A sign of downtown Silver Spring's past has been uncovered at 8216 Georgia Avenue. The historic building that will soon be home to Astro Lab Brewing has previously been occupied by Joe's Record Paradise, and Champion Billiards. But as the outer facade of the storefont was removed in recent days, a sign emerged to the sunlight for the first time in at least 50 years.
James A. Messer Company was a plumbing supply wholesaler incorporated in Washington, D.C. in 1919, according to IRS tax records. The sign here at 8216 Georgia notes that this location was a Silver Spring branch of the company.
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The August 1, 1922 issue of
The Plumber's Trade Journal noted that the Messer Company was currently installing all of the lavatory and bathroom fixtures at a large apartment building being constructed at 15th and M Streets, N.W. Alas, that building appears to have been one of the many victims of gentrification in the District.
When President Herbert Hoover was serving as U.S. Secretary of Commerce earlier in his career, Messer was appointed to a committee advising him on the formulation of national codes and standards for industrial materials used by the federal government. That news was reported in the October 21, 1921 edition of
Plumber and Steam Fitter.
Roderick D. Watson acquired the Messer Company in 1940, but apparently the business soon began to fall on hard times, based on IRS records. Watson died in 1959, and his assets were disposed of in 1969. I thought this sign should be documented on film and video, before it disappears again behind the new facade of the brewery.
