A Visit to Rachel Carson’s Home
by Kathy Jentz
On May 27, 2017, the occasion of what would have been Rachel Carson’s 110th birthday, a group of members of the Maryland Native Plant Society and their guests toured the Rachel Carson House and Rachel Carson Greenway in the White Oak section of Silver Spring, MD.
This was the home where Carson wrote Silent Spring and spent her final years. After decades of renting homes in the Takoma Park-Silver Spring area during her tenure with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, she bought this modest writer’s property in a spot near the Northwest Branch Stream Valley Park. Built to her specifications, the small residence was laid out to let in maximum light, although now the trees have grown and shaded it in. Placed in rooms throughout the home now are displays of Carson’s accomplishments and photos of her.
The home is not occupied currently and is only opened up to the public on special occasions. Dr. Diana Post and Clifford Hall of the Rachel Carson Landmark Alliance (http://rachelcarsonlandmarkalliance.org/) own the property now and take the Carson legacy seriously. They led the group around the home, pointing out what had changed over the years and what was original…