HISTORICAL CHRONOLOGY
c. 10,000 B.C. Paleo-Indians lived in small semi-nomadic communities that moved seasonally to hunt large game, such as bison and mammoths. Fluted projectile point from this period found in Seneca Creek State Park.
c. 6,000 B.C. Archaic Period people used stone tools, fished, and hunted smaller game.
c. 3,000 B.C. - 1,000 B.C. Late Archaic Period people made pottery, including soapstone bowls, and collected seeds for agriculture. Pottery shards and broken arrowheads from this period found around current National Institutes of Health (NIH) property.
c. 1,000 A.D. Woodland Period peoples settled in small stationary villages with agricultural crops. Village site from Late Woodland Period found near Seneca contained storage pits and 73 graves.
1608, June-July. Capt. John Smith explored Potomac River.
1755, April 20. British Maj. Gen. Edward Braddock (1695-1755) and troops encamped at Rockville area during expedition to Fort Duquesne (present-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).
1774, June 11. Hungerford Resolves call on colonists to stop trade with Great Britain and the West Indies.
1775, Dec. 31. Maj. Gen. Richard Montgomery (1738-1775) died leading American attack on Quebec.
1776. Montgomery County created from Frederick County, named for Revolutionary War Maj. Gen. Richard Montgomery (1738-1775).
1787. First Courthouse erected at Williamsburg (now Rockville).
1791, Dec. 19. Maryland ceded 36 square miles of Montgomery County land (Georgetown) for federal District of Columbia.
1794. Hyattstown Mill constructed.
1808. Brookeville incorporated.
1809. Rockville Academy chartered.
1809-1823. Nathan Loughborough (1772-1848) of Montgomery County served as U.S. Comptroller of the Treasury.
1814, Aug. 26-27. President James Madison, Attorney General Richard Rush, and other Cabinet members sought refuge at Brookeville, following British attack on Washington, DC.
1828-1848. Chesapeake and Ohio Canal constructed.
1830. Josiah Henson (1789-1883) escaped from slavery on Isaac Riley's farm (North Bethesda) to freedom in Canada.
1833. Monocacy Aqueduct at Dickerson, design and construction overseen by Benjamin Wright (1770-1842).
1833. Seneca Aqueduct opened at Seneca.
1840. Second Courthouse completed at Rockville.
1860. Rockville incorporated.
1860. Free county public school system established for white children.
1861, June-1862, March. Union Brig. Gen. Charles P. Stone's corps of observation at Poolesville.
Rev. Josiah Henson, from "Strike for Freedom" exhibit, House of Delegates Office Building, Annapolis, Maryland, April 2019. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
1861-1864, Sept. Montgomery Blair (1813-1883) of Silver Spring served as U.S. Postmaster General.
1862, Sept. 5. Confederate cavalry brigades under Brig. Gen. Wade Hampton III and Brig. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee camped around Barnesville.
1862, Sept. 8. Skirmishes at Poolesville and Hyattstown between Union and Confederate cavalry.
1862, Sept. 9. Skirmishes at Beallsville and Barnesville between Union and Confederate cavalry.
1862, Sept. 13. Union Brig. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock's II Corps camped near Barnesville en route to Antietam.
1862, Oct. 10-12. Confederate cavalry under Maj. Gen. James Ewell Brown (Jeb) Stuart rode through Washington, Frederick and Montgomery counties during Chambersburg Raid to Pennsylvania.
1863, June 26. Union Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's headquarters established at Poolesville during Gettysburg campaign.
1863, June 27-28. Union troops marched through Barnesville en route to Gettysburg.
1863, June 28. Confederate Maj. Gen. James Ewell Brown (Jeb) Stuart and his cavalry occupied Rockville en route to Gettysburg.
1863, June 28. Confederate Maj. Gen. Jubal Early's cavalry arrested Union supporters at Rockville.
1863. Forts Alexander, Franklin, and Ripley, built as earthwork defenses in 1861 to protect Washington Aqueduct, expanded and renamed Fort Summer at Bethesda.
1864, July 11-12. Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal Early made his headquarters at Silver Spring.
1867. Poolesville incorporated.
1872. Segregated county public school system began.
1873. Metropolitan Branch of Baltimore & Ohio Railroad ran from Washington, DC, northwest through Montgomery County to Point of Rocks.
