Glenmont, Maryland

Glenmont is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Maryland, USA. The U.S. Census Bureau combines Glenmont with nearby Wheaton to create the Census Designated Place of Wheaton-Glenmont.

Location

Due to its unincorporated nature, the boundaries are difficult to precisely define, but the center of the community is located at the intersection of Randolph Road and Georgia Avenue (Maryland State Highway 97) [http://www.stationmasters.com/System_Map/GLENMONT/glenmont.html Glenmont Map.]

Transportation

Glenmont is a suburban crossroads of sorts. Georgia Avenue (Maryland Route 97) passes through the community. Southbound along Georgia Avenue is Wheaton, downtown Silver Spring, and the District of Columbia. North of Glenmont on Georgia Avenue is Aspen Hill (another unincorporated community) and Leisure World, a large retirement community. Route 97 continues north through Howard and Carroll counties to Pennsylvania.

Meeting Georgia Avenue at the heart of Glenmont is Randolph Road. The intersection of Georgia Avenue and Randolph Road is heavily congested, and there are plans to replace the current, at-grade intersection with a grade-separated interchange.

Layhill Road (Maryland Route 182) has its southern terminus at Georgia Avenue, just north of Randolph Road.

The Glenmont Metro station serves the area. This underground station, which opened in 1998, is at the east end of the Red Line, and has a large parking garage. The station draws many commuters and is often full on weekdays by 8:00am. From Glenmont, the Red Line heads south to downtown Silver Spring and to the District of Columbia before re-entering Montgomery County and terminating at Shady Grove.

Public safety

The Kensington Volunteer Fire Department has a fire station at the intersection of Randolph Road and Georgia Avenue. Right next door to it is the Wheaton - Glenmont police station of the Montgomery County Police Department. This police station, though operating, is closed to the public. The Maryland-National Capital Park Police has its headquarters in an old elementary school on Layhill Road.

Shopping

There is a large shopping center on the northeast corner of Randolph Road and Georgia Avenue. It has a supermarket, pharmacy, office supply store, three gasoline service stations, local pub, convenience store, barber shop, sporting goods store, numerous small markets and restaurants, and a branch office of the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration. There are also other restaurants and stores scattered along Georgia Avenue.

Housing

There are three large garden apartment complexes and a condominium at the heart of Glenmont. The rest of the area consists of single family homes and a few townhouses. Most of the housing stock west of Georgia Avenue is older and smaller; east of Georgia Avenue, the homes are newer and larger. However, there are a few sites west of Georgia Avenue where the homeowners have demolished the small, old home and built a large, new one in its place.

Education

Two public high schools (John F. Kennedy High School and Wheaton High School) serve Glenmont. There is at least one elementary school, Glenallan, in the community. Not far from the unofficial boundary with Aspen Hill, but inside the area commonly considered to be part of Glenmont (3100 Regina Drive), can be found the community's other elementary school, Georgian Forest.

Terrain

The area consists of modest rolling hills broken by small streams, all of them fed mainly by run-off from storm drainage, although the community contains at least one natural spring still producing acquifer-fed water. All streams in Glenmont are part of the Anacostia River watershed; they flow into the Northwest Branch of the Anacostia, which empties into the Potomac. Streams to the west of Glenmont generally reach the Potomac by way of Rock Creek, with Georgia Avenue serving as a rough dividing line between the two drainage areas.