Comments on Silver Spring, Singular: Mystery Four Corners Building

Oh lets see..... growing up in "The Corners"....I ...

2008-05-02T00:13:00.000-05:00

Oh lets see..... growing up in "The Corners"....

I remember being able to WALK to kindergarten at 4CES... Mrs Fonoroff was my teacher and she recently retired as principal of Dufief ES.

Before that, Creative Carousel at the Rec Center faux-log house, along with the summer program at Rec Center. Would LOVE to see old photos of the area. From the Rec Center, I remember me and my 6 year old older sister walking up to "Doc's" (the Four Corners Pharmacy where the check cashing office now occupies in very sterile fashion) and gorge ourselves on 2 dollars worth of candy.... that was big living then, and there was no worry about bad guys back then.... the days were sunny and warm.

Strosniders moved to Kemp Mill, and recently closed its doors for good.... the last of a dying breed of hardware store.

Highs you could still get the return deposit on an empty bottle and have enough to buy a new soda if you had a quarter.

Does Gino's even still exist as a company? A Gino Giant, large fries and chocolate shake was $1.54. The smells on a spring Sunday morning were just delicious. If you came from Church at St. B's , the wind carried the bakery smells right over the parking lot... MMMMMMM.

I hope that the bakery stays forever....

pictures and stories please?

And who can forget the Fred and Harry's seafood re...

2008-03-14T08:09:00.000-05:00

And who can forget the Fred and Harry's seafood restaurant that stood for years behind the old High's store (now a 7/11)

As I recall, ther was a neon sign at the Stonehous...

2008-03-11T20:59:00.000-05:00

As I recall, ther was a neon sign at the Stonehouse in the shape of a soup ladle. I also remember rolling nickles down the gutter to the "pin boy" to bowl extra frames. It was at the bowling alley where I became addicted to Feetos and mustard, washed down with a cherry coke. Yum!

Oh, yeah, one more thing. I can remember talking ...

2008-02-12T20:37:00.000-05:00

Oh, yeah, one more thing. I can remember talking to Mr. Emory about the restaurant and he told me that the building had originally been a gas station. I'm not sure if he ran it as a gas station couldn't make a go of it and turned it into a restaurant, or if somebody else couldn't and then he bought it. I think I may have heard or read that it was a Shell station, but I'm not certain about that.

Ron's Esso was the name of the station. He was un...

2008-02-12T20:34:00.000-05:00

Ron's Esso was the name of the station. He was unusual in that he owned the land the station stood on... so when he has a disagreement with Esso, voila, it became Ron's Texaco. I think he later farmed out the gasoline end of the business and just ran the repairs, if memory serves. I grew up not far from there in the 50s. I remember the Stone House Inn, which was run by John Emory. My folks took us there for lunch most Saturdays for many years. Before it was Katz's, the supermarket was an Acme. There was a small toy store, Strosnider's Hardware, a little deli that made most of its money on Sundays selling beer in the days of the old blue laws. I believe that before it was Larrys 5 & 10, it was Strosnider's 5 & 10. There was a barber shop and a realty office (Keller?) in the arcade. The real estate office later became Nicholson, Ouldt & Nourie opticians. There was also a small jewelers, or watch repair shop that later became a record store for a short time. There was a bakery, a Federal Market. I remember the lunch counter in Peoples and then next to them was Willard's, which was a clothing store. The Highs store was a gas station before it became a Highs... a Mobil I think, which then moved a block further down University Blvd when the state widened Colesville Road. That picture of the Stone House Inn was taken prior to that time, because it shows the parking area in front of the restaurant that was wiped out when the road was widened. Just to the left of the restaurant in the photo (a little further south on Colesville Road)was the Indian Spring Market, a small building that later became the office for Safford's RV sales before being torn down. If anyone has any old photos of the Woodmoor Shopping Center, I would love to see them!

The Stone House Inn was owned by the Dickout (I be...

2007-03-03T12:38:00.000-05:00

The Stone House Inn was owned by the Dickout (I believe this is the spelling) family who married into the Jesters.

I believe that the bowling alley before becoming a...

2006-08-01T22:30:00.000-05:00

I believe that the bowling alley before becoming a pool hall was also a slot car venue at one time. Does anyone remember slot cars?