1878. Gaithersburg incorporated.
1880, Jan. 10. George W. Peck lynched in Poolesville.
1880, July 24. John Diggs lynched in Rockville.
1888. Barnesville incorporated.
1889, Jan. 11. Maryland Woman Suffrage Association formed by Caroline Hallowell Miller in Sandy Spring.
1890. Takoma Park incorporated.
1891. Third Courthouse built at Rockville.
1892. Laytonsville incorporated.
1892. U.S. Senator Francis G. Newlands of Nevada (1846-1917) developed Chevy Chase.
1894. Kensington incorporated.
1894, April 27. "Coxey's Army" encamped at Gaithersburg en route to Washington, DC.
1896, July 4. Sidney Randolph lynched west of Rockville.
1898. Garrett Park incorporated.
1899, Oct. 18-1915. Gaithersburg Latitude Observatory as part of International Polar Motion Service began to measure variations in latitude caused by earth's wobble on its solar axis.
1904. Glen Echo incorporated.
1906. Somerset incorporated.
1910. Chevy Chase Village incorporated.
1912, April 12. Clara Barton, founder of American Red Cross, died at her home in Glen Echo.
1916, May 19. Blair Lee III (1916-1985), Acting Governor of Maryland, born in Silver Spring.
1918. Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission created to improve water and sewer service in Montgomery and Prince George's counties.
1918. Town of Chevy Chase incorporated.
1924. Floods destroyed much of Chesapeake & Ohio Canal.
1927. Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission formed for Montgomery and Prince George's counties.
![[photo, Montgomery County Courthouse, 27 Courthouse Square, Rockville, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/36loc/mo/images/1198-1-01991b.jpg)
1931. Fourth Courthouse constructed at 27 Courthouse Square, Rockville.
1932. "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans and their supporters, seeking advance payment of cash bonus, marched through Maryland on route to Washington, DC.
1932-1982. Gaithersburg Latitude Observatory resumed operations
Montgomery County Courthouse, 27 Courthouse Square, Rockville, Maryland, February 2002. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
1937. Washington Grove incorporated.
1937. Montgomery County equalized pay for black and white teachers.
1938. Federal government began moving National Institutes of Health to site near Bethesda.
1938. Silver Spring Shopping Center opened.
1938, June. National Institutes of Health established in Bethesda.
1939, Feb. Chesapeake & Ohio Canal opened as national park.
1942, Aug. 31. National Naval Medical Center (now Walter Reed National Military Medical Center) dedicated, Bethesda.
1946, Sept. Montgomery County Junior College (now Montgomery College) opened, first junior college in State.
1948. Montgomery became first Maryland county to adopt charter form of government ("home rule"), with a County Manager and County Council.
1949, Jan. 18. First Montgomery County Council took office.
1949, Jan. 21-1953, Jan. 20. Dean Acheson (1893-1971) of Montgomery County served as U.S. Secretary of State.
1951. The Sea Around Us, by Rachel Carson (1907-1964) of Montgomery County, published.
1954. County public school system began to desegregate.
1958. Desegregation of county public school system completed.
1960, June 30. Sit-ins and picket lines challenged segregation policies at Glen Echo Park.
1961, March 4. Sargent Shriver of Montgomery County named first Peace Corps director.
1962. Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson (1907-1964) of Montgomery County, published.
1962, Jan. 16. County Council banned racial and religious discrimination in places with public accommodations (the first Maryland county to do so), except for those where alcohol sales were a "prominent part" of business, known as "tavern exemption."
1964, Aug. 16. Capital Beltway (I-495) opened, encircling Washington, DC, by passing through Maryland's Prince George's and Montgomery counties, and Virginia.
1965. Washington Suburban Transit Commission established for Montgomery and Prince George's counties.
1968. County adopted a County Executive and County Council form of government.
1968. Marshall W. Nirenberg (1927-2010), National Institutes of Health, won Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
1968, July 19-20. Eunice Kennedy Shriver (1921-2009) of Montgomery County opened first International Special Olympics in Chicago.
1969, Jan. 21-1973, Sept. 3. William P. Rogers (1913-2001) of Montgomery County served as U.S. Secretary of State.
1970. Radiation Biology Laboratory (now Smithsonian Environmental Research Center), a Smithsonian bureau, relocated from Astrophysical Observatory buildings, Washington, DC, to Rockville.
