Editing Silver Spring, Maryland (section)

==History==
Prior to European settlement, present-day Silver Spring was inhabited by various [[Indigenous peoples of Maryland|Indigenous peoples]] for approximately 10,000 years, including the [[Piscataway people|Piscataway]], an [[Piscataway language|Algonquian-speaking]] people. The Piscataway may have established a few small villages along the banks of [[Sligo Creek]] and [[Rock Creek (Potomac River tributary)|Rock Creek]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://montgomeryplanning.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/NorthWestSilverSpringMasterPlan2000ocr300.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221010/http://montgomeryplanning.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/NorthWestSilverSpringMasterPlan2000ocr300.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-10 |url-status=live |title=APPROVED AND ADOPTED NORTH and WEST SILVER SPRING MASTER PLAN |publisher=The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission |access-date=2019-08-24}}</ref>

===19th century===
The Blair, Lee, Jalloh, and Barrie families, three politically active families of the time, are tied to Silver Spring's history. In 1840, [[Francis Preston Blair]], who later helped organize the modern [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], along with his daughter, Elizabeth, discovered a spring flowing with chips of [[mica]] believed to be the now-dry spring visible at [[Acorn Park]].<ref name="montgomeryParks" /><ref name="wamu_2014-04-04" /><ref name="cannonroades" /> Blair was looking for a site for his summer home to escape the summer heat of [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref name= centuries>Sween, Jane C.; Offutt, William. ''Montgomery County: Centuries of Change''. American Historical Press, 1999. {{ISBN|1-892724-05-7}}.</ref> Two years later, Blair completed a 20-room mansion he dubbed "Silver Spring" on a {{convert|250|acre|sqkm|0|adj=on}} country homestead. In 1854, Blair moved to the mansion permanently.<ref name= centuries/> The house stood until 1954.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.silverspringvoice.com/archives/copy/2003/08/features_thenAgain.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040803123706/http://www.silverspringvoice.com/archives/copy/2003/08/features_thenAgain.html |archive-date=August 3, 2004 |title=Silver Spring Then & Again |access-date=March 3, 2009 |last=McCoy |first=Jerry A. |date=August 2003 |work=Takoma Voice}}</ref>

By 1854, Blair's son, [[Montgomery Blair]], who became [[United States Postmaster General|Postmaster General]] under [[Abraham Lincoln]] and represented [[Dred Scott]] before the [[United States Supreme Court|U.S. Supreme Court]], built the Falkland house in the area.

By the end of the decade, Elizabeth Blair married [[Samuel Phillips Lee]], third cousin of future [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] leader [[Robert E. Lee]], and gave birth to a boy, [[Blair Lee I|Francis Preston Blair Lee]], who went on to become the first popularly elected [[United States Senate|Senator]] in U.S. history.

During the [[American Civil War]], [[Abraham Lincoln]] visited the Silver Spring mansion several times, where he relaxed by playing [[town ball]] with Francis P. Blair's grandchildren.<ref>{{cite web |last=McCoy |first=Jerry A. |date=February 6, 2009 |title=Abe Lincoln in Silver Spring |work=Silver Spring Voice |url=http://www.takoma.com/ssthenagain/2009/02/abe-lincoln-in-silver-spring.html |access-date=March 3, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211164705/http://www.takoma.com/ssthenagain/2009/02/abe-lincoln-in-silver-spring.html |archive-date=February 11, 2009}}</ref>

In 1864, [[Confederate States Army]] General [[Jubal Anderson Early|Jubal Early]] occupied Silver Spring before the [[Battle of Fort Stevens]]. After the engagement, fleeing Confederate soldiers razed Montgomery Blair's Falkland residence.<ref>{{cite news |title=Interesting Particulars of the Rebel Invasion |work=Evening Star |date=July 15, 1864 |page=2 |url=http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/HistArchive/?p_product=EANX-NB&p_theme=ahnp&p_nbid=C60H50SGMTQxMTY2ODA4Ni43NTc1ODE6MTo3OnJhLTk2NjY&p_action=doc&s_lastnonissuequeryname=6&d_viewref=search&p_queryname=6&p_docnum=2&p_docref=v2:13D5DA85AE05A305@EANX-NB-13DAD1F38DE812E8@2402068-13D889C51F2B37B0@1-13DB45353A703C50@ |access-date=September 25, 2014 |archive-date=February 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240207050722/https://infoweb.newsbank.com/home/login?destination=infoweb.newsbank.com%3Fdb%3DEANX-NB%26wedirect%3Dtrue |url-status=live}}</ref>

