Embedded Files
Rockville's structural landscape has changed possibly more than any other locality within Montgomery County in the last 100 years. On this page of the exhibit, you'll see many "now" views that have few or no physical similarities to their "then" counterparts: a testament to the passage of time, to our ever-growing community, and to the sometimes regrettable loss of many landmark spaces and places.
Rockville's structural landscape has changed possibly more than any other locality within Montgomery County in the last 100 years. On this page of the exhibit, you'll see many "now" views that have few or no physical similarities to their "then" counterparts: a testament to the passage of time, to our ever-growing community, and to the sometimes regrettable loss of many landmark spaces and places.
To learn more about ongoing historic preservation in Rockville, consider supporting Peerless Rockville, an advocacy organization formed in 1974 to preserve buildings, objects, and information important to Rockville’s heritage.
To learn more about ongoing historic preservation in Rockville, consider supporting Peerless Rockville, an advocacy organization formed in 1974 to preserve buildings, objects, and information important to Rockville’s heritage.
Red Brick Courthouse
Red Brick Courthouse
Courthouse in 1914, still in use as Montgomery County's main court office building.
The historic Red Brick Courthouse today. Google Map Link
The Red Brick Courthouse, built in 1891, is Rockville’s most distinctive historical landmark and one of only a handful of its 19th-century structures still standing. Originally slated for demolition during the urban renewal of Rockville in the 1960s, today the courthouse serves as headquarters for Peerless Rockville while the surrounding park serves as vital green space, full of mature trees and landscaped features. The streets around it are collectively known as "Courthouse Square," at the intersection of Montgomery and Maryland Avenues.
The Red Brick Courthouse, built in 1891, is Rockville’s most distinctive historical landmark and one of only a handful of its 19th-century structures still standing. Originally slated for demolition during the urban renewal of Rockville in the 1960s, today the courthouse serves as headquarters for Peerless Rockville while the surrounding park serves as vital green space, full of mature trees and landscaped features. The streets around it are collectively known as "Courthouse Square," at the intersection of Montgomery and Maryland Avenues.
On September 28, 1917 a draft for World War I began and the first 40 men reported for duty at the Red Brick Courthouse (barely visible through the trees on the right of both photographs above). This 1917 photograph shows the cars parked around the courthouse while speeches were being delivered in the courtroom to the drafted men. [Note: some cars have two license plates, as separate plates were required to drive in both Maryland and the District of Columbia!]
On September 28, 1917 a draft for World War I began and the first 40 men reported for duty at the Red Brick Courthouse (barely visible through the trees on the right of both photographs above). This 1917 photograph shows the cars parked around the courthouse while speeches were being delivered in the courtroom to the drafted men. [Note: some cars have two license plates, as separate plates were required to drive in both Maryland and the District of Columbia!]
Courthouse Triangle becomes Courthouse Square
Courthouse Triangle becomes Courthouse Square
Rockville’s first public park was a triangle of land in front of the Red Brick Courthouse formed by Commerce Lane and Montgomery Avenue. A Confederate statue was originally erected in the triangle in 1913. That park was obliterated, along with all the other buildings around it, with the urban renewal project of the late 1960s, which renamed the (mostly paved) area Courthouse Square. When the neighborhood was reconfigured again in the 1990s, the park around the courthouse retained the Courthouse Square name, incorporating the "Spirit of Rockville" fountain in 1997.
Rockville’s first public park was a triangle of land in front of the Red Brick Courthouse formed by Commerce Lane and Montgomery Avenue. A Confederate statue was originally erected in the triangle in 1913. That park was obliterated, along with all the other buildings around it, with the urban renewal project of the late 1960s, which renamed the (mostly paved) area Courthouse Square. When the neighborhood was reconfigured again in the 1990s, the park around the courthouse retained the Courthouse Square name, incorporating the "Spirit of Rockville" fountain in 1997.
The approximate trajectory of the original E. Montgomery Avenue (the start of it renamed "Courthouse Square") is shown by the red line above, as it would have run before multiple developments over many decades altered the street plan. Modern-day locations matched to historic photos below are therefore approximate and limited to the accessibility of the current urban geography. Google Map Link to the Courthouse Square neighborhood.
The region across from the Red Brick Courthouse known as "Courthouse Triangle," 1917
This area has been completely redesigned and the road rerouted.
Pictured are the buildings that stand opposite the courthouse today.
Closeup of the western edge of the Courthouse Triangle block, 1914. From right to left is the H. Reisinger Bakery, W. Hicks General Store, Suburban Electrical Company (SECO), and a two-story dwelling.
