Three Churches near Prince Georges Plaza

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A group of three churches, located close to Prince George’s Plaza, the first major
regional shopping center in the county, is significant to the history of Maryland and
Prince George’s County in how it expresses suburban community life in the second half
of the twentieth century. Using research on the history and significance of these three
modern era churches, East-West Highway Meetinghouse, dedicated in 1959, by Douglas
W. Burton; Redeemer Lutheran Church, dedicated in 1960, by T. Norman Mansell; and
First United Methodist Church, dedicated in 1962, by A. Hensel Fink, I develop
arguments for their nomination to the Maryland Inventory of Historic Places (MIHP).
Furthermore, I will examine the Vernacular Modern style of the buildings as an
expression of the Baby Boom Modernism phenomenon, which appeared in suburban
Maryland from the late 1940s to the late 1960s.

Images/Documents

HISP700 Riniker Three Churches.pdf