The Greenbelt Historic District is a national

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

located in

Greenbelt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which h ...

Prince George's County ) , demonym = Prince Georgian , ZIP codes = 20607–20774 , area codes = 240, 301 , founded date = April 23 , founded year = 1696 , named for = Prince George of Denmark , leader_title = Executive , leader_name = Angela D. Alsobrook ...

, Maryland, United States. The district preserves the center of one of the few examples of the

Garden city movement The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, industry, and ...

in the United States. With its sister cities of

Greenhills, Ohio Greenhills is a village in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,615 at the 2010 census. A planned community, it was established by the United States government during the Great Depression. Most of the village is a National ...

and

Greendale, Wisconsin Greendale is a village in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 14,854 at the 2020 census. Greendale is located southwest of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and is a part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. A planned community, i ...

, Greenbelt was intended to be a "new town" that would start with a clean slate to do away with problems of urbanism in favor of a suburban ideal. Along with the never-commenced town of

Greenbrook, New Jersey Green Brook Township is a township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. It is centrally located within the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's population was 7,203, reflecting an increase of 1,5 ...

, the new towns were part of the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

public works programs. Greenbelt's center has survived with few alterations compared with its sister towns. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997. and

History

In April 1935 Congress passed the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, intended to counter the effects of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

through the appropriation of $5 billion for jobs programs. As a result, President

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

established the

Resettlement Administration The Resettlement Administration (RA) was a New Deal U.S. federal agency created May 1, 1935. It relocated struggling urban and rural families to communities planned by the federal government. On September 1, 1937, it was succeeded by the Farm Se ...

(RA) to coordinate federal efforts concerning housing and land, placing particular emphasis on rural poverty. While the focus of the RA remained primarily rural, it was also charged with resettling farm workers who were leaving agriculture in search of industrial work. New towns were seen as a solution to this problem, to be built outside urban areas and surrounded by healthful green belts of preserved land. As many as 3000 of these towns were initially envisioned. 100 cities were studied for new towns, eventually narrowing to 25. Four sites were picked for the first trials: Washington, D.C.,

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, Ohio and

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat, seat of government of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Berwyn, Maryland, on land depleted by tobacco farming. were purchased, and work began in late 1935, using 1000 laborers. Architects and planners were hired in June 1935, site construction began in December 1935, and Roosevelt was briefed on the plans in April 1936. Wallace Richards was the RA regional coordinator, Douglas Ellington was the principal architect, Reginald Wadsworth was associate principal architect, Hale Walker was the town planner, and Harold Bursley was the engineering designer. The design team described areas for group housing, single-family residences, light and heavy industry, businesses, schools and parks. beyond the original town area, planned for 4000 families, two more areas were reserved for 3000 families each, with capacity for 50% growth. Much of the land south of Greenbelt Road that was designated for town expansion has since been transferred to the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

and is now

Greenbelt Park Greenbelt Park is a park in Greenbelt, Maryland, that is managed by the National Park Service. The forested park lies approximately 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Washington, D.C., and is situated just within the Capital Beltway (which bounds ...

, while other areas became the

Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center The Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC), also known as the National Agricultural Research Center, is a unit of the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service. It is located in unincorporat ...

. Within the planned suburban development, 1000 units were designated for white residents, and 250 for African-American residents. A tract was designated the Rossville Rural Development, and was apparently meant to be an area of 50 farms for African-Americans, based on the old African-American community of Rossville. Both Rossville and the suburban housing for African-Americans were eventually dropped from the plan. GreenbeltCommunityCtr1

Construction involved the transport of as many a 5000 men by rail to the Branchville railroad halt each day. Roosevelt visited on November 13, 1936. However, politics intervened, and amid criticism of the program, the RA was placed under the

U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

. In September 1937 it became the Farm Security Administration. By 1938 the greenbelt town was dissolved. The construction cost for Greenbelt was estimated at $13,394,400. The government began accepting applications for residence in Greenbelt, basing acceptance on income, health, family size, financial reliability, clean living habits and indications of community spirit.Likowski, Barbara and McCarl, Jay, "Greenbelt: Social Construction”, Greenbelt: History of a New Town – 1937–1987, Mary Lou Williamson, Norfolk, Virginia: The Donning Company, 1987, p. 71-80 Prospective tenants were interviewed at their homes. Wives were not permitted to work, and were expected to stay home and take care of children. The average age of the initial tenants was 29 years. Tenants paid $18–25 per month for an apartment, and $28–41 for a semidetached house. The town was managed as a

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

, with a citizens committee to run the commercial center. This arrangement was viewed with considerable skepticism, particularly within Congress. Eventually, by the 1950s, several members of Greenbelt's coops appeared before Congressional subcommittees on charges of

