Geology

This section of the trail is on the border of two physiographic provinces, the Coastal Plain and the Piedmont Region, display traces of two different times on Earth.

The Coastal Plain stretches south and east from where you are standing to the Atlantic Ocean. This area of the Coastal Plain is composed of gravel, sand and silt from the Lower Cretaceous Period (150 million years ago), the last period of dinosaurs and the first period of flowering plants.

The Piedmont Region extends north and west through Silver Spring to Catoctin mountain. This region is much older, dating back to the Early Cambrian Period (Approximately 500 million years ago), There was life for 3 billion years before this time but this period generated the earliest abundance of diverse fossils that represent the lineages of almost all modern animals, sparking scientists to define this time as the Cambrian Explosion.

During the Cambrian Period this area was separated from North America by an ancient ocean and was closer to or even part of Africa. Gradually, over 200 million years, the land collided with North America and created the Appalachian Mountains.

The land continues to change today. Although most changes are too slow to observe in a lifetime, others such as erosion around Sligo Creek and Rock Creek, can be seen after a strong rainstorm.

History

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) completed the Metropolitan Branch in 1873, creating a westward railway connection from Washington, DC to the main line of the B&O. Ten years later Takoma Park began developing as on of DC's first commuter suburbs. The Community straddled the DC/Maryland border, expanding in both directions from the train station. Businesses appeared on 4th Street near the rail crossing and soon after at Carroll and laurel Avenue following the introduction of of trolley lines running into DC and down to Sligo Creek. By 1913, Takoma Park was the largest city in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Marker is on Takoma Avenue.

Courtesy hmdb.org

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