Acorn Park Explained
Acorn Park is a 0.1247acres urban park in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland, which features an acorn-shaped gazebo and an artificial grotto.[1] 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".[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Acorn Park is located at the intersection of East-West Highway and Newell Street.
History
The gazebo in Acorn Park was constructed in 1842[8] by Benjamin C. King.[9] 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.[9] The park land was purchased by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission in 1942[10] and was refurbished and rededicated in 1955.[8] A small additional tract of land was acquired by M-NCPPC in 1997, to make the current 0.1247acres.
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Parks and Trails Atlas of Montgomery County, MD — ArcGIS Web Application. MCatlas.org. February 12, 2019. en-US.
- Web site: Acorn Urban Park. October 30, 2018. MontgomeryParks.org. en-US. February 12, 2019. According to local history, in 1840 a newspaper publisher and friend of President Andrew Jackson, Francis Preston Blair, discovered the spring bubbling up through shiny mica sand..
- News: The Man Who Discovered Silver Spring's ‘Silver Spring’. Sheir. Rebecca. WAMU 88.5 – American University Radio. April 4, 2014. Washington, D.C.. en-US. February 12, 2019. Silver Spring Historical Society president Jerry McCoy at Acorn Park: the site thought to be where Preston Blair discovered the original ‘silver spring’..
- Web site: A Brief History of Silver Spring. Cannon Road Elementary School, Montgomery County Public Schools. MontgomerySchoolsMD.org. en-US. PDF. February 12, 2019. Acorn Park, tucked away in an area of south Silver Spring away from the main downtown area, is believed to be the site of the original spring.. https://web.archive.org/web/20190126000953/https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/schools/cannonroades/classroom/grade4/A%20Brief%20History%20of%20Silver%20Spring2.pdf. January 26, 2019. dead.
- Web site: Acorn Park. SilverSpringDowntown.com. February 12, 2019. en-US. Acorn Park is all that remains of Francis Preston Blair's estate, ‘Silver Spring,’ named after his discovery in 1840 of a nearby mica-speckled spring..
- Web site: Acorn Park . Celebrate Silver Spring Foundation. 2006 . March 24, 2007. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070903091535/http://www.silverspringdowntown.com/spring.php?pid=327 . September 3, 2007. mdy.
- Web site: Montgomery Park: Heritage Sites - The Silver Spring. April 28, 2008. April 25, 2008 . MontgomeryParks.org. Montgomery County Department of Parks. https://web.archive.org/web/20080522105734/http://www.mc-mncppc.org/Parks/PPSD/Cultural_Resources_Stewardship/heritage/the_silver_spring.shtm . May 22, 2008. dead. mdy.
- Web site: McCoy . Jerry A. . Happy Birthday, Acorn Park . Silver Spring, Then & Again . Takoma Publishing, Inc. . 2004 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060329032710/http://www.takoma.com/archives/copy/2005/05/features_thenAgain0505.html . dead . March 29, 2006 . March 24, 2007.
- Book: McCoy, Jerry A.. Historic Silver Spring. Arcadia Publishing. 2005. Silver Spring, Md.. 26–32. 0-7385-4188-5. en-US.
- Web site: MNCPPC: Acorn Urban Park. April 28, 2008. M-NCPPC. https://web.archive.org/web/20080415180745/http://www.mc-mncppc.org/Parks/park_of_the_day/jan/parkday_jan10.shtm. April 15, 2008. dead. mdy.
