Burnt Mills

History

The site of a grist mill that burned down before 1788, Burnt Mills became an important source of clean drinking water for Montgomery and Prince George's Counties in 1929 when the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) built a water filtration plant here along the Northwest Branch Anacostia River near Silver Spring, Maryland. At the time of its construction in 1929, the water filtration plant at Burnt Mills was considered a landmark achievement by Robert B. Morse, chief engineer, and the WSSC, reflecting public awareness "of the importance of managed water systems to public health." The plant's office and pumping station were housed inside two Georgian Revival style houses at 10700 and 10701 Colesville Road (also known as Columbia Pike). A steel and concrete hollow deck Ambersen style dam was built across the river. The Robert B. Morse Filtration Plant ceased operation in 1962 when it was replaced by water filtration plants on the Patuxent and Potomac Rivers. Its water filtration and pumping facilities were removed, but the two Georgian Revival buildings and the dam remain. A historical marker identifies the location of the filtration plant and the site of the former Bealle's Mill at Burnt Mills. Burnt Mills is home to an Orthodox synagogue, the Southeast Hebrew Congregation. Southeast Hebrew was originally founded by Orthodox Eastern European immigrants in 1909 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Many Jews began to move out of Southeast Washington beginning in the 1930s and Southeast Hebrew was relocated to White Oak in 1971.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  162,384
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  140,152
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  128,477
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  122,601
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  114,243
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  104,204
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  102,799
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  101,905

Largest nearby schools

• Montgomery Blair High
  High · Silver Spring · 3,204 students · 16.7:1 ratio
• Walter Johnson High
  High · Bethesda · 2,942 students · 18.6:1 ratio
• Wheaton High
  High · Silver Spring · 2,599 students · 16.6:1 ratio
• Richard Montgomery High
  High · Rockville · 2,390 students · 17.8:1 ratio
• Bethesda-Chevy Chase High
  High · Bethesda · 2,335 students · 18:1 ratio
• Winston Churchill High
  High · Potomac · 2,234 students · 18.6:1 ratio
• Paint Branch High
  High · Burtonsville · 2,135 students · 16.4:1 ratio
• Walt Whitman High
  High · Bethesda · 2,018 students · 17.4:1 ratio