Top of the Town

—Tenleytown Heritage Trail —

Suburban shopping arrived in Tenleytown when Sears, Roebuck & Co. erected a Moderne style store here in 1941. The sleek façade demonstrated the latest in department store design.

Sears was the second Tenleytown business — after Giant Food — to offer rooftop parking. The aromas of popcorn, half smokes, and doughnuts led customers to Sears' entrance/penthouse snack bar. Attracting shoppers from the city and nearby Maryland, Sears ushered in Tenleytown's modern commercial era.

Sears replaced the three-story former Tenleytown Inn, the neighborhood's oldest commercial landmark. Beginning in the mid-1800s, the inn was a stopping point for farmers and merchants traveling on the Georgetown-Frederick (Maryland) Pike. When William Achterkirchen ran the inn for owner Christian Heurich in the early 1900s, Tenleytowners came in with their growlers — tin buckets with lids — to carry out the inn's popular brew. By 1918 innkeeper Howard Crandall had adapted the inn for his Hilltop Service Station, Tenleytown's first gas station.

While Tenleytown celebrated the arrival of Metrorail in 1984, it came at a cost. The station plaza across the street replaced the Burrows-Mostow building, built in 1900 as a commercial space with an apartment upstairs. It also replaced Joe's Variety Shop. Generations



of Tenleytown children had flocked to Joe Gould's narrow store, packed floor to ceiling with toys, games, penny candy, and school supplies.

The William R. Singleton Masonic Lodge No. 30 has occupied the center of the block diagonally across the intersection since 1909. Its members follow Freemasonry, an ancient fraternal organization rooted in the building trades and dedicated to good works and fellowship.

Sorry, but we don't have a picture of this historical marker yet. If you have a picture, please share it with us. It's simple to do. 1) Become a member. 2) Adopt this historical marker listing. 3) Upload the picture.

Show me all markers in:  Washington, DC  |  20016  |  District Of Columbia  |  United States of America

A Spirit of Community
In Touch with the World
To the Rescue
On the Circle
A Country Road
Set in Stone
Reno City
Luis Alves De Lima E Silva, a War Memorial
The Rest
Reservoir/Reno City

• GPX
• KML
• LOC

Have you seen this marker? If so, check in and tell us about it.