ON THE GROUNDS of the Laytonsville Public Golf Course, nestled in the gently rolling land of northern Montgomery County, stands an old wooden springhouse, roughly eight feet by twelve feet, that in an earlier era supplied water for the Dorsey farm. Crystal-clear spring water still bubbles up over a stone slab on the floor, seeps out, and nourishes a
Shortly before midday on June 1, 1933, a crisp and pleasant Thursday in Washington, a crowd began to gather around the timeworn steps of a narrow, stone-faced building near the intersection of E Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Soon, an auctioneer’s bell began clanging, and hundreds of restless spectators bumped elbows as they jostled for better vantage points.
In an era of prosperity and peace, of sporty cars and speakeasies, of Calvin Coolidge and Al Capone, he led a fashion-conscious city through the Roaring Twenties. His name was Julius Garfinckel, and in his time he reigned as the merchant prince of the nation’s capital.