Montgomery County’s Historic Towns and Places
Request one of the following Speakers Bureau topics through our online form!
Questions? Contact Matthew Gagle or call 301-340-2825.
Down-County: Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Silver Spring, and Potomac
Potomac’s Storied History
Speaker: Judith Welles
Produced in coordination with the release of her new book, POTOMAC, Judith Welles dives into never-before-seen photos–many from Montgomery History’s collection–that shed new light on the storied history of this area of the county. With the photographs as a backdrop, Welles tells the impact of the C&O Canal and the Civil War; the story of the Gold Rush and ghosts; the Potomac Hunt; the growth of a bustling commercial and residential area and much more.
Aspin Hill Pet Cemetery: 100 Years of Pets, People, and the Stories Behind the Stones
Speaker: Julianne Mangin
Aspin Hill Pet Cemetery, established in 1920, is more than simply a place where people put their pets to rest. It’s a place that reflects the life and times of the Washington region. There are famous pets, owned by or connected to movers and shakers of the twentieth century – presidents and their advisors, ambassadors, and a certain head of the FBI. There are also thousands of pets and owners who may be less influential than a president or a senator, but whose stories are equally fascinating. In this presentation, Julianne Mangin shares not only the history of the cemetery and those who ran it, but entertaining stories gleaned from newspapers, photographs, land records, and the inscriptions on the grave stones found at the cemetery.
River Road, Bethesda: A Short History of Black and White, 1850-1963
Speaker: Paige Whitley
The commercial section of River Road, Bethesda, sometimes called Westbard, was once home to a flourishing community of African Americans. This presentation outlines the history of this community and their white neighbors from before the Civil War to after Desegregation, and examines the networks of families, faith, education, and work that held the community together before intensified commercial development led to its eventual disbandment. Macedonia Baptist Church, on the corner of River Road and Clipper Lane, and the currently disputed Moses Cemetery are all that now remain of the original community.
Offutt’s Crossroads: The Early History of Potomac and its Founding Family
Speaker: Ralph Buglass
This talk and slide presentation covers the “first family” of Potomac: the Offutts for whom Potomac was originally named (Offutt’s Crossroads). The talk, by a descendant of the Offutt family, explores when and how the village came to be called Potomac, with feuding among the family, the end of slavery, a business partnership gone bad, and attempted murder all playing a part—not to mention a few ghostly appearances in later years!
Central County: Rockville and Gaithersburg
A Pictorial History of Rockville
Speaker: Ralph Buglass
Presented in conjunction with Peerless Rockville, www.PeerlessRockville.org
Drawing extensively on vintage photos from a book produced by Peerless Rockville, this talk covers the 250-year history of Rockville from a tiny crossroads community to the bustling government center of Montgomery County—and one of the nation’s most diverse cities. Rockville not only has a fascinating history all its own, but also exemplifies our county’s history in many ways—and has ties to significant national events and figures. The speaker co-authored the book for Peerless Rockville.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Rockville: Rockville in the 1920s
Speaker: Eileen McGuckian
This slide presentation takes a look at the small town of Rockville that F. Scott Fitzgerald knew in the 1920s, with an explanation of how America’s favorite writer came to be buried there –twice!
The History of Rockville Pike: A 300 Year Journey
Speaker: Eileen McGuckian
Using historic and contemporary photographs, local historian Eileen McGuckian takes a journey through time down the Rockville Pike, from its beginnings as a Native American path to its current status as Montgomery County’s “Golden Mile.”
Rockville, Maryland: 250 Years of History
Speaker: Eileen McGuckian
An armchair tour of historic Rockville — from colonial times to the present – with the author of Rockville: Portrait of a City, the definitive history of our county seat. Come with your questions!
Up-County and Outer-County Areas
Sugarloaf: The Singular History of a Singular Mountain
Speaker: Ralph Buglass
Sugarloaf Mountain, a private oasis of natural beauty and scenic vistas that is open to the public, nearly became Camp David and was almost topped with a modernistic structure designed by one of America’s most famous architects, Frank Lloyd Wright, that instead ended up as a New York City landmark. This extensively illustrated talk explores these and other historical oddities of this tiny mountain that sits all by itself just over the Montgomery County line in Frederick County.