White Oak in Silver Spring in Montgomery County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Burnt Mills
The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission built the Burnt Mills water filtration facility in 1929 to meet increasing demand for clean water in the rapidly-growing Washington. D. C. suburbs.
The two brick Colonial Revival buildings housed offices and pumping equipment. The structures reflect a design that was popular for houses in the late 1820's, and are an interesting adaptation of a domestic look for a municipal structure.
This turbulent stream was the location of one of the county's earliest grist mills, which stood here starting in the 1700s. Originally called Bealle's Mill, it ground grain into flour for nearby residents.
Robert B. Morse Filtration Plant
This site represents the revolutionary move from on era to another from the use of water in order to power simple machines for local production, to the multi-million-dollar industry of protecting the public water supply for a large region. This small site helped make possible the enormous growth that suburbanization brought to our region.
One way to open your eyes is to ask yourself, "What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again? " - Rachel Carson, The Sense of Wonder (Posthumously 1965)
Erected by Montgomery Parks; Maryland Heritage Areas Authority.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Charity & Public Work • Environment • Industry & Commerce. In addition, it is included in the Maryland, Montgomery Parks series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1929.
Location. 39° 1.85′ N, 77° 0.363′ W. Marker is in Silver Spring, Maryland, in Montgomery County. It is in White Oak. It can be reached from Columbia Pike (U.S. 29). The marker is behind the WSSC building along the Rachel Carson Greenway. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 10700 Columbia Pike, Silver Spring MD 20901, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Washington Metropolitan Area. It is also in the American Mid-Atlantic. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies and also the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At

Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), March 22, 2026
2. Burnt Mills Marker
Unfortunately, the marker has been damaged.
Credits. This page was last revised on March 22, 2026. It was originally submitted on June 5, 2014, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. This page has been viewed 2,622 times since then and 145 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on June 5, 2014, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. 2. submitted on March 22, 2026, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. 3. submitted on June 5, 2014, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. 4. submitted on January 17, 2018, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. 5, 6, 7, 8. submitted on June 5, 2014, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.






