History · Colmar Manor · established 1927

99 years of Colmar Manor, in pictures

Postcards, papers and photographs of Colmar Manor from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.

1927established

6old photos & papers

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From Colmar Manor’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Colmar Manor’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Old housesHalf of Colmar Manor’s homes were built before 1938.

★ What stands out · The story

How Colmar Manor came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Colmar Manor.

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The town is home to Dueling Creek, formerly in Bladensburg, Maryland, a small waterway that because of its secluded location was a popular site for dueling. Duels were banned in neighboring Washington, D.C., but legal in Maryland, and Dueling Creek was the site for more than 50 duels between 1808 and 1868. The most famous duel fought on the site was on March 22, 1820, between Stephen Decatur and James Barron. Decatur was mortally wounded in the exchange.

Chapters19th century 20th century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Colmar Manor, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s6 items

Salvage. Requisitioning auto graveyard. Standing among the piles of reclaimable materials at the Colmar Manor, Maryland…

1941Salvage. Requisitioning auto graveyard. Standing amon…

Hundreds of junked cars were denied to the war effort by the Lennox Motor Company in Maryland. The owner refused to... …

1942Hundreds of junked cars were denied to the war effort…

Salvage. Requisitioning auto graveyards. Tons of scrap at the auto graveyard of the Lenox Motor Company

1942Salvage. Requisitioning auto graveyards. Tons of scra…

Salvage. Requisitioning auto graveyard. U.S. marshals, accompanied by county police, raid the Colmar Manor, Maryland au…

1942Salvage. Requisitioning auto graveyard. U.S. marshals…

1950s–1990snothing yet

Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this viewSalvage. Requisitioning auto graveyard. Standing among the piles of reclaimable materials at the Colmar Manor, Maryland…, 1941

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Colmar Manor’s page.

Retake this view · +15

Famous people

Famous people close to Colmar Manor

Nobody well known was born in Colmar Manor itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

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Al GoreVice President of the United States from 1993 t… · b. 1948

Samuel L. JacksonAmerican actor · b. 1948

Duke EllingtonAmerican jazz pianist and composer · b. 1899

Jennifer DoudnaAmerican biochemist · b. 1964

Marvin GayeAmerican R&B and soul singer · b. 1939

Pete SamprasAmerican tennis player · b. 1971

Help out

Finish Colmar Manor’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewSalvage. Requisitioning auto graveyard.…: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Stories next door

History across the town line

Cottage CityIts story

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

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From Wikimedia Commons (1), the Library of Congress (5) and Wikipedia. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.