First Planned Community: Lexington Park - St. Mary's County MD
N 38° 15.689 W 076° 26.901
18S E 373288 N 4235819
The U.S. Navy established an air station and the first planned community of Lexington Park on the shore of the Patuxent River in Maryland.
Waymark Code: WMDNYE
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 02/07/2012
Views: 4
From the late 18th to the early 20th century, St. Mary's County in Maryland was mostly farmland. The farms on the shore of the Patuxent River where it feeds into the Chesapeake Bay was known as Centerville and sat at the crossroads of Three Notch Rd. and Great Mills Rd.
In the early 1940s, the U.S. Navy established the NAS Patuxent River Naval Air Station. They condemned the land and the current residents had to relocate. The Navy named the area Lexington Park after the aircraft carrier, the USS Lexington. During WWII, the influx of civilians brought into the area by the establishment of the air station caused a housing crisis. The Navy built 350 triplexes and duplexes, the first Lexington Park community. It became known as the Flat Tops because of the flat roofs that resembled the flight decks of aircraft carriers when viewed by overhead aircraft flying in and out of the base.
Over the next 50 years, Lexington Park would expand into a thriving town with more housing developments and businesses. Unforunately, the community that started it all would fall into disrepair and the Flat Tops were razed in 2005.
One of the duplexes was saved and a marker was erected to serve as a historic reminder of the first Lexington Park community. The text on the marker reads:
Architectural Significance of the First Lexington Park Community
The U. S. Navy developed Lexington Park to house the civilian workers who streamed into the area following the establishment of the Patuxent River Naval Air Station. Named for the storied aircraft carrier Lexington, it was the first planned community in St. Mary's County. Unlike any houses built here earlier, the concrete and brick duplexes with their slanted roofs and tall banks of windows were decidedly modern looking. The northern portion of the development, completed in 1943, was designed by the nationally recognized firm Kahn and Jacobs. Washington, DC architect Louis Justement designed the houses in the southern portion, which were completed in 1944 along with a small commercial and community center. This remaining house is a rare survivor of innovative civilian housing constructed during the World War II era.
Other than the cracked and overgrown streets and hidden remnants of past residents, not much else remains.
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