Talk:Wheaton, Maryland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
How does the postal service not consider Wheaton a place of its own? It has its own zip code, and people who live there use "Wheaton, MD" in their address... john k 06:20, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)
I live there, and I use "Silver Spring" because I like the sound of it. But when I'm talking to someone who knows the DC area, I tell them where I live is "Wheaton" because it's more specific.
The Post Office sign says: "United States Post Office, Silver Spring MD, Wheaton Station."
It may help to know that very little of Montgomery County is inside an incorporated town or city.
For example, "Silver Spring" is just an area -- it's pretty much everything in the southeastern part of the county that's not inside Takoma Park (which *is* incorporated). Similarly, "Bethesda" is everything in the southwestern part of the county that's not inside an incorporated town or village such as Chevy Chase or Friendship Heights. This is why the definition of Wheaton is ambiguous; it's not incorporated and doesn't have well-defined limits.
-- Elizabeth B.
Yeah, I know all that. I grew up by White Flint Mall, which is apparently "North Bethesda", although my post office address was Kensington. North Bethesda is an odd term, since most of its area would normally be called Rockville by actual people (that is to say, those who are not real estate agents). Didn't realize that the Wheaton Post Office was officially a branch of the Silver Spring one, though. The whole thing is rather confusing though. What irks me about the situation is that we treat Census-Designated Places as though they are the be-all and end-all. Thus, our article on Silver Spring, Maryland describes only the CDP, and does not even mention the fact that in conversation, and to the post office, Silver Spring is a much larger area. john k 15:55, 26 Jan 2005 (UTC)
