to the Planning Board, which is mainly to just update the County inventory of burial sites, but commissioners will have the chance to review and comment on it at the board's Thursday, May 25, 2023 meeting at 1:35 PM.

Car stolen from home in Sumner neighborhood of Bethesda

Auto thieves returned from Christmas vacation to one of their favorite haunts in Bethesda yesterday morning, the Massachusetts Avenue corridor. A vehicle was stolen from the driveway of a home in the 4800 block of Sangamore Road in the Sumner neighborhood. The vehicle was reported stolen at 7:35 AM Thursday, January 12, 2023.

Traffic signals installed on Sangamore Rd. at Walhonding Rd. in Bethesda

Sangamore Road looking toward
intersection with Walhonding Road

The Montgomery County Department of Transportation has installed traffic signals at the currently-unsignalized intersection of Sangamore Road and Walhonding Road in Bethesda. This project has been on MCDOT's list of Vision Zero initiatives, and was budgeted for the fiscal year FY-2022. There are now two poles with signal arms in place; one of the arms is currently swung over behind the Glen Echo Volunteer Fire Department, and is out of view in this photo. You can see the other one is in position already, with the signals themselves covered.

This intersection is only a short block from the Sangamore-Massachusetts Avenue intersection that has signals. However, the intersection is currently intimidating for pedestrians to cross, and children walking from Sumner and Glen Echo Heights to Glen-Mar Park are likely to use this route. Views of oncoming cross-street traffic are obstructed in all four directions at this crossing, as you can see in the above photo. Crosswalks still have to be painted.

If you've driven on Sangamore for any length of time, you've probably had to hit your brakes for someone blowing through the stop signs on Walhonding here more than once. You're also likely to now approach this intersection with hyper caution as a result. It's unclear if there will be any issue with traffic backing up on that short block of Sangamore between the two signals.

Sangamore Road now advertised as "speed camera corridor" in Bethesda

A new sign has been posted on Sangamore Road across from the Glen Echo Fire Department that reads, "Speed Camera Corridor." Sangamore has actually been on Montgomery County's Speed Camera Corridor list for several years, but this is the first sign I can recall being erected on the road. 

The County speed camera map currently shows no cameras on Sangamore, but with this sign appearing, one might be wise to stick to the 30 MPH speed limit in the coming weeks and months. County officials had vowed two years ago to double the number of speed cameras deployed countywide.

Sangamore Road closures expected through April for pipeline replacement

A major natural gas pipeline replacement project on Sangamore Road near Walhonding Road in Bethesda will require lane and road closures on that stretch of Sangamore through mid-April. Washington Gas and contractor NPL will be performing the work between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM on weekdays, which is when those closures will take place as-needed.

Area impacted by pipeline project and
Sangamore Road detour (Massachusetts Ave.
shown in yellow) - click to enlarge

During the closures, drivers will have to detour from Massachusetts Avenue onto Marlyn Drive to make a right onto Namakagan Road, and then turn back onto Sangamore from Namakagan. Orange directional signs are now in place along the detour route. Sangamore Road drivers trying to reach Massschusetts Avenue will complete the detour route in reverse order by turning onto Namakagan.

Sumner Place CVS adds self-checkout machines

The CVS Pharmacy at 4601-A Sangamore Road in the Shops at Sumner Place finally has installed self-checkout machines. Three self-checkouts have been set up where the furthest left traditional checkout station has been at the front counter of the store. Only one was operating Tuesday evening. None of the three machines was accepting cash nor coins.

A test of the self-checkout found fewer glitches than those at other CVS stores. They appear to run the same software as the Giant self-checkouts, but the one I used still froze up once, demanding an employee intervention during the simple action of pushing "Continue" to pay. This CVS often has back-ups at the checkout, with only one cashier on duty, so the self-checkouts will likely be welcomed by customers.

Collision has Sangamore Rd. down to one lane at Walhonding Rd. in Bethesda

A collision has seriously damaged two vehicles, and reduced Sangamore Road to a single lane near Walhonding Road in Bethesda. Two vehicles collided at that intersection around 9:00 AM. A Mercedes Benz suffered major front-end damage, and a Toyota Highlander needs to be towed away with a broken axle, according to a police officer at the scene. Avoid the area by taking Fort Sumner Drive, or Goldsboro Road to MacArthur Boulevard, among many other options.

