The remainder of the road, a two-lane segment between Sangamore and Goldsboro Road, was already set at 30 MPH. This latest adjustment follows a more drastic speed limit reduction on River Road, from 45 to 35 MPH. As with River Road, there was no public process or advance notice of the plan to change the speed limit.
Photo courtesy The UPS Store
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.
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| Phasing plan showing future retail buildings, daycare facility and playground (far left and center) |
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| Sangamore Road looking toward intersection with Walhonding Road |
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.
F45 will take over the space recently vacated by another gym, Sumner Fitness. A previous F45 location at 4800 Auburn Avenue closed last summer, and the franchisee had expressed hope that it would reopen in a different spot. It looks like they've found it at Sumner Place. F45 recently opened a new gym in downtown Silver Spring, as well.
Photo courtesy F45 Training