At the time, there was a community called Sligo located at the intersection of the Washington-Brookeville Turnpike and the Washington-Colesville-Ashton Turnpike, now named Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road.<ref name= centuries/> Sligo included a tollhouse, a store, a post office, and a few homes.<ref name= centuries/> The communities of [[Woodside (Silver Spring, Maryland)|Woodside]], [[Forest Glen, Maryland|Forest Glen]], and Linden were founded after the Civil War.<ref name= centuries/> These small towns largely lost their separate identities when a post office was established in Silver Spring in 1899.<ref name= centuries/>

By the end of the 19th century, the region began to develop into a town of size and importance. The [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]]'s [[Metropolitan Branch]] opened on April 30, 1873, and ran through Silver Spring from Washington, D.C., to [[Point of Rocks, Maryland]].<ref>{{cite news |title=The Metropolitan Railroad |work=The Evening Star |date=April 30, 1873 |page=4 |url=http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/HistArchive/?p_product=EANX-NB&p_theme=ahnp&p_nbid=C60H50SGMTQxMTY2ODA4Ni43NTc1ODE6MTo3OnJhLTk2NjY&p_action=doc&s_lastnonissuequeryname=8&d_viewref=search&p_queryname=8&p_docnum=2&p_docref=v2:13D5DA85AE05A305@EANX-NB-13E15D48DBD605B8@2405279-13E0BBB8D13E65F0@3-13E1E2DA44A9F840@ |access-date=September 25, 2014 |archive-date=February 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240207050723/https://infoweb.newsbank.com/home/login?destination=infoweb.newsbank.com%3Fdb%3DEANX-NB%26wedirect%3Dtrue |url-status=live}}</ref>

The first suburban development appeared in 1887 when Selina Wilson divided part of her farm on present-day Colesville Road ([[U.S. Route 29 in Maryland|U.S. Route 29]]) and Brookeville Road into five- and ten-acre ({{gaps|20|000}} - and {{gaps|40|000}}  m<sup>2</sup>) plots. In 1892, [[Blair Lee I|Francis Preston Blair Lee]] and his wife, Anne Brooke Lee, gave birth to [[E. Brooke Lee]], who is known as the father of modern Silver Spring for his visionary attitude toward developing the region.<ref name=WW1>{{cite web |last=Dunaway |first=Karen |title=Edward Brooke Lee |url=http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/001500/001576/html/1576bio.html |work=Archives of Maryland (Biographical Series) |publisher=Maryland State Government |access-date=April 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113062808/http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/001500/001576/html/1576bio.html |archive-date=November 13, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===20th century===
[[File:Silver Spring Armory.jpg|thumb|The Silver Spring Armory, constructed in 1917 by [[E. Brooke Lee]]]]
[[File:Silver Theater, Silver Spring, Maryland (1979).jpg|thumb|upright|Silver Spring in 1979]]
In the early 20th century, E. Brooke Lee and his brother, [[Blair Lee I]], founded the Lee Development Company, whose Colesville Road office building remains a downtown fixture. Dale Drive, a winding roadway, was built to provide vehicular access to much of the family's substantial real estate holdings. Suburban development continued in 1922 when Woodside Development Corporation created Woodside Park, a neighborhood of {{convert|1|acre|sqm|adj=on}} plot home sites built on the former Noyes estate in 1923.<ref>{{cite news |title=Work Being Pushed at Woodside Park |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=April 15, 1923 |page=46 |id={{ProQuest|149333195}}}}</ref> In 1924, Washington trolley service on [[Georgia Avenue]] (present-day [[Maryland Route 97]]) across B&O's Metropolitan Branch was suspended so that an underpass could be built. The underpass was completed two years later, but trolley service never resumed. It would be rebuilt again in 1948 with additional lanes for automobile traffic, opening the areas to the north for readily accessible suburban development.

Takoma-Silver Spring High School, built in 1924, was the first high school for Silver Spring. The community's rapid growth led to the need for a larger school. In 1935, when a new high school building was erected at Wayne Avenue and Sligo Creek Parkway, the school was renamed [[Montgomery Blair High School]]. In 1998, the school was moved again, to a new, larger facility at the corner of Colesville Road ([[U.S. Route 29 in Maryland|U.S. Route 29]]) and University Boulevard ([[Maryland Route 193]]). The former Blair building became a combined middle school and elementary school, housing Silver Spring International Middle School and Sligo Creek Elementary School.

