In 1888, John and Vesta Cassedy became  Principals at Norfolk College for Young Women.
They are credited with giving the College a new direction and stimulating
enrollment. However, Norfolk College was an urban school, and the
Cassedys had a dream of establishing a suburban school of their own at which they could
implement their personal educational philosophy.
Excursions aboard the Norfolk and Washington Steamboat line in the company of the
Norfolk students gave them the chance to get acquainted with the Maryland suburbs.
It was on one of these trips in 1891 that they
chanced to meet an old student from their Lassell Seminary days, Mary
Osborne Beach and her new husband, T.F. Schneider. He told them
about
the Forest Inn he had designed for the Forest Glen Improvement Company.
By 1893, their dream was stronger. At the Columbian Exposition,
they purchased a book of house plans, since they planned to build a house wherever they
settled. Many of the sorority clubhouses at Forest Glen would later spring from the pages
of this book.
Two properties were on their short list of places
to lease (they didn't yet have the money to buy). They asked Schneider about the
availability of the Inn, but at the time, the conversion to a casino was hoped to
give the Inn a new chance at success. So, their search targeted the Woodlawn
Hotel in Rockville. However, the Woodlawn
was for sale and not for lease, and there was a strong isolationist sentiment
in Rockville that would not have provided their school a warm welcome. On the
way back from a trip to Rockville, their train stopped at Forest Glen, where
they had their first glimpse of the Glen and the Inn.
Soon after, Schneider contacted them and told them
that the Inn's plans had failed, and that the property was available after all. They met
with Seymour Tullock, and then were introduced to Brainerd H.
Warner, President of Columbia National Bank, who helped them raise capital. They also
got a much warmer reception from Forest Glen businessmen than they had
experienced in Rockville. Some of the people they met were:
- Grover Price (owner of the General Store and Post Office)
- J.N. Shauck (railroad stationmaster)
- Dr. George H. Wright (owner of Carroll Springs Sanitarium)
- William P. Miller and George M. Wolfe
(storeowners in Linden).
The lease was signed on April 2, 1894. The Cassedys set to transforming
the
hotel from a casino to a girl's finishing school. The bars, gambling halls, and pool
rooms in the hotel building were turned into parlors and classrooms. They found a
great source of furnishings: the Washington auction houses, which had a good
supply of items which departing ambassadors typically sold rather than take
home.
The property consisted of four buildings:
- the hotel itself (from now on called the Main
Building)
- a Maintenance building
- a Gas House
- a separate bowling alley and billiard room
They already had hot and cold water upstairs for
baths, many bedrooms, a large kitchen and dining room, and a modern sanitary
system. They built a rainwater cystern to capture water for the boilers, and they
worked throughout the Summer remodeling the building to get it ready for
opening day. Finally, on September 27, 1894, the National Park Seminary opened
the first school year with 48 students.
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