Acorn Park

Acorn Park in 1917– the acorn-shaped gazebo is visible at left.

Acorn Park in 2008.

Coordinates: 38°59′23″N 77°01′44″W / 38.989585°N 77.028986°W

A view of the park showing the "Grotto."

Acorn Park is a 0.12-acre (490 m²) urban park in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland, USA, which features an acorn-shaped gazebo and an artificial grotto. The site is historically significant as it is thought to be the location of the "mica-flecked spring" that in 1840 inspired Francis Preston Blair to name his estate "Silver Spring".^[1][2]

Acorn Park is located at the intersection of East-West Highway and Newell Street.

History

The gazebo in Acorn Park was constructed in 1842^[3] by Benjamin C. King.^[4] Francis Blair's son-in-law, Samuel Phillips Lee, had the stone grotto built at the site of the spring in 1894. It originally included a statue of a Greek nymph.^[4] The park land was purchased by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission in 1942^[5] and was refurbished and rededicated in 1955.^[3] A small additional tract of land was acquired by M-NCPPC in 1997 to make the current 0.12-acre (490 m²).

References

1. "Acorn Park". Celebrate Silver Spring Foundation. 2006. Archived from the original on September 3, 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-24.
2. "Montgomery Park: Heritage Sites - The Silver Spring". www.montgomeryparks.org. Montgomery County Department of Parks. April 25, 2008. Archived from the original on May 22, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
3. McCoy, Jerry A. (2004). "Happy Birthday, Acorn Park". Silver Spring, Then & Again. Takoma Publishing, Inc. Retrieved 2007-03-24.
4. McCoy, Jerry A. (2005). Historic Silver Spring. Silver Spring, Md.: Arcadia Publishing. pp. 26–32. ISBN 0-7385-4188-5.
5. "MNCPPC: Acorn Urban Park". M-NCPPC. Archived from the original on April 15, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-28.