ABOUT

Takoma Park is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland. It is a suburb of Washington, D.C., and part of the Washington metropolitan area.  The city's population was 16,715 at the 2010 national census.

History
Takoma Park was founded by Benjamin Franklin Gilbert in 1883.[7] It was one of the first planned Victorian commuter suburbs,centered on the B&O railroad station in Takoma, D.C., and bore aspects of a spa and trolley park. Takoma was originally the name of Mount Rainier, from Lushootseed, 'snow-covered mountain'. In response to a wish of Gilbert, the name Takoma was chosen in 1883 by DC resident Ida Summy, who believed it to mean 'high up' or 'near heaven'.Gilbert hired contractor Fred E. Dudley to build many of the homes in Takoma Park. One of the homes built by Dudley was the home of Cady Lee, which still stands today at Piney Branch Road and Eastern Avenue. Dudley's son Wentworth was the first child born in Takoma Park. By 1888, there were 75 houses built in the community, and the number increased to 235 homes by 1889. In 1889, Gilbert purchased several acres of land along Sligo Creek from a physician in Boston named Dr. R.C. Flower, in order to build a sanitarium on the land. By this point, Takoma Park stretched 1,500 acres (5 km2). The deed of each of the original houses prohibited alcohol from being made or sold on the property, a prohibition that continued in the city until 1983. Takoma Park incorporated as a town on April 3, 1890.