This Thursday evening, May 7, 2009, the Historic Preservation Advisory committee will be discussing the historic significance of three properties involved in the proposed redevelopment on S. Frederick Ave: 206 S. Frederick Avenue and 11 & 13 DeSellum Avenue. Demolition permits are being requested for the first two properties, while 13 DeSellum would be preserved under the proposal. In a 79-page PDF, the City has posted extensive background information on these three properties, and I’ve transcribed below some interesting portions of this document. At the end of this post I’ve also pasted in the HPAC agenda itself.
First, note that the background document lists the criteria the City uses to designate historic sites:
The document goes on to give a fairly extensive histories of the properties. The following is taken from the history for 206 S. Frederick. Note that in the PDF provided by the City, this section is OCR’d from a bit-mapped scan of the original document, and as such I had to do a fair amount of clean-up to make it presentable here; thus there could be errors in the below and the reader should consult the original for an authoritative copy. Also, given the length and complexity of this section, I ommitted the extensive footnotes, which of course remain in the PDF.
The L. D. Lodge House was built during Gaithersburg’s most optimistic era of the 19th Century by a man who became nationally and internationally known for his culture and educational ability. He was a noted lecturer, author and critic, an educator and a college president. His 1891 book of history and criticism “A Study in Corneille” was reprinted in 1970 and is still in use. L. D. Lodge was eldest son of Rev James Llewellyn Lodge, a prominent Baptist minister who had a country home in Gaithersburg. The L. D. Lodge house was added to Gaithersburg’s handsome main street bordered by large stylish houses on generous parcels set back from the road with beautiful grass swards. Many anticipated Gaithersburg becoming a refuge from the City peopled by those who loved nature and civility L. D. Lodge built this house next to that of his father and mother for his bride in 1887.
HISTORY AND SUPPORT
John T. DeSellum and his unmarried sister, Sarah, children of James and Catherine Fulks DeSellum, inherited property in Logtown and other land from their parents, which they repatented as “Summit Hall” in 1859. John and Sarah DeSellum were grandchildren of Baltus and Elizabeth (Gloyd) Fulks, one of the first settlers of Logtown in the 1770s. John T. DeSellum was an educated man, a farmer, and a businessman.
In the 1880s, DeSellum informally subdivided his land along the west side of Frederick Avenue from the B&O Railroad to Summit Avenue into four-acre estates and sold several parcels to local businessman Philomen E. Smith and his wife. (See Maddox 1894 “Map of Gaithersburg” Attachment 8.5) In 1886, DeSellum sold Summit Hall Farm to his cousin Ignatius T. Fulks and his wife Elizabeth for $10,000. Fulks made his first land sale in the spring of 1887 when he sold one of the remaining four acre lots to Professor Lee Davis Lodge.
Lodge was Professor of French Language and Literature at the Columbian University (now George Washington) in Washington D.C.
L. D. Lodge married Lelia White on September 1, 1887, and probably built his new house immediately after the land purchase. The new house is favorably mentioned in the September 7, 1888 Montgomery County Sentinel newspaper. A letter entitled “Busy Gaithersburg” recounts the Town’s progress in the ten years since incorporation saying,
There are a number of handsome residences with large lawns in front, among them those of P. M. Smith, Jas. O, Trundle, Judge R. G. Dorsey, Dr. Etchison, Mr. Miller, Rev. Mr. Lodge, and many others. Mr. Hill, real estate agent, and Prof L. D. Lodge own pretty homes here.
Lee Davis Lodge was born November 24, 1856 in Montgomery County, the eldest son of the Rev. James L. Lodge and his wife Alice. James L. Lodge built his “country house” in 1883 on a four acre lot now known as 110 S. Frederick Avenue and owned by The Washington Diocese of the Catholic Church. It was named “Arnmore” after a book by Sir Walter Scott. A Baptist minister, Rev. James L. Lodge D.D. was highly respected for his abilities as a pastor and for his intelligence. He was a man of considerable presence in the community and had a direct influence on its social and intellectual life. He and his wife, the former Alice Warfield, were both born in Montgomery County, Maryland. He attended Columbia College (now George Washington University) in 1859-60.
Lodge had several successful pastorates in New Jersey in the 1870s, and his son Lee Davis was well educated in urban schools. The family returned to Montgomery County about 1880 where, of the three churches bidding for his services, he chose North Church in Washington, D.C. He left North Church due to poor health and retired to his “country home.” Rev. Lodge purchased a four acre parcel of Summit Hall from Philomen E. Smith and his wife in 1883 and built a home in Gaithersburg.
