Memories, Makeovers In Prince George's

Residents know how to get in and out of Colmar Manor, but its quiet, residential streets can prove confusing to outsiders. (By Tony Glaros For The Washington Post)

Cristine Squires loved being a kid in Colmar Manor. So it's no surprise that when she grew up and left the tiny Prince George's County community, it was not forever.

"All this was a dirt road," she recalled from her front yard in her tidy neighborhood, thick with houses of varying sizes and styles. "We rode our bikes and roller skated. At one time, the street was a lot darker. They added streetlights last summer."

Her neighbors, she added, "are wonderful people. Many have been here since we were little kids."

Squires, 44, lived with her parents and three siblings on 42nd Avenue, across the street from a tiny church. Later in her childhood, the family moved to a two-bedroom place a few blocks away on Monroe Street. The caretakers at adjacent Fort Lincoln Cemetery originally used that home in the 1940s, she noted.

"Monroe was my favorite house," she declared, before rethinking her reply. "No, 42nd was great, too. We had equally good times at both houses," she finally decided.

When they married, Squires and her husband, Roland, moved north to Greenbelt. However, three years later, they found themselves back in Colmar Manor, in the house on Monroe Street where she had lived with her parents.

The powerful urge to return to her roots, Squires said, came in part because of the community's close bonds. "We have a lot of good things for the youth," said Squires, whose daughter is in her senior year at the newly rebuilt Bladensburg High School.

The town of Colmar Manor sits just outside Washington-- the "Col" in its name is for Columbia, as in the District of, and the "mar" is for Maryland. It is tucked south of Bladensburg Road, between the Fort Lincoln Cemetery and a community park that runs along the bank of the Anacostia River. At the time of the 2000 Census, there were about 1,200 residents in its 440 homes, about half of them African American, the rest a mix of Hispanics, Asians and whites.

As older residents die or move, the renovation of existing properties is gaining popularity, reported Al Parada, an agent with Re/Max Sails in Brentwood. Many of the buyers are investors who are "taking eyesores" and repackaging them. "I'm guessing that a lot of younger people are renovating," Parada said.

Law enforcement, said public works boss Mike Goroum, is provided by six off-duty Prince George's County police officers working under contract. "They come in for us, there's more visibility. They are here," he said. "They don't drive around other towns but ours."

While police and residents know how to get in and out of the community, it can prove confusing to outsiders. Former mayor Michael Garrett, who served from 1989 to 2000, laughed as he recalled an incident.

"A stolen car came out of D.C. a few years ago and the driver made a mistake of turning into Colmar Manor. The police just laughed," he said, because there are so few ways in and out of the neighborhood that the thieves got lost. "Colmar Manor is so close to D.C., yet it's a cul-de-sac type town."