Coffee and Local History

Virginia Clarity and I met in a pleasantly empty Starbuck's last Tuesday. The conversation was so enjoyable, 90 minutes passed unnoticed.

According to Ms. Clarity, the Customliner met its end approximately seven or eight years ago. Small by today's standards, it was being used as a rental property at the time of the final sale. The new owners had it torn down and built a new house in its place. And so, apparently, the Customliner lived out its life in Herndon without much ceremony.

In the forty-five years it was here, the Customliner and its neighborhood saw tremendous changes to their hometown. Now a D.C. suburb of approximately 22,000 people, Herndon in 1955 was a farming town of about 2000. Ms. Clarity recalled shopping in downtown Herndon and knowing everyone in the stores. Hardly a likely event now.

Federal government workers were already settling in Herndon in the mid-fifties. There was no Beltway at the time, and Metrorail was decades away, but workers could still get to the city by taking the W&OD railroad and streetcars into Washington. The W&OD still hosts commuters today - on bicycles.

Ms. Clarity purchased her Herndon Woods home a few months after the Customliner's arrival, and still lives there today. She says Herndon Woods was the town's first subdivision, advertised as reasonably priced housing friendly to couples with young children. Her reasons for buying her home: a desire to return to Herndon, reasonable cost, and to be close to her parents.

Ms. Clarity also recalled the financial inequalities that existed between the sexes at the time. If both spouses worked, only the husband's income would be considered in financing a home. After all, the woman would be giving up her job to keep house and take care of children! It also would have been difficult for a married woman to obtain a credit card in her own name. Why would she need one when her husband had an account? Single "working girls" might have an easier time getting credit, but in Ms. Clarity's experience, they would "go beserk" and spend beyond their means.

It seems hard to believe now, but credit cards would not have been readily available in 1955. In fact, Ms. Clarity says her parents did not get their first credit cards -- for gas -- in 1968, and she did not get any of her own until that same time. And credit limits were much lower and payment terms stricter. (Are we heading back in that direction today?)

The way Herndon Woods was built also reflects a different time. Instead of clearing the lot, existing trees were preserved. And the houses were built at different angles so that the yards formed an unfenced common area which was used for neighborhood get-togethers on weekends. A novel idea when so many neighborhood yards are now boxed in by fences.

My next step is to visit Ms. Clarity's home, and perhaps get some photos!