Red Door Country Store, Norwood, a print by Barbara Hails
Norwood Landmarks
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Red Door Country Store, Norwood, a print by Barbara Hails
Norwood, Maryland
In winter 2003, the M-NCPPC announced that it acquired the Red Door Country Store. "Through the two-year old Legacy Open Space Program, Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission has purchased the Red Door Store (Holland Store) along with 79 acres of land surrounding the store at the corner of Norwood and Layhill Roads. The combination house and store was built in 1860 by James Holland, who was named postmaster of Norwood in 1889 when the Post Office was located in the store. This is one of only three original general stores on the Master Plan of Historic Preservation in Montgomery County still in operation."
According to a news release by League of Women Voters, "The site will be the first heritage site to be protected in the Legacy program. The Red Door Store will continue to be operated as a country store under contract and the rest of the 78 acres will be maintained as rural open space to preserve the entrance to the historic community of Sandy Spring and protect the "viewshed" from the Woodlawn Mansion, already a protected park site."
Norwood History, Heritage, Memories, and Local Landmarks
An article in the Gazette July 2002 stated, "According to research published in the Sandy Spring Museum newsletter, the store was opened in 1865 by James M. Holland, whose father, a Quaker stone mason named Isaac Holland, had built the house portion of the building in 1859. (The intersection used to be known as Holland's Corner.) The store and surrounding area served several different functions over the years. After the store was opened, the Holland family continued to live upstairs. Next to the store were a blacksmith and a weigh station for farmers coming to town with produce. In 1889 the store was designated a U.S. Post Office, with James Holland as postmaster. Holland sold the store in 1906 to Clarence B.F. Carroll, who sold it to Robert E.L. Smith Sr. and his wife, Marie, in 1944. For a few years in the 20th century there were a couple of Exxon pumps out front of the store, and the Smiths started a mulch and trucking business, RELS Inc. The property and the business passed to Smith Jr. in 1986, who expanded the operations. "
