Wasn’t Greenbelt a New Deal dream? It was conceived during the Great Depression a time of immense hardship. President Franklin D Roosevelt’s Resettlement Administration created Greenbelt. It was one of three planned communities. Greenbelt was designed to provide jobs and affordable housing. It was also a model for future town planning.
Imagine a small town just twelve miles from Washington DC. This is Greenbelt Maryland. It’s a unique place. It still retains its small-town atmosphere. Beautiful parks and playgrounds are everywhere. A cooperative spirit thrives there. Housing remains affordable and unique. Greenbelt’s history shapes its community.
The first Greenbelters moved into modern homes. They found a country club like setting. Pedestrian walkways wound through superblocks. Underpasses connected walkways under main roads. Businesses were in a central mall. A combined elementary school and community center provided recreation facilities. Greenbelt was a utopian vision. It offered a safe environment for families. Playgrounds public art a swimming pool and traffic free walkways were all part of the plan.
Early Greenbelt was isolated. Neither the Baltimore Washington Parkway nor the Beltway existed. This reinforced community cohesiveness. Neighbors spent time together shopping attending meetings going to movies and hosting parties. Over thirty organizations formed in the first year. Churches citizen associations a credit union a journalism club women’s clubs athletic clubs youth clubs and a cooperative organizing committee all flourished.
Rexford Guy Tugwell’s vision included cooperative businesses. Edward Filene a Boston businessman funded the venture. Residents bought shares in Greenbelt Consumer Services. This operated a grocery store gas station variety store movie theater beauty salon barber shop and valet. Profits were reinvested or distributed evenly.
Construction began in 1935. Workers cleared land for a lake before plans were finalized. Homes included apartment buildings row houses and prefabricated homes. By 1937 885 units were almost complete. While both white and African American workers built Greenbelt only white families could apply to live there. Prince George’s County was deeply segregated. Early plans to include African American families were dropped. Over 5000 families applied. Applicants had to be married couples earning between $800 and $2200 per year with an employed husband. The town was racially segregated but religiously integrated. 63 percent were Protestant 30 percent Roman Catholic and 7 percent Jewish.
World War II caused another housing shortage in Washington DC. Greenbelt helped again. One thousand additional row houses were built in 1941 doubling the town’s size.
The government ran Greenbelt as low income rental housing until 1952. Then it was sold. Except for some apartments and greenbelt land the original homes and those built in 1941 were bought by a resident cooperative. Greenbelt Homes Inc still manages 1600 homes common areas and woodlands.
Greenbelt’s original buildings and traditions remain. The annual Labor Day Festival public concerts art exhibits recreation classes and cooperative businesses continue. Visitors can walk on inner walkways enjoy the lake and use playgrounds. Roosevelt Center features the original movie theater a cooperative grocery store restaurants and a day spa. Greenbelt is a unique part of Maryland history.