This year-long series on "Paths to the Present" explores the development of the Rockville Pike, also known as Route 355 and nicknamed “The Great Road.” It is the most heavily-traveled road in the county and a centuries-old landmark, originally a footpath used by the native people. The sites along the Pike from Georgetown to Frederick […]
with Tom Farquhar | The rich soil of Montgomery County has supported a wide variety of agricultural enterprises, ranging from millennia of crop cultivation by indigenous communities, to tobacco plantations of the first colonial settlers of European descent, progressing to market farming serving growing populations in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Today the agriculture of Montgomery County […]
with Jim Johnston | Tuesday, May 14 at 2:00 p.m. | The word “slavery” brings up a mental image of the “peculiar institution” as it existed in the Deep South right before the Civil War. Slavery in the Washington area was different. It began the same – in the late 1600s, Ninian Beall’s tobacco plantation occupied the […]
with Susan Soderburg and Eileen McGuckian | The opening of the Metropolitan Branch of the B&O Railroad in 1873 was a pivotal event that changed the face of Montgomery County forever. Featured in this presentation are the railroad stations designed by Francis Baldwin, and extraordinary feats of engineering such as the curving trestle over Little Seneca […]
with Sammie Hatton, Montgomery History Collections Manager | Tuesday, June 4 at 2:00 p.m. | Montgomery History proudly holds and cares for 10,000+ objects within our object collection. These items range from textiles and portraits to ceramics and medical devices. This wide variety helps to tell the story of life here in Montgomery County throughout time. During […]
with Sandra Heiler | Tuesday, June 11 at 2:00 p.m. | Register Here June 11, 2024, marks the 250th anniversary of the Hungerford Resolves, when ten men from the area that became Montgomery County signed a set of historic agreements at Hungerford’s Tavern in the tiny crossroads village now called Rockville. Join Sandra Heiler as she […]
with Bruce Adams | Rev. Tim Warner says that for many of Montgomery County’s Black communities, “History is buried with the people.” Along with churches and schools, baseball was the center of civic life for many of the county’s small towns for much of the first half of the 20th century. Nearly every Black area had […]
with Emma Satterfield | With Washington, D.C. and Baltimore nearby, the history of Montgomery County’s LGBTQ+ community has often been overshadowed. Building on Emma Satterfield’s online exhibit with Montgomery History, this presentation seeks to shed light on the struggles and achievements of the county’s LGBTQ+ residents during the late twentieth century. Satterfield also will delve into […]
with Larry Velte from the National Capital Trolley Museum | Join us for “The Washington Trolley Story” to learn about the history of streetcars in the Washington metropolitan area, including the trolley network, the evolution of streetcar technology and engineering, and the social and economic impact of the streetcar on public life. Plus, you’ll be introduced […]
with Cemetery Archivist Glenn Wallace | Tuesday, July 9 at 2:00 p.m. | Join Cemetery Archivist Glenn Wallace as he discusses cemetery issues throughout Maryland and Montgomery County. Using his extensive work at Monocacy Cemetery, Glenn will highlight how research volunteers can work to preserve local cemeteries. Learn more about The Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites by […]
with James Johnston| True artists were rare in the Mid-Atlantic in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Tobacco planters might pay for a portrait, but this was a luxury for the rich. Good, European-trained artists did not want to make the perilous ocean crossing for uncertain reward. This is why “primitive” or self-taught artists, like Georgetown’s […]
with Brien Poffenberger, President of Gruber-Latimer Restoration| Brick and stone masonry has changed little over the past six thousand years. The basic construction of your garden wall would be familiar to the folks who built the Pyramids or The Great Wall of China. And yet, there are things going on in historic masonry that escape our […]
with Ralph Buglass | Tuesday, July 30 at 2:00 p.m. | Virtual Event | White’s Ferry--until recently closed--was a living history example of a long tradition of Potomac River ferries tying together Montgomery County and northern Virginia. And when the C&O Canal was operational for nearly 90 years, White’s, along with Edwards and Spinks ferries upcountry, took […]
Join Montgomery History at Shirley Povich field for our annual Ice Cream Social! Coach Bob Milloy will be on hand to share some personal stories from his time as a football coach.RSVP Here
from Paths to the Present | In the early 1940s, all across the country, we were swing dancing to the music of Glenn Miller. Starlets like Ginger Rogers and Mary Martin, were lighting up the silver screen. Esquire magazine featured Petty girls. Gasoline was about 20 cents a gallon, bread about 8 cents a loaf, and a movie cost […]