The Silver Spring Shopping Center, built by developer Albert Small<ref name="JewWashRealBoom">{{cite web |url=http://www.jhsgw.org/exhibitions/online/jewishwashington/exhibition/real-estate-boom |title=Jewish Washington: Scrapbook of an American Community &#124; Real Estate Boom |website=[[Lillian & Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum|Jhsgw.org]] |access-date=May 22, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604111610/http://www.jhsgw.org/exhibitions/online/jewishwashington/exhibition/real-estate-boom |archive-date=June 4, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> and [[AFI Silver|Silver Theatre]], designed by theater architect [[John Eberson]], were completed in 1938<ref>{{cite news |title=Silver Spring Shopping Center Opens Today: Comprises 19 Stores, Gas Station, Movie |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=October 27, 1938 |page=SS1 |id={{ProQuest|151050489}}}}</ref> at the request of developer [[William Alexander Julian]]. The Silver Spring Shopping Center was one of the nation's first retail spaces with a street-front parking lot, defying conventional wisdom that merchandise should be in windows closest to the street so that people could see it. The shopping center was purchased in 1944 by real estate developer [[Sam Eig]], who helped attract large retailers to the city.<ref name="Montgomery">{{cite web |url=http://www.montgomeryhistory.org/node/245 |title=Immigration and Success &#124; Montgomery County Historical Society Maryland |access-date=October 18, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141022062728/http://www.montgomeryhistory.org/node/245 |archive-date=October 22, 2014}}</ref>

Before the 1950s, Silver Spring was known as a [[sundown town]], in part because of influential land owners. The North Washington Real Estate Company designed 63 acres to be [[Housing segregation in the United States|white-only]], [[Racial covenant|written in its deeds]] to prevent the sale of land to anyone else. The [[Fair Housing Act of 1968|Fair Housing Act]] outlawed this practice in 1968, almost two decades after [[Shelley v. Kraemer|''Shelley v. Kramer'']] made racial covenants unenforceable.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Downtown Silver Spring |url=https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/43fe10da626349a69ce077ffa9911bd2 |access-date=2020-08-23 |website=ArcGIS StoryMaps |date=December 13, 2019 |language=en |archive-date=November 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124152914/https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/43fe10da626349a69ce077ffa9911bd2 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rotenstein |first=David |date=2018-09-24 |title=Racial restrictive covenants renounced at celebration |url=https://blog.historian4hire.net/2018/09/24/racial-restrictive-covenants-renounced/ |access-date=2020-08-23 |website=History Sidebar |language=en-US |archive-date=August 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200817134105/https://blog.historian4hire.net/2018/09/24/racial-restrictive-covenants-renounced/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=Editorial Board |date=2017-06-23 |title=Protesting Invisibility in Silver Spring, Maryland |url=https://activisthistory.com/2017/06/23/protesting-invisibility-in-silver-spring-maryland/ |access-date=2020-08-23 |website=The Activist History Review |language=en |archive-date=September 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924012757/https://activisthistory.com/2017/06/23/protesting-invisibility-in-silver-spring-maryland/ |url-status=live}}</ref> A 1939 deed for a property owned by Rozier J. Beech in the Sixteenth Street Village subdivision of Silver Spring said, "No negro, or any person or persons of whose blood or extraction or to any person of the semitic race whose blood or origin of racial description will be deemed to include Armenians, Jews, Hebrews, Persians, Syrians, Greeks and Turks, shall use or occupy any building or any lot, except that this covenant shall not prevent occupancy by domestic servants of a different race domiciled with an owner or tenant."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mcplanning.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=0d26456118d34a14b2d27aec8d6f2b1a |title=Sixteenth Street Village |publisher=[[Montgomery Planning]] |accessdate=2024-06-12 |archive-date=February 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208204158/https://mcplanning.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=0d26456118d34a14b2d27aec8d6f2b1a |url-status=live }}</ref> In practice, covenants excluding "Semitic races" were primarily used to discriminate against Jews, as Montgomery County did not have significant Armenian, Greek, Iranian, or Turkish populations at the time.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://montgomeryplanning.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Mapping-Segregation-Staff-Report-Attachment-A.pdf |title=Attachment A |publisher=[[Montgomery Planning]] |accessdate=2024-06-14 |archive-date=March 16, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240316164520/https://montgomeryplanning.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Mapping-Segregation-Staff-Report-Attachment-A.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

