"Early Hollywood" a Hollywood Travel Page by grandmaR

Send Photo to a Friend

Holly leaves

Hollywood got its name from a large holly tree that stood outside Samuel Thompson's general store which was about 1/4 mile from the post office. In 1872, Thompson became the second postmaster succeeding Martin Wible who had been the postmaster since the post office was established in 1867.

Quick Facts

Zip Code: 20636
Latitude: 38.342437
Longitude: 76.569163

The most notable site in Hollywood is Sotterly Planation, which is listed as an endangered site.

Hollywood, California (c1886 - much later than Hollywood, Maryland) tried to copyright the name of Hollywood and tell other communities that they did not have the right to use that name. This sparked some heated opposition, especially from Hollywood Florida which was chartered in 1925, Hollywood Georgia and other Hollywoods. Hollywood, Maryland has prior claim to the name, but according to VT, there are also Hollywoods in Ireland, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington State, and West Virginia.

There are 3 restaurants in Hollywood that I know of.

Clarkes Landing Restaurant
Clarkes Landing Rd, Hollywood (301) 373-8468

Early Bird (mostly a takeout/breakfast/lunch place)
23955 Mervell Dean Rd, Hollywood (301) 373-2828

(And the new Bruster's Real Ice Cream place next door)

Hollywoods Finest Restaurant, Hollywood (301) 373-4886 which I do not know anything about.

Send Photo to a Friend

Lower branches of a holly

Ilex

The species name for holly is Ilex. There are American, English, Japanese and Chinese hollies. The one that Hollywood was named for was probably an American holly. This holly is a popular specimen plant in the East and South.

It is a slow-grower and is normally an understory plant and is evergreen although it is a hardwood and not a conifer. I have several hollies on my property including one that is as tall as my two story house.

Holly trees are pyramidal when young, becoming open in old age. The evergreen leaves have spiny edges. Female American hollies produces toxic, dull-red berries if a male is growing nearby. We have both the male and female trees, so we get berries for Christmas decorations. Do not make the mistake of cutting down one of your trees if only one has berries.

When the Pilgrims landed the week before Christmas in 1620 on the coast of what is now Massachusetts, the evergreen, prickly leaves and red berries of American holly (Ilex opaca) reminded them of the English holly (Ilex aquifolium), a symbol of Christmas for centuries in England and Europe. The American holly, is also called white holly or Christmas holly.

There is a Chrismas Carol called "The Holly and the Ivy". In Europe there are many different Christmas stories about holly. In Rutland they think it unlucky to bring it into a house before Christmas Eve. In some western counties the boughs removed from churches are treasured, like the palms at Passion-tide, for luck throughout the year following; and in Germany, like the tapers used at Candlemas, they are looked upon as a sure protection against thunder. Charles DIckens wrote, "The Holly Tree"

Holly is scattered from Massachusetts along the coast to Delaware, inland into several Pennsylvania counties and is abundant southward throughout the coastal plain, Piedmont, and Appalachian system. The range extends south to mid-peninsular Florida, west to eastern Texas and southeastern Missouri. It is primarily a plant of the humid southeast. Holly cultivars in a northern Ohio arboretum, north of its natural range, have survived -29° C (-20° F). American holly is the hardiest known broadleaf evergreen tree.

The National Champion American Holly (Ilex opaca) is in Hugley, Chamber County, Georgia
Circumference = 125 inches (10.4 feet)
Height = 76 feet
Average Crown Spread = 48 feet
Total Points = 213

Holly survives on a wide variety of soils from near sterile Inceptisols of Atlantic sandy beaches to fertile but thin mountain Ultisols to an elevation of approximately 915 m (3,000 ft) Largest trees are found in the rich bottom lands and swamps of the coastal plain. Growth is best on moist, slightly acid, well-drained sites such as upland pine sites and hammocks. Trees will not survive flooding. In the northeastern portion of its range, holly is found on sandy coastal soils or dry gravelly soils farther inland. Because of its slow growth and relatively short stature, holly is seldom dominant.