From Cows to Games, Fireworks & Festivals

When Takoma Park was founded in 1883 the parcel of land that today is Lee Jordan Field was part of a large farm belonging to the Brashears family. A stream known as Brashears Run flowed here across a lush, soggy pasture. A son-in-law, Roger Hodges later started a business call Dairy that delivered milk from cows that grazed on the farm.


Upon his retirement the farmland was sold and divided into plots for home on Hodges Heights for public facilities. On the hill overlooking this field Montgomery County built Takoma Park Junior High. The school opened in 1939.


The logical place for the school's athletic field was the pasture below the hill. Brashears Run was forced into a culvert, and laborers piled tons of dirt over it to raise the elevation. Numerous rocks worked their way to the surface, though, and during Lee Jordan's long tenure as a sports organizer and coach he could be regularly seen raking the field smooth.


By the time the field was named for him in 1981 it had become not only the site of frequent games but also a gathering place for community festivities. On July Fourth evenings the sky was lit by fireworks. A Turkey Trot took place at Thanksgiving time. On snowy days families raced sleds down the long hillside.


At Lee Jordan's suggestion the first Takoma Park Folk Festival was held on the school grounds in 1978, and the festival was dedicated to this Boys and Girls Club. A year later, however, Montgomery County announced that the junior high was closing, and the building was emptied of books and furniture. Trying to save the school and the field organizers of the folk festival turned their next event into a massive protest. To general surprise, the county reversed its decision.


The current school building, now Takoma Park Middle, was erected in 1997-1998 and the field underwent and extensive renovation at the same time. It remains a scene of almost constant activity.


Support for this project was provided by Maryland Program Open Space, City of Takoma Park, Montgomery County Public Schools and Historic Takoma.

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Show me all markers in:  Takoma Park, MD  |  Montgomery County  |  20912  |  Maryland  |  United States of America

Lee Jordan
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"The Presidents Tree"
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The Metropolitan Branch and Takoma Park
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