Does anyone have photos of woodmoore shopping ctr....

2006-06-14T12:49:00.000-05:00

Does anyone have photos of woodmoore shopping ctr., Larrys, peoples, the head shop, or 4 corners elem. school ?
I grew up down the street from Eric Zilliacus.

Indeed the Silver Spring Stage was once a bowling ...

2006-05-24T08:10:00.000-05:00

Indeed the Silver Spring Stage was once a bowling alley and later became a billiards parlour -- I bowled and played billiards there before it became the stage. On another note, the Old Stone House Inn had live music on the weekends -- my Dad's band performed there regularly. Thanks for the great post -- brings back many found memories.

> Am I imagining things, or was > there once a bow...

2006-05-21T10:06:00.000-05:00

> Am I imagining things, or was
> there once a bowling alley in
> the basement of the shopping
> center, where the Silver
> Spring Stage is now?

Don't know about bowling, but
there was a billiards place there
at one time. In that
general vicinity, there was
also once a Montgomery County
"Dispensary" (county-owned
liquor store).

Gunnar, I don't know how many
contacts (if any) that you have
with Sweden these days, but
I've always found it quite
amusing to explain to
visiting Swedes that we have
an analog to Systembolaget
here in Montgomery County
that's owned and operated by
the local government.

Am I imagining things, or was there once a bowling...

2006-05-20T20:55:00.000-05:00

Am I imagining things, or was there once a bowling alley in the basement of the shopping center, where the Silver Spring Stage is now?

You forgot that the Roy Rogers was briefly convert...

2006-05-20T19:45:00.000-05:00

You forgot that the Roy Rogers was briefly converted into a Hardee's then switched back to a Roy's after people stopped going!

> And I believe there was an > "Esso" station in w...

2006-05-20T10:57:00.000-05:00

> And I believe there was an
> "Esso" station in what is now
> just the parking lot for
> the Woodmoor Shopping Center,
> diagonally across from the
> Stone House Inn.

Correct! The Esso changed
branding to Texaco at about the
time that most Essos became
Exxon. It later became a
Steuart, then Agip, then went
out of business when the
State Highway Administration
took a large chunk of its land
for the improved intersections
at Four Corners.

> I can remember when the CVS
> store there was a Peoples Drug
> and had a lunch counter.

Yes.

> And Larry's Five & Ten!

Also correct. And Katz's
Kosher supermarket was
located on University
Boulevard East, in the south
end of the Woodmoor shopping
center. At one time, Katz's
was one of the very few
grocery stores to be open on
Sundays (of course, because
they observed the Sabbath
on Saturday).

Continuing with food, the site
of McDonald's is fairly new as
the Golden Arches. Before that,
it was Roy Rogers, before that
Gino's, and before that Tops.
Both Gino's and Tops featured
KFC in addition to the usual
fast food fatburgers.

And I believe there was an "Esso" station in what ...

2006-05-19T19:51:00.000-05:00

And I believe there was an "Esso" station in what is now just the parking lot for the Woodmoor Shopping Center, diagonally across from the Stone House Inn. I can remember when the CVS store there was a Peoples Drug and had a lunch counter. And Larry's Five & Ten!

More trivia about "downtown" Four Corners, some fr...

2006-05-19T18:41:00.000-05:00

More trivia about "downtown" Four Corners, some from long ago.

The Pizza place next to McDonald's was (for many years) an automobile transmission shop. Before that, it was Fire Station 16 of the Silver Spring Volunteer Fire Department (which is now located on University Boulevard East just outside the Beltway).

The mattress store directly across the westbound lanes of University Boulevard from the Stone House Inn site was a High's Dairy Store.

The parking lot that belongs to the Marvin Methodist Church, directly across Colesvlle Road from the Stone House Inn site was once a Sunoco gas station.

Thanks for the info!

2006-05-19T13:47:00.000-05:00

Thanks for the info!

I once delivered the Washington Post to the Stone ...

2006-05-19T13:45:00.000-05:00

I once delivered the Washington Post to the Stone House Inn.

It was located on the parcel of land in Four Corners where the 7-11 and Jerry's Sub Shop now stand - the southwest corner of Colesville Road (U.S. 29) and westbound University Boulevard (Md. 193).