Montgomery Parks acquired Spencerville Local Park in three stages: two acres in 1956, then 10 acres in 1965, and finally 6.4 acres in 1968, for a total of 18.4 acres. The park features a playground, ball fields, tennis courts. The park provides lights for its tennis courts and baseball field. This park is maintained without the use of pesticides.
Spencerville Local Park is also home to the Spencerville-Mildred Pumphery Park Activity Building. This recreational facility offers over 1,500 square feet of space and features a kitchen, restrooms, and other amenities.
Park Features
- Basketball Court – lighted (Contact Park Permits Office to reserve)
- Cricket Fields
- Playground
- Tennis Court – lighted (Contact Park Permits Office to reserve)
- Tennis Wall
- Water Fountain
History: An Educator and Recreation Leader
The Mildred Pumphrey Community Center opened in 1984 on the site of the two room Spencerville School, a segregated school for Black students from 1928 until the early 1950s. Fittingly, the newly constructed center was dedicated in honor of lauded educator Mildred Adams Pumphrey (1916-1984), a lifelong Spencerville resident.
When Ms. Pumphrey was a teen, there was no school bus transportation for her to the county’s only secondary school for African Americans. So, her father arranged for her to attend school in DC. She recalls: “I rode with workmen who left very early in the morning and returned long after school was dismissed. I was dropped off in Silver Spring…and rode a streetcar the remainder of the distance…I’d take my roller skates and skate before and after school to keep warm. There was a store nearby in Silver Spring but I was not permitted to stand inside.”
Ms. Pumphrey earned a Bachelor of Education degree from Bowie State College. She went on to teach at Sandy Spring Elementary School and direct the summer recreation program at the Smithville Center. At the time, both the county’s school and recreation systems were racially segregated. Following the closing of remaining segregated schools in 1959, Ms. Pumphrey integrated the faculty of Jackson Road Elementary School where she remained until her retirement 16 years later.
At the community center’s dedication, Ms. Pumphrey was commemorated as “a rare individual who was able to blend civic, professional and religious responsibilities into compassion and support for all people, young and old.” Ms. Pumphrey died in March 1984, seven months before the building’s completion.
Facilities available to rent at this park.
Tour Activity Building
To arrange a tour of this Park Activity Building before renting, contact the Park Permits Office to obtain access to the building and the alarm codes.
Monday to Friday
8:30am to 4:30pm