Now part of Rockville’s Courthouse Square, a condominium building called "The Victoria" now occupies the approximate location of this site. Google Map Link
An early Rockville hotel, the Montgomery House stood across from the Red Brick Courthouse. Its patrons consisted of travelers and county residents who had business in town. Here it is pictured in 1913, just after the Confederate monument in the foreground was erected.
Though the configuration of streets on this block has changed, the approximate site of the former hotel is near the corner of Maryland Avenue and Courthouse Square, where this law office building (built in 1962) stands today. Google Map Link
The drugstore on this prominent Rockville corner across from the courthouse was built in 1886 and operated by several proprietors over the years. When this photo was taken in 1906, it was known as Vinson’s Pharmacy, run by “Doc Willie” Vinson from 1900 until his death in 1958.
The same view mostly looking south down Maryland Avenue (once named Perry Street) in 2023. A reconfigured, shorter East Montgomery Avenue starts on the left edge of the photo. The 19th-century pharmacy building was torn down in the late 1950s after Vinson died. Google Map Link
Rockville Town Hall (pictured here in 1912) was built on East Montgomery Ave. in 1881 and served as a venue for lectures, concerts, dances, and other community gatherings. It was later used to house the volunteer fire department, and the Sentinel newspaper offices, as well as many other businesses.
The town hall building was demolished along with the rest of the buildings on this block in the late 1960s as part of Rockville's urban renewal projects. Today the Montogmery County Circuit Court building occupies the approximate site. Google Map Link
The lad on the left in this 1914 photo is beloved candy shop proprietor, A. F. Sean "Seen" Beane, who bought this store from Collins in the 1920s and continued doing business in downtown Rockville until his retirement in the 1960s.
The County Executive Office Building occupies the approximate location of the drugstore site today. Google Map Link
B&O Railroad
B&O Railroad
The Rockville B&O Railroad Station is one of the few survivors of the many picturesque county stations built along the Metropolitan Branch of the B&O Railroad during the 1870s. Pictured here at the turn of the century.
To make way for the Metro rail system in 1981, the station was lifted from its foundation, moved approximately 30 feet to the south, and reoriented 180 degrees so that the train platform which originally faced the tracks now faces Church Street. Today, the station is the home of a Rockville law firm. Google Map Link
Park Road B&O Underpass, 1911. This original, unpaved single-lane underpass with stone abutments connected Stonestreet Avenue with the center of the then-still small town.
The overpass was first upgraded in the 1950s to carry Park Road under the railroad tracks. The arrival of Metro circa 1980 prompted another upgrade still in use today. Google Map Link
Veirs Mill Road and Dodge Street
Veirs Mill Road and Dodge Street
Veirs Mill Road looking east at Cedar Lane prior to paving, 1911. This roadway was not paved until 1935.
Today, Veirs Mill Road is a four-lane divided highway. Google Map Link
Built in 1817, St. Mary’s Catholic Church is the oldest church still in use in Rockville. The church’s prominent location and its connection to author F. Scott Fitzgerald, who is buried in its cemetery, contribute to St. Mary’s status as a landmark in Rockville. Today, the church overlooks the same intersection of roads now called Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike. Google Map Link
Built in 1817, St. Mary’s Catholic Church is the oldest church still in use in Rockville. The church’s prominent location and its connection to author F. Scott Fitzgerald, who is buried in its cemetery, contribute to St. Mary’s status as a landmark in Rockville. Today, the church overlooks the same intersection of roads now called Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike. Google Map Link
William Beall in his disabled 1915 Pullman car in front of St Mary’s Church and his younger brother Vernon on horseback “towing” him to Reed Brothers garage for repairs.
Same view of St. Mary's today, with their new mid-century modern church building, constructed in 1967, at right. Google Map Link
In 1915, Lewis Reed’s Rockville Garage began selling gas from this single pump at the intersection of Veirs Mill Road and Rockville Pike near St. Mary's Church.
The same view today – more than a century later – is fondly known as “the mixing bowl.” St. Mary's can still be seen through the trees on the right, though the distant view has changed greatly. Google Map Link
Since 1915, Reed Brothers Dodge was a longtime presence on the prominent triangle formed by the Rockville Pike and Veirs Mill Road. (Photo taken 1927)
Today the dealership’s original location is known as Veterans Park. Google Map Link
The state named the connector street behind Reed Brothers “Dodge Street” following the dealership’s 1941 expansion. In the late 1960s, the state of Maryland acquired part of this land to widen Route 355 and donated the remaining sliver to the City of Rockville.
