Glenmont

Glenmont is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Maryland. It is a suburb of Washington D.C.

Understand

Glenmont has many gentle hills, streams, and parks. Glenmont's 13,500 residents come from all parts of the world.

History

The village of Glenmont (sometimes spelled Glenmount) in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries contained a few houses and small farms lining the Washington-Brookville Turnpike, as Georgia Avenue was then called. The area had a post office since at least 1900.

Glenmont's first school opened in 1926. Located on present-day Georgia Avenue, the school served students from Glenmont, Aspen Hill, Layhill, and Wheaton.

The area remained largely undeveloped until after World War II, when suburbanization began with the construction of subdivisions in Glenmont. Commercial and residential development began transforming the rural area known as Glenmont in 1949 with two major developments, Glenmont Village, and Glenmont Forest.

In 1947 the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission built the 189-foot (58-m) tall Glenmont Water Tower, which is a multi‐columned elevated water tank with a 500,000-gallon (1,900,000-L) capacity.

Get in

By Metrorail

Glenmont is served by WMATA and is the last station on the Red Line. 1 Glenmont Metro station is along Georgia Ave, in the middle on the town.

By car

The major streets running through Glenmont are Georgia Avenue, Randolph Road, Layhill Road. The area where they converge is the center of Glenmont.

Get around

By bus

Metrobus and Ride-on-Bus operate service around Glenmont and to other areas of Montgomery County.

See

• 1 Beall Family Cemetery, 14123 Beechvue Ln. Dawn-dusk. Small historic family cemetery of the prominent Beall family, which owned a large estate in this area since at least 1716. Headstones date as far back as 1831. The cemetery is still owned today by the Beall family. free. (updated Aug 2021)
• 2 John F. Kennedy High School Cavaliers Football, 1901 Randolph Road, ☏ +1 240-740-0100. Friday afternoons or evenings in September, October, and November. (updated Feb 2017)
• 3 Westover, 247 Mowbray Road (Randolph Road eastbound, left on Locksley Lane, first right on Banbury Place, first left on Mowbray Road). Not open to the public. A private home that was built in 1810. The house was built with one-foot-thick brick walls with ox blood-based mortar. It has remnants of slave quarters and an icehouse, Occupants drank water from a spring that was located where the Robin Hood Swim Club's pool is now. The water was filtered through a sand-filled channel called a race, pumped to the house with a hydraulic ram, and stored in a 40-foot-tall wood tower. A Queen Anne-style addition was built around 1890. (updated Feb 2017)

Do

Parks and gardens

Brookside Gardens

• 1 Brookside Gardens, 1800 Glenallan Avenue (17-minute walk from the Glenmont Metrorail Station), ☏ +1 301-962-1448. Sunrise-Sunset; conservatories, visitor center, and restrooms close at 5PM. Beautiful and expansive botanic gardens. Visit the butterfly pavilion in the summer months—otherwise just take the opportunity for a romantic stroll. Free. 
• 2 Glenfield Park, 12800 Layhill Road. Sunrise-sunset. With tennis courts, a soccer pitch, a children's playground, and a picnic shelter, Glenfield Park is a great place to spend a nice day. Free. (updated Feb 2017)
• 3 Layhill Village Park, 1920 Queensguard Road (Layhill Road northbound, right on Queensguard Road). Sunrise-sunset. 10-acre recreational park that has softball fields, tennis courts, a soccer pitch, a children's playground, and picnic areas. Free. (updated Feb 2017)
• 4 Matthew Henson Trail (Matthew Henson State Park), Trail head is near 14198 Alderton Road (Layhill Road northbound, right on Middlevale Lane, third left on Wagon Way, fifth left on Alderton Road, to the dead end, then walk to benches at the start of the trail). Sunrise-sunset. Matthew Henson Trail is an 8-foot-wide (2.5-m) hard-surface hiking/biking trail. The trail starts in Glenmont and continues 4.5 miles (7 km) to the Rock Creek Hiker-Biker Trail near Aspen Hill. The trail includes a 0.6-mile (1-km) wooden boardwalk through environmentally sensitive areas. Free. (updated Feb 2017)
• 5 Northwest Branch and Rachel Carson Greenway Trail. Sunrise-sunset. Hike through Northwest Branch Stream Valley Park along the Rachel Carson Greenway Trail Corridor's hard-surface and natural-surface trails. The trail begins in Glenmont and continues to Hyattsville, where it connects to the Anacostia River Trail. It begins with a 10-mile natural-surface trail, and it continues as a 2.7-mile hard-surface trail after the Beltway. The trail follows the Northwest Branch river edge, providing a feeling of walking through wilderness. The trail is planned to be extended further in the future. Bicycling is allowed only on the hard-surface trail; hiking is allowed everywhere. Free. (updated Feb 2017)
• 6 Saddlebrook Park, 12751 Layhill Road, ☏ +1 301 962-1448. Sunrise-sunset. 15-acre park featuring a soccer pitch, basketball courts, and a children's playground. Free. 
• 7 Wheaton/Glenmont Outdoor Pool, 12621 Dalewood Drive (Randolph Road westbound, right on Dalewood Drive, right into entrance), ☏ +1 301-929-5460. Memorial Day weekend to mid-June: Sa Su noon-6PM; mid-Jun to mid-Aug: Sa Su noon-8PM, M-F 1PM-8PM; mid-Aug to Labor Day: Sa Su noon-6PM. Outdoor pool complex with a 6-lane, 50-m main pool; an 8-lane, 25-m swim course with one-meter and half-meter diving boards; a shallow-water leisure pool with fountains, sprays, and children's slides; an activity pool with 2 flume slides and crosswalks; a tot pool for infants; a snack bar; and a bathhouse. $7 adults; $5 children age 1-17; $6 seniors age 55+; additional charge if not a resident of Montgomery County. (updated Feb 2017)
• 8 Wheaton Regional Park, 1400 Glenallan Ave. Sunrise-sunset. Established in 1958, this is a 538-acre regional park with a playground, picnic areas, miniature train rides, carousel rides, stocked lake for fishing, botanical gardens, nature center, hiking trails, riding stables, campground, ice skating (year-round), tennis courts, covered fields, and a dog park. Free. 

