A history of Gaithersburg,
since 1802
Postcards, papers and photographs of Gaithersburg from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Gaithersburg was settled in 1765 as a small agricultural settlement known as Log Town near the present-day Summit Hall on Ralph Crabb's 1725 land grant "Deer Park". The northern portion of the land grant was purchased by Henry Brookes, and he built his brick home "Montpelier" there, starting with a log cabin, built between 1780 and 1783. In 1802, Benjamin Gaither built his home on the land. In 1807, Gaither married Brooke's daughter Margaret, and Benjamin and Margaret inherited a portion of Henry Brooke's land prior to his death. By the 1850s the area had ceased to be called Log Town and was known to inhabitants as Gaithersburg.
The Forest Oak Post Office, named for a large tree in the town, was located in Gaither's store in 1851.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Gaithersburg’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewEmmett Schwartz estate, 1920: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Gaithersburg
See all 26 →
Gaithersburg, decade by decade
1990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Emmett Schwartz estate (1920) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Historic places
National Register · via Wikidata
From Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (3) and the National Register (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.