Maryland Daily PhotoEvery Week Day a New Picture from MD

Now that flowers are popping up everywhere, I think we can declare spring here with the third and final picture of the series.   Like this series of three photographs, I am taking my life in a new direction and leaving my old job in that dingy industrial park for a new one in the city.  So this means that you might see less photos of PG county and more of Baltimore.  However, that’s no reason to cry.  I have plenty of PG pictures stored up for the future and I will continue to share pictures of all the places I will be exploring in our great state.  

Next week will be a very special theme week that highlights some of the geographically unique qualities of Maryland.  I hope you enjoy it.     

In case you haven’t noticed.  I also purchased a new camera which made this photo possible,  and I have new software for resizing the photos for the website.  There was a definite pixelated quality to some past posts (which is odd since I was shrinking and not expanding them) that I’m hoping to avoid in the future with the new software. 

I’m going to spend the rest of this week on spring-related postings.   Not just in response to the negative light post feedback that I’ve gotten, but becasue some of you might be sitting at your desk, wondering what spring is like outside.

  I also like this picture because it was taken in Maryland.  I know that sounds weird, since this is Maryland Daily Photo.  However, as people flock down to DC this weekend for the Cherry Blossom Festival, some will probably will never realize that there are thousands of cherry trees lining the streets their own state.  So I hope that if you haven’t noticed any of them, you will keep your eye out.  If you happen to photograph one, send it in and maybe I’ll post it.  

While this may look like a large house, the subject of this photo is actually the centerpiece of one of the most interesting places in Maryland.  This building began in the late 1800’s as a hotel getaway in Maryland.  It was located right off the railroad tracks and catered to those who lived in DC and sought some peaceful relaxation in the wooded suburb of Forest Glen.  

While it was a great idea to create such a getaway, this wasn’t the only one.  Within just a few years, many of these inns had gone out of business.  This particular inn had the good fortune of finding a new owner who was interested in turning the hotel into a girls finishing school.   What it became was the National Park Seminary.   Slowly through the ambitions of two owners, the school became very popular with the elite children of America.   More importantly, it expanded physically.  Stretching out on all sides from its original inn.  Buildings that weren’t connected by walls were connected by elevated, and covered, walkways so that the girls could safely move from building to building.   Many new buildings featured a different king of architecture.  Still standing is a Pagoda, an Italian Villa, a Coliseum, and a windmill.  

Why then, with all this interesting architecture, am I giving you a picture of the building in the center, which in relation to others, may be a bit boring.  The reason is because not many people are afforded this view.  It is the view from the original approach of the original train station to the “Main,” which is now obstructed by I-495 and its sound barriers.   It is a view you can’t get from driving behind or around the school but only by getting over the creepiness and walking around the place. 

Creepiness?   Yeah, well… you see the rest of the story isn’t so happy.   The school was closed down and annexed by the Army during WWII as part of Walter Reed hospital.  Around the 70’s the Army started to abandon certain buildings and parts of the grounds, leaving much of the place in disrepair and subject to vandalism.   Right now, after decades of mistreatment by the government, a team of private developers are turning it into condos.

 In the future, I’ll post more pictures of this place as it’s one of my favorites.   (I’ll include pictures of the house in Chevy Chase where I believe someone has brazenly placed stolen statuary from the Seminary right in their yard.)  In the mean time check out this site for more info, and for pictures of the other, supposedly “more interesting,” architectural elements on the campus.