It’s extremely difficult to think of living anywhere other than Gaithersburg, Maryland. As I look for an apartment or a townhouse, it’s not just the affordable rent that’s nagging me to stay here. It’s the extra feeling of home I’ll have whenever I take my car out for a drive down Route 355 or Muddy Branch Road. I’ve loved studying maps and roads ever since I was four years old. Growing up, an atlas under the Christmas tree became an annual tradition.
When I was a preschooler at Epworth United Methodist Church, my mom would pick me up afterward and graciously take whatever extra time we had to let me navigate us around wherever I liked. Unfortunately for her, I knew where a lot of the dead ends were, and whenever I (mis)led her to one, she’d gasp and look over at me, belly laughing in my carseat because I believed that I had pulled off the greatest prank of 2005.
Mom loves retelling that story, especially to the folks who come to listen to me talk about my book, Hidden History of Montgomery County, Maryland. It was released in February 2025, and I’ve had the opportunity to guest speak at several library events and other venues since then. I love history and learning more about where I grew up, so I was excited to accept an opportunity to work with The History Press on this project. I started writing a few months after graduating from the University of Maryland, and finished a little over a year into my first post-graduate job as a business analyst.
I’ve been studying family history since I was 11 years old. I’ve learned a lot in 14 years and I now have a working family tree of more than 26,000 people, many of them from the Gaithersburg area. My mother’s family is mainly from New York, but I did some digging and found out my dad’s great uncle was Wilson Tschiffely, a member of the family who owned the land where Kentlands is now. More recently, I discovered that he and his wife, my great-grandma’s sister, once owned what is now Smokey Glen Farm. I had attended my high school senior picnic there and didn’t even know I was standing on such familiar ground.
Less than 100 years ago, in the time of Great-Uncle Wilson, Gaithersburg was astoundingly rural. Muddy Branch Road was unpaved and you could still wave hello to the cows as you passed by the Crown and Belward Farms near Rio. I was fortunate to interview three older residents for the book who spent much of their youth around Gaithersburg. At 105 years old, Pearl Green recalled growing much of her own food with her family at their home on Riffle Ford Road, walking to a “colored” schoolhouse across from the Tschiffely farm, and mourning the loss of Martin Luther King, Jr. with her community.
I also interviewed Frances Mills, a Darnestown native who met Mrs. Green while working at Gaithersburg High School, and fondly recalled hearing her pitch for Avon makeup products. Highlights of Mrs. Mills’ life include meeting her future husband on the school bus and the joyful first meeting between her and the baby she adopted. Both women passed away in 2025, and I’m so grateful that I got to share both of their stories.
Across town, DeSellum Avenue brims with history. It was named after the DeSellum family, whose home, Summit Hall, was raided during the Civil War. Confederate general Jubal Early and his men took the family’s crops, livestock, and fences, but were unable to find $3,000 that Sarah DeSellum had snuck under her skirts. Along DeSellum Avenue is the Gaithersburg Latitude Observatory, small in area, but hugely important in earth science history. From 1899 to 1982, it was one of just six observatories on earth designed to study our planet’s wobble.
A bicentennial Damascus cookbook. A Germantown man’s jealous, explosive act of murder. A secluded, but expansive pet cemetery in Aspen Hill. These remarkable stories speak to Hidden History of Montgomery County, Maryland. Did you know that Garrett Park was incorporated as a town because the residents were concerned about the safety of a neighbor’s toilet? Or that the horror movie The Blair Witch Project was filmed in Seneca Creek State Park?
Through writing and promoting this passion project, I’ve learned to drive down our roads with a critical eye. When I spot a sign for Emory Grove Road, I think of the more than 80 African American communities like Emory Grove in our county. Some are gone, but many have survived since the 19th century. I remember when I drove to Rio that Sam Eig Highway was named for a Jewish immigrant who became one of the county’s most successful real estate developers.
As our hometown continues to grow exponentially, I hope that we’ll remember those who worked to make Gaithersburg a wonderful home for not just themselves, but the generations that followed. Our community centers, road signs, and park names should reflect that character.
Find the Book
Hidden History of Montgomery County, Maryland by Brian Myers is available on Amazon.com.
Brian Myers | Author
Brian Myers is an author and technology analyst from Gaithersburg. In 2020 he released his first book, Greater than a Tourist: Gaithersburg, Maryland, and in 2025, he released his second book, Hidden History of Montgomery County, Maryland. Myers has spoken about our fascinating local history at events like the Gaithersburg Book Festival and “Museum on Tap” at Saints’ Row Brewing.
As our hometown continues to grow exponentially, I hope that we’ll remember those who worked to make Gaithersburg a wonderful home for not just themselves, but the generations that followed.