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

and monopolistic practices as part of the McCarthy investigations. After several abortive attempts to divest itself of the town, the Federal Government hired Hale Walker, the town's original planner, along with Harold Heller to develop a master plan for expansion of the town. The new plan envisioned a reduction of agricultural use and an increase in single-family housing. In 1947 the Greenbelt Mutual Home Owners Corporation was formed as a vehicle for the sale of the town. Congressional legislation was passed that allowed the government to sell the greenbelt towns to non-profit groups with at least 50% veteran members. In December 1952 the Greenbelt Veterans Housing Corporation (GVHC) bought 1580 units and of developed land for $6,285,450. In 1953 the GVHC bought of undeveloped land for $670,219. Other areas were sold to private developers, and in 1956 the GVHC sold the undeveloped land to cover its loan. In 1957

Greenbelt Homes, Inc. Greenbelt Homes, Incorporated (GHI) is the housing cooperative in Greenbelt, Maryland, comprising the original houses built by the U.S. Federal Government in 1936 during the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt as part of the New Deal, as w ...

was formed from the GVHC to manage the community, and retains title to 1600 units and of land. The supermarket remains a co-op.

Highway construction

The community opposed the proposed

Baltimore–Washington Parkway The Baltimore–Washington Parkway (also referred to as the B–W Parkway) is a highway in the U.S. state of Maryland, running southwest from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. The road begins at an interchange with U.S. Route 50 (US 50 ...

, beginning in 1946, but the road was completed in 1954 through part of the greenbelt reservation. In the 1960s the

Capital Beltway The Capital Beltway is a Interstate Highway in the Washington metropolitan area that surrounds Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and its inner suburbs in adjacent Maryland and Virginia. It is the basis of the phrase "inside th ...

was built through the middle of the Greenbelt reservation, destroying the "Indian Springs" that had been a recreational feature, as well as an Indian cemetery.

Description

Greenbelt is laid out as a crescent of "superblocks" containing two rows of frame or concrete block multi-family dwellings. Houses are linked by footpaths and are grouped around central service courts, with the public sides facing the communal "garden" space. A central town common includes the original commercial district, community center and school, linked to the residential areas by pedestrian underpasses. A recreation area, lake, and allotment gardens are located beyond the common. The architecture is

modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

in style. The historic district includes more than 400 structures, as well as three pre-existing family cemeteries. The original center of Greenbelt has since been surrounded by newer development, causing it to be compared with a medieval fortress town, a walled center surrounded by contemporary neighborhoods. 2008 04 02 - Greenbelt - Gardenway pedestrian path 1

2008 04 02 - Greenbelt - Gardenway pedestrian path 1

Greenbelt borrowed techniques pioneered seven years previously at

Radburn, New Jersey Radburn is an unincorporated community located within Fair Lawn in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. Radburn was founded in 1929 as "a town for the motor age".

, which turned housing layouts "inside-out" to keep automobiles and service traffic hidden. The architectural design, while modern in tone, borrows details such as pitched slate roofs, plain walls and steel casement windows from the English garden cities at

Letchworth Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 33,249. Letchworth ...

and

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...

. International Style influences are visible in the white walls and flat roofs of the concrete block buildings. Landscaping was integrated into the design, with mature specimen trees saved or transplanted during site development. Each of the group housing units had a plot by between the house and the parklands, cared for by the tenant. On the service side space was provided for trash storage and clothes drying. Landscaping was used to create privacy, and the finished community was notable for the maturity of the plantings. 2008 04 02 - Greenbelt - Apartments 4

Housing

A strategy for group housing was followed, the result of questionnaires distributed to potential inhabitants, as well as considerations of the economy of attached units. Units are typically two stories tall, with one-story units at the ends of rows, initially called "honeymoon units." All units are slab-on-grade, with basements omitted as a result of the high local water table. Central utilities are provided. The concrete block units were built by unskilled labor, with the concrete first floor structure employed as the ceiling finish for the ground floor. Pitched-roof units were built using

balloon frame A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or light so ...

construction. Interiors were highly organized, with few closets and a minimally sized, but well-equipped kitchen. Children's closets had built-in ladders for access to higher shelving. Furniture was offered based on Scandinavian designs. Twelve multi-family units were built, using three standard floor plans in buildings of 18 to 48 units. These buildings were built with basements, offering storage, laundry and children's play space. Unlike the group housing areas, the primary facades face the street, and feature extensive areas of

glass block Glass brick, also known as glass block, is an architectural element made from glass. The appearance of glass blocks can vary in color, size, texture and form. Glass bricks provide visual obscuration while admitting light. The modern glass block w ...

. The International Style features prominently, with flat roofs and concrete structure.

