'Silver' Spring

While doing research on Wikipedia a few weeks ago, I discovered the spring after which Silver Spring is named is in a small park near my apartment. So, I visited the area last weekend.

A little about the present
My search began because I heard Silver Spring was an unincorporated area, not a city. Since I haven't been here long, this was news to me. Wikipedia says Silver Spring is the third most populous census-designated area in Maryland. (This explains a lot, such as why half the places I search for in Silver Spring are miles away from where I live.)


The spring
Silver Spring was named by Francis Preston Blair in 1840. (Note: My apartment complex is called Blair Apartments.) Blair discovered the spring and saw the sun reflecting off mica flakes in it, thus the name Silver Spring. Blair later built a mansion, called Silver Spring, in the area. During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln visited the mansion several times, according to Wikipedia.

'Green' spring today
The spring has since dried up but its site is marked in possibly the smallest park ever, Acorn Park. The park occupies a sliver of the corner of a block and includes some trees, a bench, a small acorn-shaped shelter and the spring's site.

Though the spring no long runs, water has accumulated in the area, thus creating a smelly, green pool. It definitely would not have received the same name were it discovered today.