Reclaiming Flat Tops' Reputation

Before the "Flat Tops" were seen as a symbol of blight, and before they were considered a threat to St. Mary's County's biggest economic engine, the 350 homes made up a neighborhood in which nobody locked their doors, former resident Helen Anthony said.

"There was nobody who didn't say that living there was great," Anthony, 94, said. "In those days, everybody just took care of everybody else."

When Anthony moved to the neighborhood, formally known as Lexington Manor, in 1947, it was a bustling area with a drugstore, dress shop, shoe repair store and an A & P grocery store, all within a short walk. Young families filled the duplex units, which were built for civilians working at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station. Anthony and her husband paid $35 a month to rent their two-bedroom home.

Sixty years later, almost no visible sign remains of the Flat Tops, which got that name because of their flat roofs. All but two of the homes were razed in 2005 following decades of deterioration that left the buildings in poor condition and fueled a high crime rate in the area. Local leaders hoped that by eliminating the homes directly in the naval air station's flight path, they could preserve and enhance operations at the complex, the county's largest employer.

Anthony and other former Lexington Manor residents said that they understand why the homes were torn down, but that they are dismayed that more recent county residents remember the Flat Tops as a blighted neighborhood.

"To let the houses sit like that gave the wrong impression of how it was," Anthony said. "It just dilapidated something terrible, but it definitely was not that way when we were there. Everything was clean and livable."

This month, the St. Mary's County government launched a project that officials hope will preserve the memory of the Lexington Manor that Anthony knew. In cooperation with the Maryland Historical Trust, the county Department of Economic Development will compile an oral history of the Flat Tops in audio and video formats, with the possibility of also publishing a book.

"This is the earliest example of modern community planning in St. Mary's County, so it was very dense while everything around it was rural," said Cynthia DellaGatta, the county's economic development coordinator. "It was a very significant development."

Adding to the historical value of Lexington Manor: The original homes were designed by Kahn & Jacobs, a prominent New York architecture firm in the mid-20th century. The architects are responsible for several of New York City's major office buildings, including the Jacob K. Javits Federal Office Building.

The county is preserving two units from Lexington Manor as an homage to Kahn & Jacobs and to local architect Louis Justement, who designed the units in the southern section of the development. DellaGatta said the preserved homes and the oral history project will show current residents what their fast-growing St. Mary's County was like in the years following World War II.

"I was kind of shocked to see my house still there," said Richard Sandidge Sr., 68, whose childhood home was one of the two preserved by the Economic Development Department. "I went through there one Sunday afternoon and took pictures of the whole inside of the house, and it sure did bring back some deep memories."

Sandidge and Anthony attended a recent gathering in Lexington Park designed as an opportunity for county leaders to collect stories from former residents of the Flat Tops. Several people brought childhood photos and made audio recordings of their memories of the neighborhood.

"We used to go out and build forts in the woods" behind Lexington Manor, Sandidge said. "We would go out in the woods and play cowboys and Indians and shoot BB guns. On one side of the road there was a great big hill, and we used to go sledding down the hill."

DellaGatta said she was pleased by the turnout at the "historical collection session." Over the next several weeks, she and experts in community history will compile photographs, documents and transcripts of people's memories for a collection to be housed at the Lexington Park Library, the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum and the Maryland Historical Trust library in Crownsville.