A New Home for Collections: October 2025
Montgomery County Courthouse, June 1978
Montgomery History is pleased to announce that it has secured space to store and conserve its entire 10,000-piece artifact collection, the largest assemblage of objects related to the county’s nearly 250-year history. The MH campus in Rockville has been bursting at the seams with archival and collections material for decades. Currently, the collections are stored in seven different locations in Maryland and Virginia. MH has long wished for a central, accessible location large enough to house the collections together. MH signed a lease with the County in September to utilize unused space on the fourth floor of the Grey Courthouse at 27 Courthouse Square in Rockville. The building served as Montgomery County’s courthouse from 1931 to 1981; it was recently renovated by the county and now houses seven county departments. The fourth floor used to contain holding cells for individuals in custody who were on trial in the courtroom on the third floor.
Courthouse under construction c. 1930
MH is now working with architects and engineers to design the improvements that will be necessary to ensure the space is secure and meets professional standards for the control of temperature, humidity, pests, and UV light. It is anticipated that the collections will be moved into the renovated space as soon as next spring. An additional benefit of the Grey Courthouse location is its proximity to the Farmers Banking and Trust building, located at 4 Courthouse Square, which Montgomery History purchased earlier this year to serve as the new home of the Montgomery County History Center. Work on that project is scheduled to begin in January, and work will be completed in time for the County’s 250th anniversary celebration on September 6, 2026.
Thurgood Marshall (center), lead attorney for the Gibbs case, on the steps of the Grey Courthouse, 1937
along with co-council Charles Hamilton Houston and Edward P. Lovett
(photo from the Afro-American newspaper archives)
A brief description of the historic space:
OPENED — In 1931, after construction by the J. J. McDevitt Company of Charlotte, North Carolina.
CONSTRUCTION — Built primarily by Rockville’s Black carpenters, masons, welders, electricians, plumbers, and machine operators whose craftsmanship contributed to the distinctive terrazzo floors, marble accents, and birch and walnut courtroom interiors.
SIGNIFICANCE — Host to nationally significant trials, the most noteworthy of which was Gibbs v. Broome, et al. in 1937, which featured lead attorney Thurgood Marshall of the NAACP (who later served as a Supreme Court justice) and led to equal pay for Black schoolteachers. The building is designated as part of the Montgomery County Courthouse Historic District and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the Maryland Historical Trust.
If you have any comments or are interested in learning more about this project, including named space opportunities, contact Director of Development Brenna Ryan. Stay tuned for our next update!