In all, housing in more than 10 square miles of greater Silver Spring was blocked off to Blacks, Jews, Armenians, Persians, Turks, and Greeks, who were considered non-white at the time.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Woldu |first1=Marta Woldu |last2=Ramirez |first2=Christopher |date=2019-12-13 |title=Downtown Silver Spring: Inclusivity Examined Since 1940 |url=https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/43fe10da626349a69ce077ffa9911bd2 |access-date=2024-06-17 |website=ArcGIS StoryMaps |language=en |archive-date=November 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124152914/https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/43fe10da626349a69ce077ffa9911bd2 |url-status=live }}</ref>

By the 1950s, Silver Spring was the second-busiest retail market between [[Baltimore]] and [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]]; major retailers included the [[Hecht Company]], [[J.C. Penney]], and [[Sears, Roebuck and Company]]. In 1954, the 1842 Blair mansion "Silver Spring" was razed and replaced with the Blair Station post office. 1960 saw the opening of Wheaton Plaza, later called [[Westfield Wheaton]], a shopping center several miles north of downtown Silver Spring. It captured much of the town's business, and the downtown area began a long period of decline.

On December 19, 1961, a {{convert|2|mi|km|spell=in|adj=on}} segment of the [[Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway)|Capital Beltway (I-495)]] was opened to traffic between [[Maryland Route 97|Georgia Avenue (MD 97)]] and [[Maryland Route 193|University Boulevard East (MD 193)]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Tawes Vows Study of Beltway Impact at Road's Opening: Study to Dispel Myth |first=Wendell P. |last=Bradley |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 20, 1961 |page=C1 |id={{ProQuest|141415305}}}}</ref><ref>
{{cite web |title=Historic Overview: Capital Beltway |publisher=Eastern Roads (Steve Anderson) |date=March 16, 2008 |url=http://www.dcroads.net/roads/capital-beltway/ |access-date=October 5, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081004175729/http://www.dcroads.net/roads/capital-beltway/ |archive-date=October 4, 2008 |url-status=live}}
</ref> On August 17, 1964, the final segment of the {{convert|64|mi|km|adj=on}} Beltway was opened to traffic,<ref>
{{cite web |title=Capital Beltway History |publisher=Scott M. Kozel |date=November 20, 2007 |url=http://www.capital-beltway.com/Capital-Beltway-History.html |access-date=October 5, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208035616/http://www.capital-beltway.com/Capital-Beltway-History.html |archive-date=December 8, 2008 |url-status=live}}
</ref> and a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held near the New Hampshire Avenue interchange, with a speech by [[J. Millard Tawes|Gov. J. Millard Tawes]],<ref>
{{cite web |title=Executive Records, Governor J. Millard Tawes, 1959–1967 |publisher=Maryland State Archives |date=August 17, 1964 |url=http://aomol.net/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000082/html/am82b--582.html |access-date=October 5, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723015942/http://aomol.net/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000082/html/am82b--582.html |archive-date=July 23, 2011 |url-status=live}}
</ref> who called it a "road of opportunity" for Maryland and the nation.<ref>{{cite news |title=Throng Attends Capital Beltway's Grand Opening |first=Mike |last=Causey |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=August 18, 1964 |page=A1 |id={{ProQuest|142191843}}}}</ref>

[[Washington Metro]] rail service into Washington, D.C., helped breathe new life into the region starting with the 1978 opening of [[Silver Spring station]]. The Metro [[Red Line (Washington Metro)|Red Line]] followed the right-of-way of the [[B&O Metropolitan Branch]], with the Metro tracks centered between the B&O's eastbound and westbound mains. The Red Line heads south to downtown DC from Silver Spring, running at grade before descending into [[Union Station (WMATA station)|Union Station]]. By the mid-1990s, the Red Line continued north from the downtown Silver Spring core, entering a tunnel just past the Silver Spring station and running underground to three more stations: [[Forest Glen station|Forest Glen]], [[Wheaton (Washington Metro)|Wheaton]], and [[Glenmont (Washington Metro)|Glenmont]].

