Publications

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Brentwood Historical Survey October 1992 Report This report summarizes the findings of an historical/ architectural survey of Brentwood, requested
by the Mayor and Council of the Town. The goals of the project were to document the earliest of the
historic buildings still standing in the Town, and to prepare a written history
of the community's development with emphasis on the early residents.
The Town of Brentwood is located in Prince George's County, just outside the northeast boundary of
the District of Columbia. Development of the community began in the 1890s in areas platted by the
Holladay
and Brentwood Companies. The first residents were families attracted to the area by the easily
accessible transportation to and from work in Washington, D. c., offered by the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad and the City and Suburban streetcar line. The residents of this community incorporated in
1922 as the Town of Brentwood.

The report is divided into seven major sections: Pre-Subdivision History, The First Subdivision,
The Second Subdivision, Growth and Development of the two Subdivisions, Continued Development, The
Development of Community Institutions, and the Period of Incorporation. The report includes
background history on the earliest development of the community, and on Captain Wallace A.
Bartlett, the principal figure in the development of the first two subdivisions. It describes the
expansion of the original subdivision, and the settling of the first families in the newly built
homes. It describes and compares the first dwellings erected in the community; it analyzes by
building type a representative group of dwellings which survive from the first building period. The
report also outlines the establishment of community institutions such as school, church, citizens'
association and firemen's organization, and describes the community's development as it approached
incorporation in 1922. The report is supplemented by photographs, plats and maps.
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