Dodge Street today is officially the shortest named road in Maryland. It runs from Richard Montgomery High School (the site of the former Rockville fairgrounds) to Veirs Mill Road across Rockville Pike. Google Map Link
Fairgrounds and High School
Fairgrounds and High School
Rockville’s first-ever automobile races were held at the Rockville Fair on August 25, 1923. The race track at the fairgrounds was a half-mile dirt racing oval with wide, sweeping curves, and a grandstand for spectators.
The dirt track oval and grandstands were located approximately where Richard Montgomery High School stands today. Google Map Link
From the early 1920s through the 1940s, Reed Brothers Dodge had their own company softball team, pictured here playing at Welsh Field in Rockville in the 1920s.
The community field, only a block from the courthouse, was replaced by the County Office Building's parking garage in 1953. Google Map Link
Montgomery County High School, built in September 1905, was the county’s first public school for upper level education. Students attended from all over the county, many traveling on the B&O Railroad from Boyds, Dickerson, Barnesville, Kensington, and other towns. When Lincoln High School opened as part of the segregated Black school system in 1935, the School Board officially renamed this school (for White students only) “Richard Montgomery High School.”
Montgomery County High School, built in September 1905, was the county’s first public school for upper level education. Students attended from all over the county, many traveling on the B&O Railroad from Boyds, Dickerson, Barnesville, Kensington, and other towns. When Lincoln High School opened as part of the segregated Black school system in 1935, the School Board officially renamed this school (for White students only) “Richard Montgomery High School.”
Montgomery County High School: top image taken in 1906, shortly after construction. Lower image taken c. 1911-- the Red Brick Courthouse can be seen in the distance.
Park Avenue Motorcycle Club, 1912. L-R: "Happy" Hicks, Lewis and Edgar Reed, Frank Higgins, and Alvin Luctor.
Several law offices occupy the same stretch of Park Avenue today. Google Map Link
Rockville Baptist Church
Rockville Baptist Church
In 1823, the deacons of the Bethel Baptist Church acquired a half-acre lot at this site to erect a church and provide a burial ground. The original church was replaced in 1864, but a half century later, the congregation demolished it and built this larger church at the corner of Washington and Jefferson Streets, pictured here in 1912.
The church sold its Rockville property in 1971 and moved to this new building on Adclare Road. Google Map Link
A BB&T bank building replaced the original church and parsonage buildings in 1974. Google Map Link
Clinton AME Zion Church
Clinton AME Zion Church
In 1904, the Clinton AME Zion congregation moved to this brick church (pictured here in 1912) located on North Washington Street near what is called Beall Avenue today. The church was named in honor of Rev. George Wylie Clinton (1859-1921), a prominent member and editor of the church’s periodical "Star of Zion."
The congregation sold the original brick church in 1955 to make way for a shopping center. Mixed-use development constructed in the early 21st century occupies the site today. Google Map Link
After selling the brick church on N. Washington St., the congregation dedicated this new church building--reminiscent of the original-- on Elizabeth Avenue in Lincoln Park in the fall of 1956, where they worship still today. Google Map Link
Outer Rockville
Outer Rockville
Opening in the spring of 1889, the Woodlawn Hotel was the first summer resort hotel in Rockville, standing alone at the extreme end of W. Montgomery Avenue (then known as Darnestown Road) until the development of the West End neighborhood gradually commenced throughout the 1890s. By 1906, the owners of the Woodlawn, heavily in debt, had to sell. The building was then purchased by Dr. Ernest L. Bullard who opened “a sanitarium for the care of nervous and mental diseases,” renaming it Chestnut Lodge. The Bullard family operated the hospital until 1997, when they sold the property to developers. Tragically, the grand building burned to the ground in 2009, after many plans for its continued use had fallen through. Today, the Chestnut Lodge campus is preserved for the surrounding community as green space.
Opening in the spring of 1889, the Woodlawn Hotel was the first summer resort hotel in Rockville, standing alone at the extreme end of W. Montgomery Avenue (then known as Darnestown Road) until the development of the West End neighborhood gradually commenced throughout the 1890s. By 1906, the owners of the Woodlawn, heavily in debt, had to sell. The building was then purchased by Dr. Ernest L. Bullard who opened “a sanitarium for the care of nervous and mental diseases,” renaming it Chestnut Lodge. The Bullard family operated the hospital until 1997, when they sold the property to developers. Tragically, the grand building burned to the ground in 2009, after many plans for its continued use had fallen through. Today, the Chestnut Lodge campus is preserved for the surrounding community as green space.