Experimental and private development

Five residential units were built on Woodland Way as demonstration projects for economical construction. The one story, two-bedroom units featured the use of

plywood Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...

as a structural material and as a cladding, using a module. The only privately constructed houses in Greenbelt are ten units on Forestway Road, known as Parkbelt Homes. The Parkbelt Homes were built by General Houses of Chicago. These were supposed to be followed by another 190 units under a cooperative ownership plan. The houses were designed to be mass-produced using steel frame construction and insulated panels, predating the similar Lustron product by a decade. Lawsuits arising from rental disagreements and issues of maintenance apparently prevented further construction. 1000 units were built in 1941–42 as "defense housing" by the

Federal Works Agency The Federal Works Agency (FWA) was an independent agency of the federal government of the United States which administered a number of public construction, building maintenance, and public works relief functions and laws from 1939 to 1949. Along wi ...

, following the general principles of earlier housing. However, many features were cut back or compromised for economy.

Communal buildings

The central common area was planned for 1000 families, to be expanded later to 3000. The initial facilities comprised a school/community center, a fire/police station and automobile repair shop, two commercial buildings and a gasoline station. An administration building and a hotel were planned, but remained unbuilt. The school is a noteworthy example of

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

design. The commercial buildings use

Streamline Moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design ...

motifs, including rounded corners, ribbon windows and flat roofs. The commercial area focuses on the 1938 "Mother and Child" sculpture by Lenore Thomas Straus. The "Rural High School", later Greenbelt Middle School, was built between 1936 and 1945. Like the elementary school, it is a notable Art Deco building, using glass block extensively.

Legacy

Greenbelt is the best-preserved of the three built greenbelt towns, retaining much of its green space reserve despite the encroachment of development and highway construction. The Greenbelt model provided inspiration to other projects in the United States. Parade Park in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

, River Park in southwest Washington, D.C., and Parktown in

, Ohio, were built by the Reynolds Aluminum Company Service Corporation as showcases for aluminum construction, and were based on the Greenbelt urban model. The town of

Kitimat, British Columbia Kitimat is a district municipality in the North Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. It is a member municipality of the Regional District of Kitimat–Stikine regional government. The Kitimat Valley is part of the most populous urban distric ...

, was built in 1953 by the

Aluminum Company of Canada Alcan was a Canadian mining company and aluminum manufacturer. It was founded in 1902 as the Northern Aluminum Company, renamed Aluminum Company of Canada in 1925, and Alcan Aluminum in 1966. It took the name Alcan Incorporated in 2001. During t ...

along similar lines. Both Vallingby in Sweden and

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

East Punjab East Punjab (known simply as Punjab from 1950) was a province and later a state of India from 1947 until 1966, consisting of the parts of the Punjab Province of British India that went to India following the partition of the province between ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, were influenced by Greenbelt, as was the British

New town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

Program after 1946. Less influence was felt by the planners of

Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland. It is one of the principal communities of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. It is a planned community consisting of 10 self-contained villages. Columbia began with ...

, and

Reston, Virginia Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia and a principal city of the Washington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, Reston's population was 63,226. Founded in 1964, Reston was influenced by the Garden City movem ...

, in the 1960s. Relate to WWII Manhattan Project planned communities with very similar design esthetic and architecture:

Los Alamos, NM Los Alamos is an census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, that is recognized as the development and creation place of the atomic bomb—the primary objective of the Manhattan Project by Los Alamos National Labora ...

, Hanford, WA, and Oak Ridge, TN, among others.

Gallery

Image:Greenbelt Theater Jan 09.JPG,

Old Greenbelt Theatre The Old Greenbelt Theatre is a historic single-screen movie theater built between 1937 and 1938 in Roosevelt Center within the Greenbelt Historic District of Greenbelt, Maryland. It was built in the Art Deco style of architecture - or more spec ...

, in January 2009 Image:Mother and Child Jan 09.JPG, Lenore Thomas Straus, "Mother and Child" statue, January 2009 photograph Image:2 -Greenbelt Community Center Preamble to the Constitution of the US by WPA Sculptress Leonore Thomas Strauss.JPG, Lenore Thomas Straus sculpture located at the Greenbelt Community Center

References

External links

* * , including an August 2003 photo of

at Roosevelt Center, from the

Maryland Historical Trust The Maryland Historical Trust is an agency of Maryland Department of Planning and serves as the Maryland State Historic Preservation Office. The agency serves to assist in research, conservation, and education, of Maryland's historical and cultural ...

's Maryland's

National Register The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

Properties, Inventory No.: PG:67-4 *
Boundary Map of the Greenbelt Historic District, Prince George's County
from the Maryland Historical Trust {{National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Greenbelt, Maryland National Historic Landmarks in Maryland Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Historic districts in Prince George's County, Maryland National Register of Historic Places in Prince George's County, Maryland Art Deco architecture in Maryland Planned cities in the United States Historic American Buildings Survey in Maryland 1980 establishments in Maryland