Reels and spools in North Brentwood: a small town on the Route 1 corridor

A small town with history

North Brentwood was the first town in Prince George’s County incorporated by African American residents, in 1924. It is small, a few streets of houses between Route 1 and the Northwest Branch, next to Brentwood, Mount Rainier and Hyattsville. The towns along this stretch of Route 1 are sometimes called the Port Towns or the Gateway Arts District communities.

Where reels come from

North Brentwood has no big construction sites. Its reels come from house renovation, small commercial work along Route 1, and utility work on the neighbourhood’s lines. Along the corridor in neighbouring towns there is more: apartment buildings, mixed-use projects near the Purple Line under construction in Hyattsville and Riverdale, and shop fit-outs.

How small pickups work here

A pickup in North Brentwood is usually a handful of reels. The desk collects these on runs that also cover Mount Rainier, Brentwood, Hyattsville and the District’s Ivy City and Brookland. To make it easy:

• Send a photo and the flange size of each reel.
• Leave the reels where a truck can stop on the street.
• If an electrician has reels from several houses, gather them at one address.

Reels for makers

The Route 1 corridor has artists, woodworkers and small makers, and those are the people who ask for reels to take apart or rebuild. A nailed wood reel has two-ply flanges nailed at right angles and a ring of drum staves; once apart, that is a useful stack of seasoned lumber, though it carries old nail holes. A sound reel can also be sanded and sealed into a table.

Gardens

The Northwest Branch trail runs along the edge of town, and the neighbourhood has gardens. A 24 or 30 inch reel with a length of pipe through the arbor hole is a simple hose reel.

Getting here

Route 1 (Rhode Island Avenue) is the main road, linking the District to Hyattsville and College Park. Trucks reach it from New York Avenue or from the Beltway through College Park.