New Bethesda Intelligence Community Campus to get Dunkin' Donuts

America's next generation of spies will run on Dunkin'. A source tellls me the nearly-completed "Intelligence Community Campus - Bethesda" is going to get a Dunkin' Donuts shop. It will be open from 6:00 AM - 4:00 PM on weekdays.

Intelligence officials have been understandably coy about exactly which intelligence arms of the government will be operating out of the state-of-the-art site. The Defense Intelligence Agency, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Intelligence University have previously be confirmed as agencies to be represented on-site. Unconfirmed but rumored is the Central Intelligence Agency, whose headquarters is diagonally directly across the Potomac River from the ICC-B site, which is located on Sangamore Road, across from The Shops at Sumner Place.

Assault reported at Suburban Hospital, disorderly conduct at Safeway + more - Bethesda crime update

Here's a roundup of crimes reported across Bethesda on August 15, according to crime data:

Disorderly conduct. Safeway (Old Georgetown Road store).

Assault. Suburban Hospital.

Theft. 4700 block Willard Avenue.

Vehicle burglary. 5400 block Wisconsin Avenue.

Assault. Wisconsin Avenue at Willard Avenue.

Theft. 4300 block Sangamore Road.

Assault. 5800 block Nicholson Lane at 6:33 PM (Pike District).

Theft. Westfield Montgomery Mall.

Death. 5800 block Tanglewood Drive at 8:57 AM (Kenwood Park).

Drug offense. 6400 block Rock Forest Drive at 11:57 PM.

Car stolen from Sumner; thefts in Kenwood, Springfield, Sumner + more - Bethesda crime update

Here's a roundup of crimes reported across Bethesda on August 10, according to crime data:

Theft. 7300 block Wisconsin Avenue.

Vehicle burglary. 4400 block Montgomery Avenue.

Drug arrest. 7100 block 45th Street.

Burglary. 7600 block Glenbrook Road.

Theft. 5300 block Oakland Road (Kenwood).

Vehicle burglary. 5500 block Parkston Road (Springfield).

Theft. 5300 block Western Avenue.

Theft. Bloomingdale's.

Vehicle burglary. 5600 block Jordan Road (Springfield).

Theft. Greentree Shelter.

Stolen car. 4900 block Fort Sumner Drive at 9:27 AM (Sumner).

Vehicle burglary. 5100 block Sangamore Road (Sumner).

Vehicle burglary. 6100 block Overlea Road (Fort Sumner).

Assault. 5700 block Bou Avenue at 12:01 AM (Pike District).

Car stolen from Battery La., assault on Bethesda Ave. + more - Bethesda crime update

Here's a roundup of crimes reported across Bethesda on August 3, according to crime data:

Burglary. 7600 block Woodmont Avenue.

Burglary. 4900 block St. Elmo Avenue.

Assault. 4900 block Bethesda Avenue at 8:05 PM.

Stolen car. 4900 block Battery Lane at 12:15 PM.

Vehicle burglary. 8800 block Spring Valley Road (Chevy Chase Section 9).

Vehicle burglary. 8900 block Spring Valley Road (Chevy Chase Section 9).

Theft. 7500 block Elmore Lane (Oakwood Knolls).

Vehicle burglary. 5100 block Sangamore Road.

Theft. Marriott Headquarters.

Car stolen from Pike District, assault on Sangamore Rd. + more - Bethesda crime update

Here's a roundup of crimes reported across Bethesda on July 29, according to crime data:

Theft. 7300 block Wisconsin Avenue.

Theft from vehicle. 5000 block Bradley Boulevard.

Burglary. 5500 block Lambeth Road.

Vehicle burglary. 8500 block Connecticut Avenue.

Assault. 5000 block Sangamore Road at 9:30 PM.

Vehicle burglary. 5000 block Aurora Drive (Garrett Park Estates).

Theft. 6200 block Mazwood Road (Windermere).

Stolen car. 5800 block Nicholson Lane at 8:41 AM (Pike District).

Theft. 6000 block Executive Boulevard (Pike District).

Car stolen from Pinehurst Village, theft at Kenwood Club + more - Bethesda crime update

Here's a roundup of crimes reported across Bethesda on July 18, according to crime data:

Theft. 7300 block Wisconsin Avenue.

Vehicle burglary. 8300 block Tilbury Street (Rosedale Park).

Theft. 7100 block Wisconsin Avenue.

Theft. Kenwood Golf and Country Club at 12:06 PM.

Drug arrest. Willard Avenue at Friendship Boulevard.

Vehicle burglary. 4900 block Westway Drive (Crestview).