Events

• 9 Annual Songkran Festival at Wat Thai Buddhist Temple, 13440 Layhill Road (Park at Barrie School next door), ☏ +1 301-871-8660. 7AM - 3:30PM on a Sunday in April; check website for date. Celebrate Thai New Year's Day with Thai food, Thai cultural shows, and Thai crafts. Free admission. 

Eat

• 1 Azucar Restaurant Bar and Grill, 14418 Layhill Road (Layhill Shopping Center), ☏ +1 301-438-3293. M Tu 11AM - 10PM; W Th 11AM-11PM; F Sa 11AM-midnight; Su 1AM-11PM. Lively neighborhood restaurant serving food from all over Latin America. (updated Feb 2017)
• 2 Don Pollo, 12345 Georgia Avenue (Glenmont Shopping Center), ☏ +1 301-933-9515. Su-Th 11AM-9:30PM; F Sa 11AM-10PM. Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken and traditional entrees. (updated Feb 2017)
• 3 Irene's Pupusería, 12391 Georgia Ave (Glenmont Shopping Center), ☏ +1 301-933-2118. Su-Th 11AM-midnight, F Sa 11AM-2AM. A nice place to take the family for a meal, with walls of big comfy diner-style booths. This restaurant is the local hub for the Honduran community, so there are a bunch of dishes on the menu, like the baliadas (a sort of Honduran burrito) that you won't find at the other Salvadoran restaurants. Beyond the great pupusas and baliadas, the terribly unhealthy fried plantains with creme are incredible, as are the atoles, a creamy hot chocolate-style dessert drink (non alcoholic, and without chocolate) made from corn meal with all the spices you'd expect of a pumpkin pie. $4-20. 
• 4 Passion Bakery Cafe, 2277 Bel Pre Rd (Plaza del Mercado), ☏ +1 301-460-0600. M-Sa 6AM-8PM, Su 7AM-6PM. Delicious pastries, cookies, coffee, and espresso. Also has some light breakfast and lunch items. (updated Aug 2021)
• 5 Pollo Brasero, 14336 Layhill Road (Layhill Shopping Center), ☏ +1 301-438-2800. M-W 11:30AM-9:30PM; Th-Su 11AM-10PM; Su 11AM-9PM. Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken and traditional entrees. (updated Feb 2017)
• 6 sweetFrog, 11923 Georgia Avenue, ☏ +1 301-933-3019. Daily noon-9PM. Create your own soft-serve frozen yogurt treat with numerous flavors and toppings from which to choose. (updated Feb 2017)

Drink

• 1 Stained Glass Pub, 12510 Layhill Road (next to the Glenmont water tower), ☏ +1 301-933-4444. M-Th 11:30AM-1AM; F Sa 11:30AM-2AM; Su noon-1:30AM. Comfortable neighborhood bar and restaurant with sports on television, weekly karaoke and trivia, pub food, and many beers on tap. (updated Feb 2017)

Sleep

Glenmont does not have any hotels. Silver Spring is just south on Georgia Ave and the Metrorail Red Line, and has plenty of nice hotels.

Go next

• Olney
• Wheaton
• Silver Spring
• Washington D.C.

Routes through Glenmont

Silver Spring ← Wheaton ←

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