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The AMERICAN CITY BUILDING
is named for its original tenant, the American City Corporation - a wholly-owned
subsidiary of the Rouse Company, dedicated to improving the quality of life
in existing cities.
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BANNEKER
ROAD was named after Benjamin Banneker
a black mathematician who lived in Ellicott City and worked as scientific
assistant to Major Andrew Ellicott, surveying the boundaries of the District
of Columbia in 1791.
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The BEAR AND NURSING CUBS
is at the corner of the American City Building near the Town Center Lakefront.
It was purchased by The Rouse Company to mark the company's 30th anniversary.
The artist is Beniamino Bufano, an Italian sculptor who moved to the United
States when he was only three years old. He lived most of his life in San
Francisco. His most seen work is the Statue of Peace at the San Francisco
International Airport. Bufano's dominant theme is peace and brotherhood,
joined with love of nature.
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DOBBIN
ROAD was named after George B. Dobbin.
By Act, Chapter 364, he was appointed Visitor from Howard County to the
Maryland Hospital. He was the first such appointment.
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GOVERNOR WARFIELD PARKWAY
was named for Edwin Warfield, the only Howard County
resident to become a Maryland governor.
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The ROUSE COMPANY HEADQUARTERS
BUILDING is located at Town Center Lakefront since 1974. The Rouse
Company has developed festival marketplaces such as Harborplace in Baltimore
and Fanueil Hall in Boston, as well as shopping centers in many cities.
Frank Gehry received an American Institute of Architects honor award for
the building, named "one of the most humane office buildings both inside
and out." The now famous Gehry did some of his earliest work in Columbia,
designing the Exhibit Center and firehouse on Banneker
Road.
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Overlooking the plaza at
Town Center Lakefront is a bronze sculpture by Jimilu Mason called THE
HUG. The sculpture was a gift to the community in 1987 from The Rouse
Company and Enterprise Development Corporation in honor of the late Mort
Hoppenfeld. As Vice President of The Rouse Company, Hoppenfeld directed
the planning and design of Columbia from its earliest days until 1975. According
to the artist, the work reflects "Columbia as Mort envisioned it -- a city
of love, a city for lovers." Ms. Mason's work is well known in the Washington
area, including the bust of Lyndon Johnson in the Capitol, and Brio, a bronze
dancing man in Alexandria, Virginia.
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LAKE
ELKHORN takes its name from the Elkhorn
branch of the Little Patuxent River which was dammed to form Lake
Elkhorn. Elk Horn Farms was also the name of the Dasher
farm. It is near Christ Church on Oakland Mills Road, and remains as Columbia
develops around it.
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LAKE KITTAMAQUNDI
takes its name from an Indian word meaning "meeting place."
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Columbia's main thoroughfare
takes its name from the Little Patuxent River which, with all its
tributaries, runs through much of Columbia.
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MENDENHALL ROAD was
named after Peter Mendenhall, the builder of a paper mill in the
early 1800's.
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NOMANISAN ISLAND, the
island at the Town Center Lakefront holding the Twelve Bells, was named
by Alan Levine in a 1980 community contest.
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The TREE OF LIFE
or People Tree is the symbol of Columbia and it's most recognized
sculpture. It is the work of Pierre du Fayet. He came to New York City in
1956 and worked as an industrial designer and commercial artist. He was
known as an innovative sculptor when he answered an ad to work on a project
in Baltimore. The project was Columbia and du Fayet joined the group planning
it in the early 60's. The brick-paved plaza surrounding the People Tree
was part of the downtown renovation in 1991. Columbians purchased
the name pavers, paying for the regilding of the People Tree in 1992
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The name for RUMSEY ROAD
came from James Rumsey, who invented the first steamboat two years before
Fulton launched the Claremont. General Washington witnessed the trial on
the Potomac and gave a certificate of the success of the experiment.
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The SAIL is the abstract
steel structure on the lawn of the Rouse Company building, Town Center Lakefront.
It was designed and constructed by James Arthur Benson in 1984. The artist
says that "The sculpture admits that it's steel but has a playfulness, too.
It relates to the environment, particularly because it is a wind activated
piece."
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SNOWDEN
RIVER PARKWAY was inspired by the historically
original name for the Little Branch which was Snowden's River
of Patuxent, according to historian Dr. Caleb Dorsey. Snowden's Cowpens
and Snowden's Intent appear as land grant to Richard Snowden,
patented in 1736.
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STERRETT PLACE comes
from the owner of Oakland Manor, Colonel Charles Sterrett Ridgely.
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Columbia's 40-acre downtown
park is the site of Merriweather Post Pavilion which was built as
the summer home of the Washington Symphony. The Pavilion is named for Marjorie
Merriweather Post, a symphony benefactor. This is how the area got the
name of SYMPHONY WOODS. Today, people come from all over the Washington
Metropolitan area to hear the concerts at Merriweather Post.
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TWELVE BELLS chime on
the quarter-hour, programmed to peal Westminster Chimes. They can also be
played by using a piano-type keyboard. They (ten bells) were a gift from
the Rouse Company in honor of Columbia's tenth birthday in 1977. Two additional
bells were added in 1979.
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WINCOPIN CIRCLE is
derived from Wincopin Neck, a land grant given to Benjamin and Richard
Warfield in 1702.
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Broken Land was a
land grant patented to Thomas Worthington and Henry Ridgely in 1722. This
lent it's name to BROKEN LAND PARKWAY.