Vehicle burglary. 3100 block Winnett Road (Pinehurst Village).

Stolen car. 7000 block Bybrook Lane at 9:32 AM (Pinehurst Village).

Vehicle burglary. 10300 block Grosvenor Place.

Vehicle burglary. Grove Ridge Court (Grosvenor Park).

Assault/burglary. 5700 block Luxemburg Street.

Drug offense. 5000 block Sangamore Road.

Drug offense. 10000 block Clue Drive.

Drug offense. 11400 block Schuylkill Road (Randolph Hills).

Sumner auto break-in spree continues, assault at Medical Center Metro + more - Bethesda crime update

If you live in the vicinity of Glen Mar Park or Sumner, make sure your car doors are locked and all valuables are removed from the interior. One or more thieves are breaking into cars in those neighborhoods in recent days. Report any suspicious persons or vehicles to Montgomery County Police.

Here's a roundup of crimes reported across Bethesda on June 28, according to crime data:

Assault. Medical Center Metro station at 6:57 PM.

Burglary. 4800 block Auburn Avenue at 12:44 AM.

Theft. Wisconsin Circle.

Drug arrest. I-270 at Grosvenor Lane.

Vehicle burglary. 5000 block Scarsdale Road (Sumner).

Vehicle burglary. 4900 block Rockmere Court (Sumner).

Vehicle burglary. 5100 block Sangamore Road (Sumner).

Vehicle burglary. 5000 block Baltan Road (Sumner).

Burglary. 6500 block Lone Oak Drive at 10:35 AM (Fernwood).

Burglary. 10900 block Montrose Avenue at 1:03 PM (Garrett Park).

Theft. 10400 block Fernwood Road.

Theft. Westfield Montgomery Mall.

Stolen car. 11400 block Schuylkill Road at 12:41 PM (Randolph Hills).

Car stolen on Jamestown Rd., assault by NIH + more - Bethesda crime update

Here's a roundup of crimes reported across Bethesda on May 12, according to crime data:

Theft. 7600 block Old Georgetown Road.

Vehicle burglary. 7900 block Woodmont Avenue.

Vehicle burglary. 7300 block Wisconsin Avenue.

Assault. Rockville Pike at Center Drive at 5:25 PM.

Theft. 4700 block Willard Avenue.

Theft. 5400 block Wisconsin Avenue.

Theft. 5400 block Kirkwood Drive at 12:51 PM (Springfield).

Stolen car. 5000 block Jamestown Road (Westgate).

Theft. 4600 block Sangamore Road at 6:19 PM.

Theft. 4600 block Sangamore Road.

Theft. 10500 block Rockville Pike.

Assault. 11700 block Rockville Pike at 5:03 PM (Pike District).

Theft. 10400 block Old Georgetown Road.

Theft. 5100 block Nicholson Lane (Pike District).

Vehicle burglary. 5000 block Boiling Brook Parkway at 1:04 PM (Randolph Hills).

PLANNERS' LATEST RECOMMENDATIONS FOR BETHESDA INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY CAMPUS ON SANGAMORE RD. (PHOTOS)

Montgomery County planners have drawn up suggestions for improving a proposed pedestrian bridge  at the Intelligence Community Campus (ICC-B), part of a large expansion of the facilities well underway at the Sangamore Road site. This is the latest in a series of recommendations the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is voluntarily soliciting from the Planning Department on the project. The significance of that, is the fact that local officials do not have the same level of control over federal projects as they do private ones.

A pedestrian bridge and walkway that will connect a parking garage with the Centrum Building has been reviewed by planners, and they have made several suggestions to improve the design. Among them are matching the bridge columns and railing architecture with that of the columns of the pedestrian walkway between Erskine Hall and the Centrum Building, match the bridge's girder to the panels of that walkway, choose a "naturalistic" color other than the proposed gray for the exteriors of three campus buildings, and using porus materials for the walkway rather than the proposed concrete.

Planners say the DIA has responded to previous community concerns regarding the planned covered walkway, and are suggesting using a "discrete" covering, or placing shelters along the route.

In addition, planners are submitting more general comments on landscaping for the campus. They are recommending native ground covers and shrubs along the walkway, a 10-foot buffer of river rock and gravel along the western security fence to protect National Park Service forest outside of it, and DIA acceptance of stormwater runoff recommendations made by the National Capital Planning Commission now, and in the future.