1970. Julius Axelrod (1912-2004), National Institutes of Health, won Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
1970, Nov. 3. First Montgomery County Executive elected.
1970, Dec. 7-1978, Dec. 4. James P. Gleason (Republican), County Executive.
1971, Oct. 12. Dean Acheson, who served as U.S. Secretary of State, 1949-53, died at his farm home in Silver Spring.
1972. Christian B. Anfinsen (1916-1995), National Institutes of Health, won Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
1972. Sargent Shriver of Montgomery County, Democratic Party candidate for U.S. Vice-President, ran with George McGovern.
1976. D. Carleton Gajdusek (1923-2008), National Institutes of Health, won Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
1976. Washington Metro, rapid transit system for national capital area, opened to link stations in Maryland, Washington, DC, and Virginia.
1978, Feb. Silver Spring Metrorail Station opened.
1978, Dec. 4-1986, Dec. 1. Charles W. Gilchrist (Democrat), County Executive.
![[photo, Montgomery County Judicial Center, 50 Maryland Ave., Rockville, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/36loc/mo/images/i006292b.jpg)
1981. Judicial Center constructed at Rockville.
1982. Village of Chevy Chase, Section 3 incorporated.
1982. Village of Chevy Chase, Section 5 incorporated.
Montgomery County Judicial Center, 50 Maryland Ave., Rockville, Maryland, February 2002. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
1983, July 1. Radiation Biology Laboratory merged with Chesapeake Bay Center for Environmental Studies to form Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.
1984. Shady Grove Metrorail Station opened.
1985. Martin’s Additions incorporated.
1986, Nov. 22. Smithsonian Radiation Biology Laboratory, Rockville, closed; functions transferred to Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater.
1986, Dec. 1-1990, Dec. 3. Sidney Kramer (Democrat), County Executive.
1990, Dec. 3-1994, Dec. 7. Neal Potter (Democrat), County Executive.
1993. Chevy Chase View incorporated.
1994, Dec. 7-2006, Dec. 4. Douglas M. Duncan (Democrat), County Executive.
1996. North Chevy Chase incorporated.
1997. Unification of Takoma Park into Montgomery County.
1997. William D. Phillips (1948-), National Institute of Standards and Technology, won Nobel Prize in Physics.
1999. Günter Blobel (1936-), Howard Hughes Medical Institute, won Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
2000. Eric R. Kandel (1929-), Howard Hughes Medical Institute, won Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
2002, Sept. 10. Electronic voting machines first used during primary elections in four counties (Allegany, Dorchester, Montgomery, Prince George's).
2004, March 2. Electronic voting system used during primary elections at polling places and for absentee ballots in all counties and Baltimore City.
2005. John L. (Jan) Hall (1934-), National Institute of Standards and Technology, won Nobel Prize in Physics.
2005, Sept. 29. John G. Roberts, Jr. (1955-) of Montgomery County began to serve as Chief Justice, U.S. Supreme Court.
2006, Dec. 4 - 2018, Dec. 3. Isiah (Ike) Leggett (Democrat), County Executive.
2007. Mario R. Capecchi (1937-), Howard Hughes Medical Institute, won Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
2008. Roger Y. Tsien (1952-), Howard Hughes Medical Institute, won Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
2009. Thomas A. Steitz (1940-), Howard Hughes Medical Institute, won Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
2009. Jack W. Szostak (1952-), Howard Hughes Medical Institute, won Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
2011, Feb. 23. First segment of Intercounty Connector (MD Route 200), the State's first all-electronic toll road, opened for Montgomery and Prince George's counties. Covering seven miles, this segment links Gaithersburg with Olney.
2011, Nov. 22. Second segment of Intercounty Connector opened to traffic, linking Olney with Laurel with ten additional miles of highway.
2013, May 13. Takoma Park became first municipality in nation to lower its voting age to sixteen for City elections.
2014, Nov. 9. Intercounty Connector (Maryland Rte. 200) completed for Prince George's and Montgomery counties.
2018, Oct. 6. Brett M. Kavanaugh sworn in as U.S. Supreme Court Justice.
2018, Dec. 3-. Marc B. Elrich (Democrat), County Executive.
2019, Nov. 5. Rockville holds first vote-by-mail election in Maryland.
© Copyright Maryland State Archives