North Bethesda in Montgomery County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Old Spring House & Pool of Bethesda
Photographed by Allen C. Browne, July 29, 2014
1. Old Spring House & Pool of Bethesda Marker
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Science & Medicine • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical year for this entry is 1942.
Location. 39° 0.088′ N, 77° 5.759′ W. Marker is in North Bethesda, Maryland, in Montgomery County. It can be reached from Wood Road 0.6 miles north of Rockville Pike (Maryland Route 355), on the left when traveling north. Marker is on the campus of Naval Support Activity Bethesda at 8901 Wisconsin Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 8980 Rockville Pike, Rockville MD 20852, 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 the North Atlantic Region, 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 least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: National Naval Medical Center in the 1940s (within shouting distance of this marker); National Naval Medical Center
this page online
Photographed by Allen C. Browne, July 29, 2014
2. Old Spring House & Pool of Bethesda Marker
Photographed by Allen C. Browne, July 29, 2014
3. Spring House — source of future Lake Eleanor
Photographed by Allen C. Browne, July 29, 2014
4. Biblical "Pools of Bethesda" as they look today in Jerusalem
Photographed by Allen C. Browne, July 29, 2014
5. Lake Eleanor
Photographed by Allen C. Browne, July 29, 2014
6. Healing Pool of Bethesda
It is written in the fifth Chapter of the Gospel according to St. John, beginning with the second verse:
"Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had."
As the angel of the Lord stirred the Pool of Bethesda to give it strength and healing, so let those who labor here, fired with the zeal for new knowledge, keep stirring the pool of complacency with the present, to the end that they may bring ever more comfort and healing to their suffering fellow men, and to the greater glory of God.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the driving force behind the creation of the Naval Medical Center, was particularly interested in the small pond fed by natural springs and still exists in front of the tower today. The pond reminded him of the Biblical Pool of Bethesda, a place of healing. The pond was eventually made into small lake and christened Lake Eleanor in honor of Mrs. Roosevelt.Close-up of sign in the rotunda of Building 1 NNMC
"Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had."
As the angel of the Lord stirred the Pool of Bethesda to give it strength and healing, so let those who labor here, fired with the zeal for new knowledge, keep stirring the pool of complacency with the present, to the end that they may bring ever more comfort and healing to their suffering fellow men, and to the greater glory of God.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the driving force behind the creation of the Naval Medical Center, was particularly interested in the small pond fed by natural springs and still exists in front of the tower today. The pond reminded him of the Biblical Pool of Bethesda, a place of healing. The pond was eventually made into small lake and christened Lake Eleanor in honor of Mrs. Roosevelt.
Credits. This page was last revised on September 28, 2020. It was originally submitted on August 2, 2014, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. This page has been viewed 1,635 times since then and 95 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on August 2, 2014, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