There will be security cameras every 150' around the perimeter, and light poles which will only be activated during an emergency. A green screen of Bignonia capreolata will cloak the PEPCO substation. Plantings along Sangamore Road are designed to provide "filtered views" of the campus from the outside, rather than hide the facilities. They will include deciduous and coniferous trees, shrubs and ground covers. Exhibits outside the perimeter along Sangamore for public viewing will feature the "chronology of the site development and interpretive record of the significant contributions of the cartographic research and production professions housed at the site from 1942-present."

Demolition of the existing Emory Building and Central Energy Plant will take place later this year. And while the main entrance will remain on Sangamore Road at Sentinel Drive, it will loop around inside the perimeter to avoid traffic backups onto the public road while employees drive through security checkpoints.

Planning staff are recommending approval of the recommendations, and transmittal to the DIA. Personally, I believe the redesign will be an improvement over the previous configuration. One of the new structures at the front along Sangamore looms over the top of the Shops at Sumner Place a bit more than I had expected, but that is a shopping center as opposed to a backyard.

Images via Montgomery County Planning Department

THEFT ON RAMSGATE RD., SANGAMORE RD. + MORE - BETHESDA CRIME UPDATE

Here's a roundup of crimes reported across Bethesda on January 10, according to crime data:

Theft. 4700 block Willard Avenue.

Theft. 4400 block Willard Avenue.

Theft. 5900 block Ramsgate Road (Wood Acres).

Theft. 4700 block Sangamore Road.

Vehicle burglary. Westfield Montgomery Mall.

ASSAULT IN DOWNTOWN BETHESDA, ANOTHER ON CLUE CT. + MORE - BETHESDA CRIME UPDATE

Here's a roundup of crimes reported across Bethesda on December 1, according to crime data:

Assault. 10000 block Clue Court at 7:29 PM.

Assault. 7300 block of Wisconsin Avenue at 3:21 PM.

Theft. 7100 block Woodmont Avenue.

Theft. 4700 block Sangamore Road.

Theft from vehicle. 11300 block Commonwealth Drive.

Burglary. 4600 block Coachway Drive (Randolph Hills).

YET ANOTHER USPS MAILBOX TO VANISH IN BETHESDA (PHOTO)

I recently reported on the planned removal of at least one mailbox from the sidewalk outside of the U.S. Post Office at 6900 Wisconsin Avenue. But another even more venerable Bethesda mailbox could be removed from its longtime spot on August 21. Due to limited demand, the USPS says, it will reduce the number of mailboxes at the Shops at Sumner Place on Sangamore Road. 

Since there is only one freestanding mailbox on the property, by my recollection, I assume they are referring to the mailbox at the outer edge of the shopping center parking lot, right off Sentinel Drive. The only other mailbox nearby, as I recall, was at the entrance of the apartments around the bend on Sentinel Drive. According to the USPS, the second-closest mailbox in walking distance is on Westpath Road. The Sumner Place box was convenient for residents of the townhomes and condos across Sentinel from the shopping center.

Interestingly, demand apparently remains high for the mailbox at the Westwood Shopping Center, on Westbard Avenue. There are no notices regarding low demand or planned removal of that box, located outside of the Westwood Pet Center at the busy shopping center.

UNCLE SAM REFINES DESIGN OF SANGAMORE RD. INTELLIGENCE CAMPUS IN BETHESDA (PHOTOS)

Images of a future Bethesda homeland security site have been unveiled by the U.S. Government, in response to feedback on the initial blueprints. The Montgomery County Planning Board will examine refined designs for the future federal intelligence campus, at 4600 Sangamore Road, at its January 30 meeting. County planners are recommending approval of the new renderings for transmittal to the National Capital Planning Commission, which has oversight of the project.

A refinement of the initial designs was sought in response to both community concerns, and the environmentally-sensitive location of the project, at the former Geospatial Intelligence Agency campus. The updated designs take into consideration the cosmetic appearance of several structures, as they appear from both the adjacent residential neighborhood, and from the Potomac River below.

Overall, the project aims to balance a return of the site to its origins as a scenic river bluff, and the significant expansion of personnel. The federal agencies in charge of the project are the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

I love the fantastic aerial photo of the river running behind the campus. Clark Construction has been in charge of the current construction phase, reconfiguring the high-security entrance and parking, and construction of the new Centrum building. The ultimate expansion will be a huge boon to businesses and restaurants in the Shops at Sumner Place, located directly across the street from the campus. Click images to enlarge for more detail: