Snapshots in time...

The photo labeled "Cafritz Property, 1965" (which has now been moved to near the bottom of this page) was taken in 1965, showing the Cafritz property at the top, and Riverdale Park Town Center at the bottom -- and no East-West Highway.

I grabbed this and some other overhead photos of the Cafritz area from the M-NCPPC website www.pgatlas.com.

Four images cropped and scaled identically from 1938, 1965, 1993, and 2000 are available via this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/dwightrholmes/CafritzPropertyAndTheParksFromAboveOverTime

Of note:
In the 1965 shot, you can clearly see the scars of the WWII manufacturing town that occupied the site; you can also see the clear line of the Trolley Line, which had at that time been recently abandoned. Also, I see that there was a street that occupied what is now the route of East-West Highway from west of the tracks to Route 1 and on over to Queens Chapel - Adelphi. Does anybody remember what the name of that street was? I'm guessing it was Rittenhouse?

In the 1938 shot, notice that much of what was to become the WWII manufacturing site, as well as what was to become the ERCO factory on the east side of the tracks, is essentially barren land, at least that's how it appears in the photo. Plenty of trees to the north in what is now Calvert Heights, but most of what is now the wooded Cafritz property was anything but at this time. Interesting.

Speaking of the ERCO factory (and adjacent airport), which spanned what is now River Rd., there are some good photos and history of the place here: http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MD/Airfields_MD_PG_C.html#erco
Thanks to Stuart Eisenberg for the link!

Comparing the 1993 and 2000 views, focussing on our Town Center, it's perhaps telling (or, more likely, just coincidental) that in 1993, there are only a few cars backed up on East-West Highway at Rt. 1, heading west, and the Town Center parking lot is jammed. Seven years later, it looks like all the cars have moved out onto East-West Highway, causing gridlock, and the Town Center parking lot is nearly empty.

"This too will pass."