An overview is provided of the 29-month (February 1934 to June 1936) history of Maryland's first public junior college, the Forest Park Junior College Center (FPJCC). First, the paper describes two previous attempts to establish a public junior college in Maryland, explaining how mayoral opposition blocked both efforts. The next section of the paper looks at the establishment of the FPJCC, pointing out that the self-interest of Johns Hopkins University (JHU) graduate students and the involvement of Martin Hihn, the Baltimore school district's Director of Adult Education, led to the center's opening and initial success, but also diminished its subsequent prospects. The enthusiastic reception given to the FPJCC is highlighted next, focusing on the unanticipated administrative problems caused by the unexpectedly large size of the center's charter class and the factors which made the large opening enrollment all but certain. The next sections profile the FPJCC faculty, which was made up of former faculty, doctoral candidates, and recent graduates from JHU; explain the influences on the center's curriculum, which favored the study of language, history, sciences, and mathematics; consider the administrative structure and governance model of the center; and describe the FPJCC's extracurricular activities. Finally, the paper explains forces leading to the closing of the center, including bureaucratic indecision and red tape, funding uncertainties, and curriculum problems. (EJV)