Walter Johnson House

Photographed by Allen C. Browne, June 15, 2015

1. Walter Johnson House Marker

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Photographed by Allen C. Browne, June 15, 2015

2. Walter Johnson House Marker

In 1890 the Tennallytown and Rockville Railroad Company was incorporated, and plans for the new electric railway line to parallel the old Georgetown-to-Rockville Road into Montgomery County were set. The line ran from Washington to Alta Vista, just beyond Bethesda, where in 1891 the Bethesda Park amusement center was constructed. Washingtonians rode the trolley to stay at the hotel and to enjoy the zoo, botanical garden, rides, and dance hall.

Owners of farmland tracts along Old Georgetown Road formed or sold to development companies which subdivided the large parcels into desirable suburban lots or country estates; the drawing card being easy access by trolley between Washington and the Montgomery County countryside.

In 1899; five D.C. and Montgomery County residents incorporated “The Creston Land and Improvement Company of Montgomery County”. Its objects

Photographed by Allen C. Browne, June 15, 2015

3. Walter Johnson House Marker

and purposes were “buying, selling, subdividing, mortgaging, leasing, improving, disposing of or otherwise dealing in lands in this State or partly in this State and partly beyond this State, and the building and erection of, operating, leasing, selling, mortgaging, improving or otherwise disposing of schools, hotels, boarding houses, dwelling houses or residences, stables or other buildings. …” With its principal office in Bethesda; and capital stock of $20,000, the company planned to develop acreage newly purchased along Old Georgetown Road. Prospects were enhanced by proximity to the new electric railway.

During the next four years, Creston Land and Improvement Company sold off 22 parcels ranging from one-half to ten acres each. Most of the transactions also involved the Bethesda Land Company of Montgomery County, which incorporated in 1901 with some of the same individuals and identical purposes as Creston’s. Many of these parcels

Photographed by Allen C. Browne, June 15, 2015

4. Walter Johnson House

were identified as being located in “Alta Vista”. Parcels were sometimes sold with buildings on them, and with the two land companies providing substantial mortgages to purchasers. Most of the purchasers listed Washington, D.C. addresses and, interestingly enough, a number of them were women.

Creston Land and Improvement Company in 1901 sold three acres to Fannie Thomas, who sold to Lenora Channon two years later; both women lived in Washington D.C. The house first appeared on the tax rolls in 1906, with improvements valued at $3500, household furniture at $300.

Lenora Channon’s summer house was constructed in a “country version” of the Colonial Revival style of architecture popular around the turn of the century. It incorporated some elaborate detailing of late 19th century Victorian residential architecture as well as some of the simpler features of the 20th century return to classical forms.

In 1908, Ms. Channon sold the house to

Library of Congress

5. Walter Johnson
The Big Train

Ralph E. Burgess of Washington, D.C., who added a 5.57 acre parcel, for a total of 8.57 acres. As he retained a D.C. address when he sold the property to Frank and Mariam Steward in 1917, presumably he kept the property for summer use.

The hopes of the Creston and Bethesda land companies were dampened by Bethesda Park’s destruction by fire before 1900; the railroad company quickly negotiated an extension of the line to the County Fairgrounds. Also, the slowness of commuting by trolley discouraged many Washington families from using their suburban houses as more than summer retreats. Not until the 1920s, when the automobile came into common usage, on roads newly improved or constructed by the State Roads Commission, did more than a few areas in Montgomery County begin to develop as true residential suburbs. Trolley service was abandoned along the Tennallytown to Rockville line by the end of the 1930s.

