1. Agricultural Palimpsest
Uncovering the legacy of farming in the built
environment of Gaithersburg, Maryland

2. Gaithersburg
The City is tightly connected to the Washington, DC metropolitan region. However, it
was not developed as a suburb until the second half of the twentieth century. Until
then, it was a very rural, agricultural area.
Gaithersburg is located in the
DC metropolitan area.
Founded in 1 802

3. Predominantly Agricultural
Gaithersburg closely corresponds to
Keating’s “agricultural settlements” category.
Summit Hall Barn
The city’s landscape comprises:
• Farms
• Mills
Other institutions:
• Rail station
• Granary
• Cannery
A I demonstrate, sometimes the original edifices
s
are no longer standing, or are fundamentally
redeveloped, but names revealing the original
purposes of the sites nevertheless remain.
Gaithersburg Train Station

4. Summit Hall Farm
Summit Hall Farm occupies a central location in Gaithersburg; it gives its
name to a maj road and an elementary school.
or
Walking in the farm, 1 937
• Originally a tobacco plantation Summit Hall Farm today
• House constructed between 1 807-1 81 2
• Exchanged between the Fulks and DeSellum families
• When Ignatius Fulks died, it was sold to Frank Wilcot, who later sold it to
the City of Gaithersburg

5. Summit Hall Farm
A it was bought by the City of Gaithersburg, Summit Hall was
fter
transformed into a large park.
Slides in the
foreground; barn
in the
background 
 With a water park, too!

6. Kentlands Farm
The Kentlands Farm, first called the Wheatlands by former owner Frederick Tschiffely, was bought
by Otis Beall Kent in 1 942. Kent turned the 200 acre estate into a nature reserve. It was
annexed in 1 988 by the City of Gaithersburg and sold to developer J A
oe lfandre, who established
a New Urbanist community there called Kentlands.
A aerial view, from the sixties,
n
of Kent’s wildlife sanctuary on
the farm
The Kentlands Mansion,
Today, Kentlands houses a
built by Tschiffely’s son in
neo-traditionalist neighborhood
1 901

7. Crown Farm
This centuries old, 1 80-acre farm is presently being razed to make room for the development of
a New Urbanist community. The proj is being spearheaded by the same developers
ect
responsible for the Kentlands neighborhood.
The Crown Demolished in 201 0
House, 1 894

8. Casey Community Center
• Casey Barn was built in 1 938 as
a dairy barn.
• The 60 cows at the dairy barn
produced 300 gallons of milk
daily, which were sold to the
Thompson and Chestnut Farms
dairies.
• Eugene Casey gave the barn and
land to the City of Gaithersburg
in 1 971 to be used as a
community center.
The barn
was also
used as a
platform
Casey Community Center today. for political advertising, as seen here.
(My mom was married here.)

9. Mills
Because Gaithersburg was such an agricultural town, mills are continuously embedded in the
City’s topology. Mills figure prominently in Gaithersburg. Even in cases where they no longer
physically exist, their legacy remains, as many roads, schools, and neighborhoods in the City
are named after mills.
• Clopper Mill (1 777)
• Watkins Mill (1 783)
• Muncaster Mill (1 820)
• Walker’s Mill (1 799)
• Goshen Mill (1 737)
201 1 dedication of a plaque marking
Muncaster Mill the site of Goshen Mill
“People identified with their local community and this local community was not centered on the
post office or the general store or the school, it was centered on the nearest mill.” – Susan
Soderberg

10. Clopper Mill
Clopper, the miller, was a leading citizen in Gaithersburg in the mid 1 9th century. He was
instrumental in bringing the railroad to Gaithersburg. (A a result, the railway was built right
s
along his mill.) Both a lake and a heavily trafficked thoroughfare near his mill bear his
name, as well as a school named Clopper Mill Elementary.
• There has been a mill on site since 1 777.
• Clopper built this gristmill in 1 834. He also built a woolen mill.
• The mill was destroyed by a fire in 1 947.

11. Watkins Mill
This mill was owned by several millers, but Levi Watkins was the last owner. A long road
winding from Route 355 up to Germantown is named after the mill. There is also an
elementary and high school named after Watkins Mill—and I attended both!
• There was a water-powered grist mill on
site since as early as 1 783.
• In the 1 800s, the grist and saw mill was
run by Levi Snyder and then by Remis
Snyder. The road the mill was on was
known as Snyder’s Mill Road.
• In 1 877, Levi Watkins bought the mill.
The road is now known as Watkins Mill
Road.
• The mill itself burned down in 1 908, and
the miller’s house also burned down
twelve years later.
The mill no longer stands, but a
plaque marks its original location.

12. Railroad Station
In 1 873, the B&O Railroad completed the Metropolitan Branch of the network,
which connected Gaithersburg to Washington, DC. The arrival of the rails catalyzed
the growth of this agricultural town.
• The station was built in 1 884.
• The railway integrated Gaithersburg in a broad, regional transportation
network, allowing farmers to transport goods.
• Today, the station functions as a community museum. It also houses
three train cars for exhibit.

13. Bowman Brothers Mill
Y another mill was built in Gaithersburg in 1 91 9—but this time, it was strategically
et
located along the railroad. The Bowman brothers had success with another mill
nearby in Germantown and expanded to Gaithersburg.
Today the mill has been
redeveloped into the award-
The old Bowman
winning “Granary Row,” which
Gristmill, built in 1 91 9,
houses a salon, an auto shop,
processed feed and
and a graphic design business
grain. It was located directly among others.
on the railroad.
“Granary Row is an example of how several of the city's former industrial buildings today give
a nod to the past while taking a step toward the future.” — Sean Sedam

14. Thomas & Company Cannery
This cannery enabled this very agricultural area to boom, by giving farmers an opportunity to
preserve their produce and ship it immediately all across the country.
• Started operations in Gaithersburg in
1 91 7
• First and largest vegetable cannery in
Montgomery County.
• V egetables were brought here from
Buckeystown, A damstown, Poolesville,
Fairfax, and elsewhere.
From the back, located on the railroad
• Until after WWII, the cannery was the
primary employer in Gaithersburg.
Employed more than 200 people
directly, and hundreds more migrant
workers.
• Closed in 1 963.
Converted into an office building

15. Thomas & Company Cannery
Inside the Cannery today

16. Gaithersburg today
Today, the City’s focus is largely on redevelopment, as we saw, to some extent, in the repurposing
of Kentlands Farm, the Cannery, and the Bowman Mill. Nevertheless, Gaithersburg’s agricultural
heritage evinces itself, through remnants in the built environment. (I am, after all, a graduate of
Watkins Mill High School!)
The service sector plays
The area rebranded itself the
a large role in
“technology corridor”—with the
Gaithersburg’s economy Cars are the predominant form of
arrival of NIST and IBM. transportation