Nevertheless, Silver Spring's downtown continued to decline in the 1980s. The [[Hecht Company]] closed its downtown location in 1987 and moved to Wheaton Plaza while forbidding another department store to rent its old spot. [[City Place Mall|City Place]], a multi-level mall, was established in the old Hecht Company building in 1992, but it had difficulty attracting quality anchor stores and gained a reputation as a budget mall. In the mid-1990s, developers considered building a mega-mall and entertainment complex called the American Dream, similar to the [[Mall of America]], in downtown Silver Spring, but were unable to secure funding. A bright spot for the city in the late 1980s and early 1990s was the [[National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration]] (NOAA) consolidating its headquarters to four new high-rise office buildings near the Silver Spring Metro station.

A February 16, 1996, [[1996 Maryland train collision|train collision]] on the Silver Spring section of the Metropolitan line left 11 people dead. A [[MARC Train|MARC]] commuter train bound for [[Washington Union Station]] during the Friday evening [[rush hour]] collided with the [[Amtrak]] ''[[Capitol Limited (Amtrak train)|Capitol Limited]]'' train and erupted in flames on a snow-swept stretch of track.

The [[Maryland State Highway Administration]] started studies of improvements to the [[Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway)|Capital Beltway]] in 1993,<ref>
{{cite web |title=State officials study HOV lanes for Capital Beltway |work=The Gazette |date=September 24, 1997 |url=http://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/1997/199739/montgomerycty/county/a61704-1.html |access-date=October 9, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522185528/http://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/1997/199739/montgomerycty/county/a61704-1.html |archive-date=May 22, 2011 |url-status=live}}
</ref> and have continued, off and on, examining a number of alternatives since then, including [[High-occupancy vehicle lane|HOV lanes]] and [[lanes|high-occupancy toll lanes]].

===21st century===
[[File:Veterans Plaza SS MD.JPG|thumb|Silver Spring Civic Building and Veterans Plaza in June 2012]]
At the beginning of the 21st century, downtown Silver Spring began to see the results of redevelopment. Several city blocks near City Place Mall were rebuilt to accommodate a new outdoor shopping plaza called Downtown Silver Spring. As downtown Silver Spring revived, its 160-year history was celebrated in a 2002 PBS documentary entitled ''Silver Spring: Story of an American Suburb''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1095032/ |title=Silver Spring: Story of an American Suburb (2002) |date=December 6, 2002 |publisher=IMDb |access-date=May 22, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405024653/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1095032/ |archive-date=April 5, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2003, [[Discovery Communications]] moved its headquarters from nearby [[Bethesda, Maryland|Bethesda]] to a new building in downtown Silver Spring. In 2017, [[Discovery, Inc.]] CEO [[David Zaslav]] announced that the company was relocating to [[New York City]] to operate close to their "ad partners on [[Madison Avenue]]", "investors and analysts on [[Wall Street]]", and their "creative and production community".<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/01/09/discovery-communications-is-selling-md-headquarters-and-moving-to-new-york/ |url-access=subscription |title=Discovery Communications is selling Md. headquarters and moving to New York |author=Abha Bhattarai |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=17 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181018043244/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/01/09/discovery-communications-is-selling-md-headquarters-and-moving-to-new-york/ |archive-date=October 18, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>) 2003 also brought the reopening of the Silver Theatre, as [[AFI Silver]], under the auspices of the [[American Film Institute]].

Beginning in 2004, the downtown redevelopment was marketed locally with the "silver sprung" advertising campaign, which declared on buses and in print ads that Silver Spring had "sprung" and was ready for business.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.takoma.com/archives/copy/2004/06/silversprung.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040823100637/http://www.takoma.com/archives/copy/2004/06/silversprung.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 23, 2004 |title=Takoma Voice: News |publisher=Takoma.com |access-date=July 17, 2009}}</ref> In June 2007, ''[[The New York Times]]'' noted that downtown was "enjoying a renaissance, a result of public involvement and private investment that is turning it into an arts and entertainment center".<ref>Eugene L. Meyer, [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/13/realestate/commercial/13silver.html "A Dose of Art and Entertainment Revives a Suburb"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920142404/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/13/realestate/commercial/13silver.html |date=September 20, 2017 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', June 13, 2007</ref>