The property changed hands in rapid

Library of Congress

6. Mrs. Walter Johnson

Walter Johnson, star twirler of the Washington ball club, and greatest pitcher baseball has ever known, pitched the last game a double-header against Philadelphia recently, won it, then hurried into his wedding clothes and dashed to the home of Representative E. E. Roberts of Nevada, where the latter's daughter, Miss Hazel, became Mrs. Walter Johnson. The newly married couple left for a honeymoon automobile trip to Atlantic City. — The day book, Chicago, July 2, 1914.

succession, all of the owners being residents of Washington, D.C. The Stewards did not keep the property long, selling it to James E. and Nellie S. Wick in 1920. The Wicks in turn sold to Elisha Hanson in 1923, and it was Hanson’s property which caught the eye of a Washington baseball player who had recently come into some money and wanted to move his wife and four small children out to the country.

Walter Perry Johnson pitched for the Washington Senators from 1907 to 1927. His remarkable pitching and hitting abilities were major reasons behind the Senators’ 1924 World Series win. It is possible that he purchased the house at 9100 Old Georgetown Road from his World Series bonus and fees received for writing articles.

Newspapers in July 1925, reported the popular ballplayer’s purchase of “the Elisha Hanson estate” on the Georgetown Road. The location was variously listed as “Alta Vista”, “just west of Battery Park”, “just west of Edgemoor”,

Library of Congress

7. "Big Train" to roll again.

Germantown, MD, Sept. 13 [1938] Walter Johnson; Washington Senators' pitching star for two decades, scored another shutout yesterday when he defeated his opponent, James M. Mount, for the Republican nomination as County Commissioner for Montgomery County. The score was: Johnson 1,025 votes, Mount 40, Johnson is pictured as he warmed up that powerful right arm in preparation for the campaign he will wage for election. The former pitcher now runs a dairy farm here. [The dairy farm mentioned here is the site of Seneca Valley High School in Germantown.]

and “near Bethesda”. The house was described as “an eleven-room residence, modernly equipped, in the center of an 8½ acre tract. There is a wide front lawn, with plenty of shade flowers and shrubbery. In the rear is a four-acre orchard and a grape arbor. There are also coops which will house 2,000 chickens, a feature which appeals to the great pitcher, who is considering going into chicken farming on a large scale during his off months.” Included with photographs of the house was speculation as to whether the Johnsons and their young children would make this their year-round residence, or Washington their permanent home.

The Johnson children have fond memories of life at 9100 Old Georgetown Road. There was a rose garden, a grape arbor, stands of pine and apple trees, a windmill and a tenant house. And of course there was a baseball diamond.

Walter Johnson managed the Washington Senators from 1929 to 1932, moving on to Cleveland where

Photographed by Allen C. Browne, April 9, 2011

8. Walter Johnson's Grave
Rockville Cemetery

Walter Perry
Johnson
1887 — 1946

he concluded his baseball career in 1935. The Johnsons lived on Old Georgetown Road through 1936, although Hazel Lee Johnson died in 1930 and Walter’s mother came to live with them and to raise the five children. Johnson raised chickens, which he generously made available for local fundraisers.

Walter Johnson, known as the Big Train, was one of the first five players inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936, along with Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth, and Honus Wagner. Johnson’s Hall of Fame inscription reads: “Conceded to be fastest ball pitcher in history of game. Won 414 games with losing team behind him many years. Holder of strike out and shut out records.” Many consider Johnson the greatest right-handed pitcher of all time. Known primarily for his fastball pitch, Johnson for many years held both pitching and hitting records.

In the summer of 1936, Walter Johnson sold his home in Alta Vista to Harry Hoskinson

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and Eugene B. Casey. Johnson purchased a 552-acre farm in Germantown (now the site of Seneca Valley High School) and moved his family out there. Walter Johnson continued his involvement with Montgomery County by serving as a County Commissioner from 1938 to 1940 and 1942 until his death of a brain tumor on December 10, 1946. He was the Republican nominee for Congress in 1940. A public high school was named in his honor in 1956.

Hoskinson and Casey subdivided the 8.34 acres in “Alta Vista” into 43 lots. The two largest lots faced Old Georgetown Road — #43, on which the Johnson house was located, and #1, at the corner of newly-created Johnson Avenue.