History

Something Old for Something New: Olney’s Fair Hill

By Emily Kong | Photography courtesy of Sandy Spring Museum When the renovation of Olney Town Shopping Center was completed in spring of 2011, it bore a new name: Fair Hill. Those who frequented the shopping center were confused. Where did this new name come from? The community had forgotten the mansion that had once stood near the new shopping ...

Montgomery Village’s Storied Rise: New Pictorial History Celebrates Kettler Brothers’ Vision

By Pamela Schipper Long before there was a Washingtonian Center or a Kentlands, there was Montgomery Village. From the start, the Village was novel in its diverse architectural styles and price points, and inspired in its incorporation of green space and amenities. There was “something for everybody,” says Carolyn Camacho, a Village resident since ...

Stuffed With Snow

By Pamela Schipper | Photography courtesy of the Library of Congress Dreams of a White Thanksgiving? It was unexpected. The first 23 days of November 1938 had been mild and warm, about what you would expect for this southern-lying city. But on Nov. 24, weather patterns changed dramatically to create the November storm of record. Six to nine inches fell ...

Gaithersburg’s Got Latitude

By Pamela Schipper | Photography courtesy of City of Gaithersburg From 1899 to 1982, a small observatory in Gaithersburg was a shining star in the International Geodetic Association’s mission to measure variations in latitude caused by the earth’s wobble on its polar axis. Observers there gazed at the stars for nearly 100 years, taking ...

“Almost Heaven,” Germantown

Montgomery College's Newest Campus Was Up-County Country in 1978 By Pamela Schipper | Photography courtesy of Montgomery County Historical Society John Denver may have been all over the airwaves during the Seventies, but “Stayin’ Alive,” that 1978 Billboard hit from the Bee Gees, should have been playing on this Montgomery College (MC) ...

Time Travel: Germantown’s Critical Contribution to the Atomic Age

By Pamela Schipper Photography courtesy of Montgomery County Historical Society The U.S. Department of Energy’s Germantown headquarters is a familiar sight to the many commuters who exit I-270 at MD-118 every day. It sits peacefully back from the busy road and currently shelters more than 2,000 federal employees. But when the facility was dedicated on ...