In 2005, downtown Silver Spring was awarded the silver medal of the [[Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence]]<ref name="Bruner Foundation">{{cite book |last1=Shibley |first1=Robert |last2=Axelrod |first2=Emily |last3=Farbstein |first3=Jay |last4=Wener |first4=Richard |title=Downtown Silver Spring and Discovery Communications world headquarters. Silver medal winner |date=2005 |url=http://www.rudybruneraward.org/wp-content/uploads/2005/01/04-Downtown-Silver-Spring-1.pdf |work=Reinventing downtown : 2005 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence |pages=47–78 |publisher=Bruner Foundation |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |language=en-US |isbn=1-890286-07-9 |oclc=71837571 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200403100407/http://www.rudybruneraward.org/wp-content/uploads/2005/01/04-Downtown-Silver-Spring-1.pdf |archive-date=April 3, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rudybruneraward.org/winners/downtown-silver-spring/ |title=Rudy Bruner Award: Downtown Silver Spring |website=www.rudybruneraward.org |publisher=Bruner Foundation |language=en-US |access-date=April 3, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200403101049/http://www.rudybruneraward.org/winners/downtown-silver-spring/ |archive-date=April 3, 2020}}</ref>

In 2007, the downtown Silver Spring area gained attention when an amateur photographer was prohibited from taking photographs in what appeared to be a public street. The land, leased to the Peterson Companies, a developer, for $1, was technically private property. The citizens argued that the Downtown Silver Spring development, partially built with public money, was still public property. After a protest on July 4, 2007, Peterson relented and allowed photography on their property under limited conditions. Peterson also claimed that it could revoke these rights at any time. The company further stated that other activities permitted in public spaces, such as organizing protests or distributing campaign literature, were still prohibited.<ref>Marc Fisher, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/20/AR2007062002354.html "Public or Private Space? Line Blurs in Silver Spring"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007020856/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/20/AR2007062002354.html |date=October 7, 2017 }}, ''[[The Washington Post]]'', June 21, 2007</ref> In response, Montgomery County Attorney Leon Rodriguez said that the street in question, Ellsworth Drive, "constitutes a public forum" and that the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]]'s protection of [[free speech]] applies there. In an eight-page letter, Rodriguez wrote, "Although the courts have not definitively resolved the issue of whether the taking, as opposed to the display, of photographs is a protected expressive act, we think it is likely that a court would consider the taking of the photograph to be part of the continuum of action that leads to the display of the photograph and thus also protected by the First Amendment."<ref>[[Ruben Castaneda]], [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/30/AR2007073001639.html "County Opinion Rejects Photo Limits"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161202205853/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/30/AR2007073001639.html |date=December 2, 2016 }}, ''The Washington Post'', July 31, 2007</ref> The incident was part of a trend in the United States regarding the blurring of public and private spaces in developments built with both public and private funds.

In 2008, construction began on the long-planned [[Intercounty Connector]] (ICC), which crosses the upper reaches of Silver Spring. The highway's first section opened on February 21, 2011; the entire route was completed by 2012. In July 2010, the Silver Spring Civic Building and Veterans Plaza opened in downtown Silver Spring.

Between 2015 and 2016, the long-struggling City Place Mall was renovated and reopened as Ellsworth Place The old [[Silver Spring Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Station|B&O Passenger Station]] was restored between 2000 and 2002, as recorded in the documentary film ''Next Stop: Silver Spring''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://silverspringtrain.blogspot.com/ |title=Next Stop: Silver Spring |publisher=Silverspringtrain.blogspot.com |date=September 3, 1964 |access-date=July 17, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827073035/http://silverspringtrain.blogspot.com/ |archive-date=August 27, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6rKVuyz4Nw |title=Next Stop: Silver Spring – Trailer |website=[[YouTube]] |date=November 15, 2007 |access-date=July 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619114510/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6rKVuyz4Nw |archive-date=June 19, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In May 2019, Peterson announced a $10 million renovation of the Downtown Silver Spring development that will include public art and a new outdoor plaza, featuring green space.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Diegel |first1=Mike |title=Downtown Silver Spring to Get $10 Million Renovation, New Tenants |url=https://www.sourceofthespring.com/silver-spring/downtown-silver-spring-10-million-renovation-new-tenants/ |website=Source of the Spring |date=May 21, 2019 |access-date=19 October 2020 |archive-date=October 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020193606/https://www.sourceofthespring.com/silver-spring/downtown-silver-spring-10-million-renovation-new-tenants/ |url-status=live}}</ref>