His son, Lee Davis Lodge, was also educated at Columbian University, earning his M.A. in 1885 and his Ph.D. in 1892. He had a local literary reputation much earlier, publishing essays in the local newspaper. On February 24, 1882 the Montgomery County Sentinel newspaper alerted its readers, “another article of literary worth, written by Lee Davis Lodge, of this county will appear in our next issue. Mr Lodge certainly exhibits a very rare order of literary talent.” The paper also reported his success as an educator at Columbian University, serving in various educational positions from 1884 to 1899. The Sentinel also reported his marriage on September 1, 1887 to Leila White, the daughter of the Rev. S. R. White of Rockville. It can be assumed that the house at 206 S. Frederick was built as a wedding gift to the bride. In 1888, a year after his marriage and property purchase, Lee Davis Lodge sold the three rearacres of his four acre property at 206 S. Frederick Avenue to James L. Lodge. Leila White Lodge died on April 27, 1895 at the Lodge’s home in Washington D.C. The Lodges had two children. He married for the second time to Mary Louise McClammy of Wilmington N.C. in 1897. Her father, the latc Hon. Charles W. McClammy, was representative for North Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives. Dr. Lodge left Columbian as a full Professor to take the Presidency of Limestone College in Gaffney S.C. in 1899. He established the Winnie Davis School of History as a department of Limestone College in 1900.
Despite the move to South Carolina L. D. Lodge kept his house in Gaithersburg. In 1916, the Town of Gaithersburg Assessment Book listed Dr. L.D. Lodge’s address as Limestone College, Gaffney S.C. He is taxed for the house and one acre ofland on Frederick Avenue.
In 1890 Rev. Lodge advertised his house “Arnmore” for sale.
For Sale- That lovely home, Arnmore, Gaithersburg, Md. Seven acres, very rich, elegant house, bath, outbuildings, all new. Every variety of fruit, price low. Cash no object. J. L. Lodge.
The reason for the sale advertisement is not disclosed, and thc four-acre Ammore house property was not sold. The rear three acres of the Lee Davis Lodge property that James Lodge purchased in 1888 were sold to Sylvester R.F. Sterick. Sterick was a real estate agent and an inventor of sorts. He built a house at 13 DeSellum Avenue in 1890 which is still called Sterick’s Cottage.
The J. L. Lodge family home, “Arnmore” was retained by the family until the death of Alice Lodge. It was sold by Lee Davis Lodge for the family in 1925 to the Washington Diocese of the Catholic Church. Lee Davis Lodge and his wife Mary Louise Lodge sold the S. Frederick Avenue house and lot to Myra E. Thompson on September 15, 1919.
Ms. Thompson also owned the Sterick Cottage at 13 DeSellum Avenue. Upon Myra Thompson’s death in 1943, Clara Thompson and others, heirs to the estate of Myra Thompson, sold 206 S. Frederick to Walter C. Offutt and Agnes G. Offutt, his wife in June 10, 1944. This sale was probably a method of clearing the title from unanticipated claimants. Walter and Agnes Offutt immediately sold the property to Walter A. and Borghild M. Dowd in November of 1944. The Dowds also did not hold it for long, selling it to Herman W. Wilson and Lillian M. Wilson on January of 1946. The Herman Wilsons conveyed the property to their son, Robert J. Wilson, President of J.&W. Enterprises Unincorporated, in 1969. Robert Wilson later had the land titled in his own name. The elder Wilsons later executed adeed to trustee William N. Dumpy for the purpose of reconvening to their son Robert J. Wilson” as a sole owner.
Dr. Herman Wilson was the first Administrator of Asbury Methodist Home, built in 1926. Herman Wilson first lived in quarters at the Asbury Methodist Home, and later in a house built by Walter Magruder for his family on the farm of his wife’s parents, John and Amanda Walker. The farm was then acquired by the Baltimore Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church to build a home for the aged, elderly, and orphans of the church. This became the present Asbury Methodist Village.
Dr. Robert J. Wilson built an office wing on the house which he used as his dental office for many years, while he lived with his family in the house. Later he moved his family to a new subdivision developed by Eugene B. Casey near Shady Grove Road, and the properties owned in the 200 block of South Frederick Avenue were used for commercial and rental units.
