Surrender Dorothy - Washington Area Graffiti

Washington Area Graffiti

The famous graffito in the D.C. metropolitan area first appeared on the outer loop of I-495, the "Capital Beltway", on a railroad bridge near the Washington, D.C temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kensington, Maryland, beginning in late 1973. The graffito was put up by an anonymous artist and was removed by the Maryland State Police; however, it has been periodically repainted in various forms by equally unknown persons since the initial police removal. The imposing architectural design of the Temple apparently reminded the perpetrators of the Emerald City.

The rail line which contains the bridge is the old B&O Metropolitan Branch, now owned by CSX Transportation, which operates the MARC Brunswick Line and various freight trains on that branch. The location of the phrase is visible on approach driving on I-495 from the east, but only after one passes under the first of three bridges. It is the second of three bridges over the Beltway approaching from the east, with Seminary Road before it, and Linden Lane after it. It's doubly effective because as you approach the bridges, first in the distance you see only the Temple, then you pass under the first bridge, the Temple comes back into view just as the words "Surrender Dorothy" appear.

In summer 2007, a new piece of graffiti appeared on the rail bridge. The word "SURRENDER" was reduced in size to fit into a single section of the rail bridge, and the word "DOROTHY" was omitted from the graffiti. The original-size message is no longer visible, but its presence can still be felt at the top of the bridge, as the paint used to cover it does not exactly match the original paint on the bridge. The smaller "SURRENDER" graphic is located near the bottom of the bridge, over the far-left lane of traffic on the Outer Loop.