Montgomery History

05/25/2026

In Montgomery County, each of us lives around the corner from a former site of enslavement (SOE), whether it was a farm that was turned into a suburban development, the ruins of a mill that ground flour to feed the local people, or the ghost of an old tavern where enslaved people were bought and sold. Join Neile Whitney to hear about the Montgomery County Lynching Memorial Project's new interactive map, which hints at the connections between these SOEs and over 140 local, historic Black communities, and then tells their stories.

Register on our website or with this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_2UACnGmmSHaKpq7mJ_2p0w #/registration

05/22/2026

Companies have been attracted to Montgomery County for myriad reasons: our proximity to the cooperative possibilities and talent pool that nearby universities provide as well as access to highly educated Montgomery Countians to support their workforces. The strategic location near the federal government is another large factor. As much as the county has attracted scientific research and development, the largest employer category is the food service industry, employing 27,382 people in 2024, according to the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation. As Montgomery County attracts and retains businesses like Otsuka, Astra Zeneca, Marriott, and Hughes, as well as government agencies like NIST and FDA, their employees are local residents who also eat out in the county, use health services, parks, and libraries, and send their kids to school here.

05/19/2026

This acrylic paperweight came to Montgomery History through a donation from Neal Potter, who served on the Montgomery County Council for 20 years, 1970-1990, served as County Executive from 1990-1994, and again on the County Council from 1994-1998. This paperweight, which dates from 1985, features both the Japanese and American flags, and bears the name of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Company. Otsuka was the first company to locate at the Shady Grove Life Science Center on July 1, 1985, itself the first industrial park in the nation dedicated to biotechnology. At the ceremony, a Shinto priest was present to supervise the dedication and purification rites for the facility, according to Japanese custom. The 1980s saw a growth of Japanese investment in the United States as well as expansion of Japanese goods in American markets. At the same time, Montgomery County was encouraging growth by biotech companies in the county. Rockville soon became the center of its BioTech Corridor, which supports more than ninety-two biotech companies today in that area alone. The “very high degree of enthusiasm demonstrated by the government of Montgomery County” was key in encouraging Otsuka to locate here, according to an Otsuka official, beating out six other locations in the country including Boston, Long Island, Seattle, and San Diego.

05/19/2026

This Thursday at 7:00 p.m.!

Did you know that only 27% of registered voters participated in the 2022 primary election? This month’s free Trending Topics webinar (May 21 from 7-8pm EST on Zoom 💻) will investigate voter turnout trends in primary elections. We’ll discuss who is not showing up, what can be done to address barriers, and why primary participation matters to our democracy.

Panelists include: 
Sam Novey, Chief Strategist at the Center for Democracy and Civic Participation
Ralph Watkins, Co-chair of our Making Democracy Work Committee
Dr. Gilberto Zelaya, Community Empowerment/Public Information Officer
 
To register and for more details, visit the Trending Topics webpage at 🔗 in bio. Thanks to our co-sponsored 🍎

05/12/2026

Did you know that only 27% of registered Montgomery County voters participated in the 2022 primary election? This month’s free Trending Topics webinar, co-sponsored by Montgomery History, will investigate voter turnout trends in primary elections. We’ll discuss who is not showing up, what can be done to address barriers, and why primary participation matters to our democracy. Panelists include Sam Novey, Chief Strategist at the Center for Democracy and Civic Participation at UMD; Dr. Gilberto Zelaya, Montgomery County Board of Elections Community Empowerment/Public Information Officer; and Ralph Watkins, Co-chair of the LWVMC’s Making Democracy Work Committee. Register on our website or with this link: https://montgomeryhistory.org/event/primary-elections-why-vote-who-votes/

05/08/2026

Intelsat I, the first commercial geosynchronous communications satellite, was launched in April of 1965 and was nicknamed “Early Bird.” Part of the Cold War space race, the proverb "the early bird catches the worm" was a fitting inspiration for the casual moniker. The Space and Communications Group of Hughes Aircraft Company built the satellite for COMSAT. Activated on June 28, 1965, the satellite could provide around the clock coverage over the North Atlantic region and provided the first live TV coverage of the splashdown of a spacecraft, Gemini 6, in December 1965. The Clarksburg Laboratories building was sold in 1997, with COMSAT continuing to lease space for a time. The building was completely vacant by 2005. COMSAT was acquired by Lockheed Martin in 2000, who sold off various parts of the company until 2004 when what remained was sold to Intelsat.

04/30/2026

To celebrate the new Montgomery History Center and the County’s 250th, Montgomery History invites Montgomery County artists to submit work to our inaugural art exhibit titled, "MoCo at 250: Then and Now."

We encourage artists to submit works that will be displayed in our new History Center exhibit hall, reflecting on 250 years of our people and our places. We seek art that highlights our flora, fauna, landscapes, and communities - along with work that meditates on where we've been and where we're heading.

For more information or to make a submission: https://bit.ly/mocoart250

04/28/2026

The demolition of the Communications Satellite Corporation (COMSAT) Laboratory building has recently started in Clarksburg. This photo from the Jane Sween Research Library’s collection taken on January 18, 1968 shows a model of the building as designed by renowned architect Cesar Pelli, an iconic futuristic design that was visible from Route 270. The building opened the next year and housed laboratories that conducted research into microwave technology, solar cells, solid state systems, and semiconductors. COMSAT was a corporation created by the Communications Satellite Act of 1962 and became a publicly traded company in 1963, as a federally funded corporation with the goal of developing a commercial international satellite communication system. Some of the projects pursued by the lab included the development of a more efficient solar cell, digital echo cancelers, lighter and more efficient storage batteries, and equipment that would double the capacity of a satellite transponder for television transmission. The creator of many firsts, COMSAT helped found the International Telecommunication Satellite Organization in 1964, which launched Intelsat I, the first commercial geosynchronous communications satellite.

04/27/2026

The Maryland state tree is the mighty white oak, a tree that can live up to 1000 years and witness generations of history. The oak tree has been the national tree of England for centuries, and was also adopted as a family symbol of many prominent families in the history of the United States such as the Adamses and the Astors who have aspired to the oak’s features of strength, resilience, and protection. Maryland designated the white oak as the state tree in 1941, after the American Forestry Association named the Wye Oak, in Wye Mills, Maryland, as one of its first National Champion Trees. The tree measured 31 feet 8 inches in circumference, stood 96 feet tall with a crown spread of 119 feet, and covered nearly one-third of an acre. It was believed to be over 460 years old when it fell during a severe thunderstorm on June 6, 2002. The United States designated the oak as its national tree in 2004.

04/21/2026

Arbor Day was created in 1872 when Sterling Morton of Nebraska put forth a state resolution to designate a day for the planting of trees. By 1878, the entire country had embraced the celebration of the day. In 1972, the centennial of the inaugural observation, President Nixon officially declared the fourth Friday in April "National Arbor Day."

This picture from the Jane Sween Research Library’s collection features of a gathering of the Darnestown Women’s Club at the Darnestown Presbyterian Church on April 29, 1932, Arbor Day, planting a tree to memorialize George Washington during the year of his 200th birthday. The first president’s bicentennial birthday was celebrated that year with parades, speeches, a new design for the quarter coin, and a country-wide planting of trees organized by the American Tree Association. “Ten million monuments to a great man!" they exclaimed in a book published to instruct for successful planting of memorial trees. "Ten million tributes, enduring and straight-growing, which will be as evergreen as is the memory of George Washington in the hearts of 130,000,000 people, recording that he is ever the first in the hearts of his countrymen.” Memorial tree-planting events, such as this one in Darnestown, were held throughout the country that year.