Chestnut Lodge, in 1910 not long after its conversion to a sanitarium.
The empty land at W. Montgomery and Bullard Ave., where the hotel building stood until 2009. Google Map Link
In 1897, the “Rockville Electric Lights & Water Works” was constructed within the Rockville Park subdivision (in the neighborhood then known as Janetta). The pump station and pipestem water tower pictured below comprised Rockville’s first public water system and supplier of electricity for street lights and private homes.
In 1897, the “Rockville Electric Lights & Water Works” was constructed within the Rockville Park subdivision (in the neighborhood then known as Janetta). The pump station and pipestem water tower pictured below comprised Rockville’s first public water system and supplier of electricity for street lights and private homes.
The pipestem water tower, viewed amidst nearby houses in 1906. A more modern water tower was installed on this same site with a new municipal water system in 1954. The old brick tower (or a portion of it) continued to stand, unused, until at least the early 1960s; it is not known exactly when it was completely removed.
The ground where the city's first (1906) and second (1954) water towers once stood on Grandin Avenue is preserved today as the Phyllis Kavanagh Park. Google Map Link
The pump house built on S. Horner's Lane, pictured in 1912
The small building is still standing in Croydon Park, now remodeled as a community center. Google Map Link
Hickerson Brothers Grist Mill, a steam-powered grist mill positioned along the B&O Railroad tracks, operated until the late 1920s by brothers Lindsay and Clarence Hickerson. The mill was located near 514 S. Stonestreet Avenue, between Baltimore Road and Reading Avenue along the railroad tracks.
Hickerson Brothers Grist Mill, a steam-powered grist mill positioned along the B&O Railroad tracks, operated until the late 1920s by brothers Lindsay and Clarence Hickerson. The mill was located near 514 S. Stonestreet Avenue, between Baltimore Road and Reading Avenue along the railroad tracks.
Hickerson Brothers Mill, 1910.
Today, in its place, stands a construction company and a Pepco building. Google Map Link
The Halpine Store, also known as the Lenovitz General Store, was built on Rockville Pike at Halpine Rd. in 1898, taking advantage of the prime location on the trolley and railroad lines. The original frame building was destroyed by fire in 1923 and replaced by a brick building that housed a Radio Shack in the later 20th century.
The Halpine Store, also known as the Lenovitz General Store, was built on Rockville Pike at Halpine Rd. in 1898, taking advantage of the prime location on the trolley and railroad lines. The original frame building was destroyed by fire in 1923 and replaced by a brick building that housed a Radio Shack in the later 20th century.
Pictured here in 1906 is James H. Handy at age 16, standing in front of the Halpine Store along the trolley tracks.
Today, the same location is the site of a mixed-use development project under construction in 2023, the type that dominates the landscape along the Pike. Congressional Plaza is across the six-lane road from this new structure. Google Map Link
Also called “Miltons Mill,” Muncaster Mill was a Montgomery County landmark due to its distinctive gambrel roof. It was the last mill to remain in operation in what is now Rock Creek Park. Today, Muncaster Mill Road and a few stones of the foundation are the only reminders of its one-time existence.
Also called “Miltons Mill,” Muncaster Mill was a Montgomery County landmark due to its distinctive gambrel roof. It was the last mill to remain in operation in what is now Rock Creek Park. Today, Muncaster Mill Road and a few stones of the foundation are the only reminders of its one-time existence.
Muncaster Mill, still in operation in 1910
Part of the foundation of the sawmill can still be seen near the Meadowside Nature Center. Google Map Link
Completed in 1909, Montrose School was designed as a two-room schoolhouse and offered classes for first to seventh grade. The school operated until 1960, when it was converted to a facility for special education. The site was abandoned by the school system in the early 1970s and was used for storage by the State Highway Administration until Peerless Rockville purchased and restored the building for use as a historic educational site.
Completed in 1909, Montrose School was designed as a two-room schoolhouse and offered classes for first to seventh grade. The school operated until 1960, when it was converted to a facility for special education. The site was abandoned by the school system in the early 1970s and was used for storage by the State Highway Administration until Peerless Rockville purchased and restored the building for use as a historic educational site.
This photo was taken shortly after construction of the building was completed in 1909.
Thanks to historic preservation efforts, the building looks much the same today. Google Map Link
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