A Bit of Montgomery County History After 250 Years

By Sondra Katz

Did you know that Montgomery County is only a few months younger than the United States? In 1688, Henry Darnell patented the first tract of land in this area, a strip on the east side of Rock Creek. The region initially became part of Prince George’s County and later Frederick County when that county was created in 1748.

White’s Ferry on the Potomac River between Maryland and Virginia, c. 1970s. Established in 1786, historic White’s Ferry is east of Poolesville, Md., and allowed vehicles to cross to and from Leesburg, Virginia.

On Saturday, 11 June 1774, at Hungerford’s Tavern in Williamsburgh (now Rockville), the leading men of lower Frederick County met in response to new taxes imposed by the British and agreed:

“Resolved, unanimously, That it is the opinion of this meeting that most effectual means for the securing of American Freedom will be to break off all Commerce with Great Britain and the West Indies until the said act be repealed and the right of taxation given upon permanent principles.”

These resolutions, called the Hungerford Resolves, were published in the Maryland Gazette and brought to the Maryland Assembly in Annapolis.

On 31 August 1776, Dr. Thomas Sprigg Wootton, a member of the Maryland Constitutional Convention, introduced a bill to divide Frederick County into three smaller counties: Frederick, Washington, and Montgomery (south section of Frederick County). The measure passed on 6 September 1776, creating Montgomery County officially on 1 October 1776.

Richard Montgomery

The county was named for General Richard Montgomery, a Continental Army officer who died in action in Quebec in 1775 and never set foot on the land [in Maryland, at least] that would bear his name. The naming of both Montgomery and Washington counties was a deliberate act of defiance against Great Britain during the Revolutionary War; they were the first counties in the nation established by elected representatives and the first in Maryland named for popular Americans rather than old-world aristocrats.

The first elections in the new county were held at Hungerford’s Tavern. On 20 May 1777, Hungerford’s Tavern became the seat of government for the county and where court was held until a separate courthouse was built in 1779.

18th Century Items of Interest

White’s Ferry began operating in 1786 and operated until 2020.
Georgetown was ceded to Washington, D.C., in 1781.

19th Century Items of Interest

Rockville was officially established in 1801 (name changed from Williamsburgh).

Josiah Henson [Library of Congress]
There were a number of Black communities established before the Civil War: for example, Sandy Spring from the late 1700s and Big Woods in upper Montgomery County. Sharp Street Methodist Episcopal Church, built in 1822, was the first Black church in Montgomery County. In 1800, the black population was 44% of the entire population of the county. The percentage kept going down until the 1970s when it was only 6% of the county. The percentage has gone up since then and reached 18% in the 2020s.
In 1814 Brookeville was where President James Madison took refuge when Washington, D.C., was burned by the British Army.
St. Mary’s Church in Rockville was built; it’s the oldest church still in use in Rockville. However most people know it as the place where F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald are buried.
In 1849, Josiah Henson published his first memoirs of his time enslaved on the Isaac Riley plantation near Bethesda. Harriet Beecher Stowe used elements from his life story as inspiration for events and characters in her novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
In 1855, the Montgomery Sentinel newspaper began publication and lasted until 2019.

[This history of Montgomery Co. will continue in subsequent issues and be available online with more photos.] ■