with Judy Welles | | Virtual Event | In this talk based on her book about the prominent Montgomery County socialite and businesswoman Lilly Stone, Judy Welles tells the story of a daring woman whose remarkable life extended from the Civil War through the Cold War. Lilly’s papers and letters, documented by Welles, describe the divided loyalties […]
https://youtu.be/7pMx38jx9kA?si=EajJnwuEflZpmVrtwith Ann Robertson | Before it was a county park and wedding destination, Rockwood Manor Special Park was a national Girl Scout Camp. When GSUSA sold the camp to residential developers, neighbors and individual Girl Scouts fought to stop the sale. Join Author Ann Robertson as she shares why Rockwood was so important to save, and […]
With Bert Coursey, PhD, NIST Retired, Chairman of NIST Alumni History Committee |Tuesday, August 27 at 2:00 p.m. | Virtual Event | The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) began in 1901 as the National Bureau of Standards (NBS). For 65 years the main activities of the NBS were carried out on a small wooded […]
with retired Maryland Historical Trust Chief Archeologist Dennis Curry |Virtual Event | Canavest (located on Heater’s Island) was the last permanent village of the Piscataway Indians in Maryland. Various aspects of the site—which was occupied from 1699 to at least 1712—are vividly described in a series of colonial documents from Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. These archival […]
Presented by Gwendora Hebron Reese, Suzanne Johnson, and Jeff Sypeck |Pre-recorded Virtual Event | At its height, the African American town of Sugarland in the northwest corner of Montgomery County was home to a church, a school, a store, a post office, and a practice hall for the town band. In this session, the team behind […]
At this time, tickets are sold out. Stay tuned for future tour dates! |Join Montgomery History for Button Farm Almanac, a guided tour of the Button Farm Living History Center. Led by historian and Menare founder Tony Cohen, guests will be guided on this behind-the-scenes reveal of the Button Farm in Germantown, its history and […]
With Kenny Sholes |Thursday, September 19 at 7:00 p.m. | Virtual Event | Otho Trundle’s barn, thought to have been built around 1830, will turn 200 in a few years. It’s believed that Civil War soldiers spent time resting here when the Confederate Army passed right by on their Maryland Campaign of 1862. Today, the barn […]
With Jeanne Gartner|Tuesday, September 24 at 2:00 p.m. | Virtual Event | Reed Brothers Dodge was one of the longest running automobile dealerships in Montgomery County history, operating from two locations in Rockville for more than 97 years. This presentation features historical photographs taken by the dealership’s founder, Lewis Reed, and highlights how Reed Brothers Dodge […]
with Eileen McGuckian | If we can read history in books, do we need to see historic buildings in person? Many people think so, and this session will feature how local preservation has been accomplished over the past century. The significance of places like cemeteries, the Silver Theatre, the Red Brick Courthouse, the Dickerson Railroad Station, […]
with Ralph Buglass | For most of the 1960s and '70s, Gaithersburg was an entertainment mecca for the greater DC area. Shady Grove Music Fair—first under a big-top tent and then in a theater-in-the-round venue complete with a revolving stage—hosted Broadway hits and a wide variety of pop, rock and soul singers. Stars included Simon and […]
with Sarah Hedlund | Any history of Montgomery County’s oldest newspaper of record will contain the following information: “The Sentinel was founded in 1855 by Matthew Fields, a Confederate sympathizer who was arrested during the Civil War for his opinions. After his death in 1871, his widow took over the publication.” The story almost always ends […]
In-person Event | The Montgomery County History Conference returns October 19 at Montgomery College’s Rockville Campus in the Parilla Performing Arts Center. The conference offers myriad opportunities to engage with local history, including a keynote address, nine breakouts, a boxed lunch, a documentary screening, and a happy hour reception.Learn More
In-person Event | The Montgomery County History Conference returns October 19 at Montgomery College’s Rockville Campus in the Parilla Performing Arts Center. The conference offers myriad opportunities to engage with local history, including a keynote address, nine breakouts, a boxed lunch, a documentary screening, and a happy hour reception. Learn More
with Rebecca Henson |Tuesday, October 22 at 2:00 p.m. | Virtual Event | Rebecca Henson of Springsong Museum will deliver a presentation on Rachel Carson (1907-1964), world-renowned writer, biologist, and considered by many as the ‘Mother of the Modern Environmental Movement’ who lived her adult life in Silver Spring. Henson will provide an overview of Carson’s […]
