More Government and Private Sector Jobs

The post-war increase in jobs in Montgomery County was partly driven by increased hiring at the seven Federal agencies located in the County: Army Map Service, Atomic Energy Commission, Bethesda Naval Medical Center, David Taylor Model Basin, National Institutes of Health, Naval Ordinance Laboratory, and Walter Reed Hospital Annex.

The increase was also driven by increased hiring at the private companies that established offices in Montgomery County to compete for Federal government contracts. These companies included familiar names such as Booz-Allen Research, Fisher Scientific Co., General Electric, IBM Federal Systems, Inc., Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Operations Research, Inc., and Vitro Corporation. (Hiebert & MacMaster, A Grateful Remembrance, The Story of Montgomery County, MD, 1976)

The increase in jobs was also boosted by increased hiring at the retail and service-oriented businesses that were serving the needs of the County's rapidly increasing population These businesses included The Hecht Company, Jelleff's, Inc., Suburban Trust Co., Peoples Drug Stores, Marriott Hot Shoppes, and Raleigh Haberdasher.

By the end of the 1950s, as the chart below indicates, Montgomery County had a 133,487-person workforce. 47% of workers were employed in the County and 53% were employed outside the County. The commonly held belief that Montgomery County was just a "bedroom community" for residents employed in Washington, DC was no longer accurate after World War II.

A Modern Water and Sewage System

Professional Land Use Planning

The Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) was formed in 1927 as a bi-county agency empowered to manage land use and plan public park systems in Montgomery County and Prince George's Counties. The M-NCPPC established separate county planning boards to oversee park and planning operations in each jurisdiction.

The Montgomery County Planning Board hired experienced planning professionals to evaluate zoning regulations and subdivision applications. The goal was to maintain the quality of community life, preserve property values, and respond to rapid post-war growth. One way the Planning Board helped maintain property values and the quality of community life was to separate residential development from commercial development and separate industrial areas from both.

Another innovative way planning professionals responded to the post-war housing boom was by establishing a policy requiring subdivision applicants to dedicate a portion of their undeveloped land to accommodate the location of future utilities, streets, schools, and parks. This policy enabled Montgomery County to secure land needed to expand existing, or build new, infrastructure to support future growth while avoiding the time and expense of acquiring land through condemnation or eminent domain.

An Award Winning Park System

In addition to zoning and subdivision responsibilities, the Maryland-National Park and Planning Commission was authorized to purchase land and construct parks. The Capper-Cramton Act passed by Congress in 1930 provided the initial funding for the Commission to acquire land for parks. The M-NCPPC bought 900 acres of land in the Little Falls Creek, Rock Creek, Sligo Creek, and Northwest Branch stream valleys and staff began to implement a sophisticated plan for an extensive bi-county park system. The Commission built parks and recreation facilities in these locations and designed automobile parkways to give residents access to outdoor park and recreation experiences. In addition, the M-NCPPC worked with the Montgomery County & Prince George's County Public School Boards of Education to locate recreation and sports facilities close to new elementary, junior high and senior high schools.

By 1959, the combination of a good plan, aggressive land acquisition, and effective coordination with school systems produced a national award-winning bi-county park system with thirteen miles of parkways and 3,539 acres of public park land. The park system had community recreation centers; neighborhood and regional playgrounds; outdoor grills and fireplaces; baseball, softball and football fields; tennis courts; drinking fountains; picnic tables; and other recreation amenities.

In Montgomery County alone, residents had access to the 679-acre Rock Creek Park, 159-acre Sligo Creek Park, 65-acre Cabin John Park, and Jessup Blair Park in Silver Spring plus a wide range of outdoor and indoor summer recreation programs for youth.