White Oak is a
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
and unincorporated area in
Montgomery County,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
, United States. It had a population of 16,347 in 2020.
White Oak was known for its
Naval Ordnance Laboratory, which was closed in 1994. The headquarters of the
Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...
now occupies the property, which has been renamed the Federal Research Center at White Oak.
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the locality has a total area of square miles ( km), all land.
White Oak is a diverse neighborhood. The main area of White Oak is from Lockwood Drive starting from New Hampshire Avenue (
MD 650) towards Stewart Lane, crossing Columbia Pike (
U.S. 29).
Geography
As an unincorporated area, White Oak's boundaries are not officially defined by either a municipal government or by the government of Montgomery County. Boundaries for the White Oak
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
have been established by the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, while the
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...
recognizes White Oak to be a populated place located at (39.039832, –76.993032).
Many of its residents consider themselves to be residents of the White Oak neighborhood of
Silver Spring, similar to how large cities have different neighborhoods within their borders.
Quaint Acres
"Quaint Acres" is a subdivision of White Oak just north of modern
Route 29 and west of
New Hampshire Avenue
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995
* "New" (Daya song), 2017
* "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
. The subdivision was named after the house of
Altus Lacy Quaintance, a State Entomologist of Maryland who worked at the
Maryland Agricultural College and later at the
USDA
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...
.
On 26 May 1945, a
TB-25D 'Mitchell' bomber en route from Biloxi to
Bolling Field crashed near Quaint Acres, killing all four aboard. The bomber was piloted by Dudley M. Outcalt who flew in the
94th Aero Squadron during World War I.
After the war, the Quaint Acres subdivision was home to famed naturalist
Rachel Carson
Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist, writer, and conservation movement, conservationist whose sea trilogy (1941–1955) and book ''Silent Spring'' (1962) are credited with advancing mari ...
and where she wrote ''
Silent Spring
''Silent Spring'' is an environmental science book by Rachel Carson. Published on September 27, 1962, the book documented the environmental harm caused by the indiscriminate use of DDT, a pesticide used by soldiers during World War II. Carson acc ...
'' in 1962, the book that facilitated the ban of the pesticide
DDT in the United States. She built the ranch house at 11701 Berwick Rd. in 1956, and lived there until her death in 1964. The house is a National Historic Landmark, but not open to the public.
Quaint Acres was also the Washington area home to
Margaret Chase Smith, the first woman to be elected to both the U.S. House and the Senate.
Demographics
2020 census
2010 census
As of the
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2010, there were people, households, and families residing in the White Oak area.
The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was people per square mile (/km).
There were housing units at an average density of per square mile (/km).
The racial makeup of the area was 27.7%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 49.4%
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.4%
Native American, 8.9%
Asian, 0.1%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 9.1% from
other races, and 4.5% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino of any race were 18.4% of the population.
6% of White Oak's residents were
White Hispanics/Latinos, 21.6% were Hispanics/Latinos from some other race, and 1.5% were
Afro-Latinos.
21.6% of the population were
non-Hispanic whites
Non-Hispanic Whites, also referred to as White Anglo Americans or Non-Latino Whites, are White Americans who are classified by the United States census as "White" and not of Hispanic or Latino origin. According to annual estimates from the Unit ...
, 47.8% were non-Hispanic blacks, and 8.9% were non-Hispanic Asians.
The largest ancestry groups by race, according to current estimates, were:
* 53.2% African, Afro-Caribbean, or African American (12.5% other
Sub-Saharan African
Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...
, 4.1%
Ethiopian
Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...
, 1.8%
Haitian, 1.4%
Jamaican, 0.7%
Kenyan)
* 17.6% White (3.2%
German, 2.9%
American, 2.4%
English, 2.3%
Irish, 1.6%
Italian, 0.9%
Polish)
* 19.1% Hispanic or Latino (9.4%
Salvadoran, 2.69%
Dominican, 1.38%
Guatemalan, 1.27%
Mexican, 1.26%
Puerto Rican)
* 7.1% Asian (2.49%
Vietnamese, 1.66%
Korean, 1.11%
Indian, 0.83%
Chinese)
White Oak is home to a large population
Orthodox and
Conservative Jews. The Silver Spring Eruv Association includes parts of White Oak and the nearby neighborhoods of
Kemp Mill and
Colesville. An earlier
eruv
An ''eruv'' (; , , also transliterated as ''eiruv'' or ''erub'', plural: ''eruvin'' or ''eruvim'') is a ritual ''halakhic'' enclosure made for the purpose of allowing activities which are normally Activities prohibited on Shabbat, prohibited ...
existed around the White Oak Apartments, until the larger eruv was constructed. White Oak is home to an Orthodox synagogue, the Southeast Hebrew Congregation. Southeast Hebrew was originally founded by Orthodox
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...
an immigrants in 1909 on
Capitol Hill
Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...
in
Washington, D.C. Many Jews began to move out of
Southeast Washington beginning in the 1930s and Southeast Hebrew was relocated to White Oak in 1971. Between 1965 and 2011, White Oak was home to Shaare Tefila Congregation, a Conservative synagogue. Shaare Tefila was originally founded in
Riggs Park, a historically Jewish neighborhood in Washington, D.C., once known as DC's "Little Tel Aviv." Founded in 1951, Shaare Tefila was relocated to White Oak in 1965. In 2011, Shaare Tefila was relocated again, moving to
Olney where many young members now reside.
Education
Depending on how White Oak is geographically defined, students attend Cresthaven, Jackson Road and Burnt Mills Elementary Schools, which feed into White Oak and
Francis Scott Key Middle School. Eighth-grade students have the option of choosing between the three
Northeast Consortium schools,
Blake High School,
Paint Branch High School, and
Springbrook High School.
Springbrook is located in the White Oak CDP.
[2010 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: White Oak CDP, MD]
Archive
. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on June 22, 2015.
External links
*
References
{{authority control
Census-designated places in Maryland
Census-designated places in Montgomery County, Maryland
Conservative Judaism in Maryland
Jews and Judaism in Silver Spring, Maryland
Orthodox Jewish communities
Orthodox Judaism in Maryland