February 3, 1978
The first section of the Washington Metro rapid transit system to be completed in Maryland was formally dedicated in Montgomery County just a few days before regular service began on that 5.5-mile (8.9-kilometer)-long extension. Approximately 35,000 people showed up on that cold winter day at the Silver Spring station, the northeastern end of the newest extension of the Washington Metro’s Red Line, to help commemorate this public transportation milestone. “Happy Crowds Celebrate Metro’s Arrival in Maryland,” proclaimed a headline in the next day’s edition of the Washington Post.
The Red Line extension encompassing the Washington Metro’s initial Maryland-based segment also included the Brookland, Fort Totten, and Takoma stations in the northeastern area of Washington, D.C. The first part of the Washington Metro in Prince George’s County, Maryland, made its debut about eight months later with the extension of the Orange Line to New Carrollton.
The dedication ceremonies at the Silver Spring station on that Friday in 1978 were marked with considerable fanfare. “Bands played, [Washington Metro] pennants waved, and kids took off from school for the occasion,” reported the Washington Post. There were also free rides on Washington Metro trains running between the Silver Spring and Brookland stations throughout a good part of the day.
The public officials on hand for those festivities included Blair Lee III, who was Maryland’s lieutenant governor at the time. His childhood home was only a half-mile (0.8 kilometer) from the Silver Spring station.
Paul Sarbanes, who was a congressman from Maryland between 1971 and 1977 and then served as one of the state’s U.S. senators until 2007, likewise attended the ceremonies for the Red Line’s newest addition. He took time during his remarks to underscore the larger regional ties that the Washington Metro reflected. Sarbanes said, “I’m very pleased to be standing on a Prince George’s County-owned platform, waving a Montgomery County flag, sitting beside the mayor of Washington and with representatives from Virginia.”
Those enjoying the free train trips that day included children from St. Joseph’s Day Care Center in Silver Spring. “This is the first time many of them have ever ridden a train,” noted one of the teachers accompanying those young passengers.
The free train rides also struck a chord with Murray Wolf, a Silver Spring resident who was driving home from work when he heard on the radio that those rides would be available until only six o’clock that evening. Wolf hurried home to pick up his three children, his wife Elaine, and her parents and drive them to the Silver Spring station for a free trip on board Metro.
After completing that ride, Elaine Wolf explained in a Washington Post interview that she had been preparing dinner when her husband arrived home to tell everyone that he wanted to take them to the station. “I turned off my brisket, I turned off my potatoes, I turned off my carrots, to come here,” she said. “But I’m glad I did. I’ve been looking forward to this for a number of years.”
The Silver Spring station remained the northeastern terminus for the Red Line until the opening of the Wheaton station in 1990. Since 1998, this line’s northeastern terminus has instead been the Glenmont station. The Red Line in its entirety covers a total of 31.9 miles (51.3 kilometers) and consists of 27 stations altogether. (The accompanying photo of the Silver Spring station was taken in 2010.)
Photo Credit: Jshgoodwin at English Wikipedia (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en)
For more information on Washington Metro milestones, please check out https://www.wmata.com/about/history/upload/history.pdf
Transportation History 
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