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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.
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ROCKD_121225_012.JPG: Lost Rockville -- 1801 to 1850
1803 Plan of Rockville and Boundary Stone
Rockville began when Owen's Ordinary, an inn and tavern, was established in this area around 1750. It functioned as the seat of lower Frederick County and in 1776 became the seat of Montgomery County when it was created. In 1784, William P. Williams subdivided 45 acres of his land into building lots and called it "Williamsburgh." Fifteen years later, structures had been built on 38 lots. The Williamsburgh plat had legal problems and in November 1801, the Maryland General Assembly directed that the lots be resurveyed and a town erected "to be called Rockville." The town plan was recorded in 1803.
This boundary stone, with the letters "B.R." incised, marks the "Beginning of Rockville" shown in the lower right of the plan at the southeast corner of Block I, lot 1. The plan has a grid pattern of six streets, 19 blocks, and a total of 85 lots. The Court House lot fits into the notch on the right border in Block VIII.
For many years, the boundary stone was neglected, half-buried in the weeds of an undeveloped lot. It resurfaced when the Rockville Library was built in the 1950s. It was placed near its original location in 1961 where it serves as an everyday reminder of the modest beginnings of Rockville.
ROCKD_121225_017.JPG: This stone dated 1803 and located on this site marked the southeast corner of the
Original Town of Rockville
The letters "B. R." on its face stand for
"Beginning of Rockville"
Dedicated by the Mayor and Council of Rockville, 1960
ROCKD_121225_033.JPG: "Aspirer"
Michail Razvan
1988
From https://www.culturespotmc.com/public-art/aspirer/
This bronzed sculpture represents an eagle flying and turning at the same time. It sits on a pedestal made of concrete. The proper left wing points down while the proper right wing points up. It is mounted on a bronze loop on the round base.
ROCKD_121225_046.JPG: Courthouse Square Park
City of Rockville
Montgomery County, Maryland
Dedicated 1997
ROCKD_121225_049.JPG: Richard Montgomery
1738 - 1775
Born in Ireland; served in the British Army in the French & Indian War. Joined the American Revolution as the most experienced general in the Continental Army. Led the invasion of Canada where he was killed in the Battle of Quebec, becoming the first general to die in the Revolution and America's first national hero. When Maryland's constitutional convention split Frederick County into three parts the following year, they named the western third Washington and the eastern third Montgomery, the first of many memorials to Montgomery in the nation.
ROCKD_121225_075.JPG: Lost Rockville -- 1801 to 1850
Montgomery Avenue and Washington Street
Rockville grew from a convenient crossroads meeting place in the 1750s to become the legal and market center of the county. The tiny village was selected as the seat of local government in 1776 for its central location and the presence of taverns and inns to accommodate those with court business. Rockville was incorporated in 1860.
Rockville's businesses were not separated from the residential areas as today. Craftspeople and merchants often lived on the second story or next to their businesses. However, proximity to the Court House influenced many hotels, inns, and businesses to locate along Montgomery Avenue, Commerce Lane (now West Montgomery Avenue), and Washington Street. The area consisted of a variety of uses, including brick institutional buildings, small frame residences, 19th century hotels, and small businesses. The area of North Washington Street just north of Middle Lane was the location of the earliest black settlement in the town.
In the 1950s, increased traffic, lack of parking, and economic problems led City officials to redevelop the 46-acre area by demolishing most of the old buildings and replacing them with an enclosed mall. The Rockville Mall was razed in 1995 in an effort to revitalize the Town Center.
ROCKD_121225_109.JPG: Rockville's African American Heritage Walking Tour Site #4
Dr. James Anderson House
100 South Washington Street
Long before the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, some enslaved people freed themselves by escaping to Canada. In 1856, Alfred Homer walked and ran more than 500 miles from this site to freedom, despite the dangers of the Fugitive Slave Law.
Dr. Anderson's house was located on this site, before the present 1893 house built by his daughter. On May 31, 1856, his slave Alfred Homer escaped bondage by fleeing Rockville on foot, finding temporary refuge with the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee and finally gaining freedom in Canada.
The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 required the return of runaway slaves even from the non-slavery northern states. Being caught meant severe punishment or being sold into worse conditions in the Deep South.
One hundred dollars reward. - Ran away from the subscriber, living in Rockville, Montgomery county, Md. on Saturday, 31st of May last,
NEGRO MAN, ALFRED,
about twenty-two years of age; five feet seven inches high; dark copper color, and rather good looking.
He had on when he left a dark blue and green plaid frock coat, of cloth, and lighter colored plaid pantaloons.
I will give the above reward if taken out of the county and in any of the States, or fifty dollars if taken in the county or the District of Columbia, and secured so that I get him again.
John W. Anderson
ROCKD_121225_116.JPG: Rockville
County seat of Montgomery (formerly part of Frederick) County. Made the county seat in 1776. Created a town by act of assembly 1801. Site of Hungerford Tavern where in 1774 resolution of sympathy for Boston was adopted and severance of trade with Great Britain was recommended.
ROCKD_121225_157.JPG: Lost Rockville -- 1801 to 1850
Christ Episcopal Church
The first Episcopal church in or near Rockville was built in 1739 on a two-acre parcel of land, part of which is now the Rockville Cemetery. It was constructed of clapboards and logs and was called both the "Chapel of Ease" and Rock Creek Chapel. The latter name was the same as that of the Mother Church of Prince George's Parish, located 12 miles to the south. The Parish was divided twice in the 1740s, following which the Chapel of Ease (and Rockville) became part of Frederick County.
Additions were made to the Chapel of Ease in the 1750s, and a transept was added in 1770, which completed its cruciform plan. The result was said to be "considerably handsomer and more church-like" than the brick church which replaced it in 1808. By 1796, the Chapel of Ease was found to be badly decayed and the vestry contracted in 1802 for a large two-story brick building to replace it. This building was completed in 1808 and was consecrated as Christ Church by Bishop Thomas John Claggett.
A new church was built on South Washington Street in 1822. In 1830, Christ Church became the Parish Church with the establishment of Rock Creek Parish. Soon afterward, a rectory was built on Montgomery Avenue. In 1863, Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart and 8,000 soldiers briefly captured Rockville. Union sympathizers sought sanctuary in Christ Episcopal Church and were seized with several members of the vestry. The captives were taken to Brookeville before release.
The Gothic Revival-style church that stands here today was completed in 1887. It was almost destroyed by a hurricane in 1896.
ROCKD_121225_163.JPG: Christ Episcopal Church
Vestrymen Arrested
-- Gettysburg Campaign --
Early Sunday morning, June 28, 1863, 5,000 of Confederate Gen J.E.B. Stuart's cavarlymen rode into Rockville and arrested Union supporters. They sought merchant John H. Higgins at his home, but he had already left for Christ Episcopal Church (across the street). Dora, his wife, ran to the church to warn him, fellow vestrymen Judge Richard Johns Bowie, enrollment officer Lawrence Dawson, and enrollment clerk Richard Williams to remain in the vestry room. On her way home, Dora Higgins also warned the Presbyterian minister, John DeSellum, and Capt. John Vinson, but was too late to save provost marshall Mortimer Moulden and postmaster Thomas Bailey.
Prisoners captured along the way or arrested in town were held in the courthouse a block away. Dora Higgins wrote that "at six [p.m.] ... they carried their prisoners off, compelling Capt. Vinson, tho' too ill to stand alone, to mount a horse, at the point of their sabers, and go with them."
After Stuart left, Dora Higgins returned to the church to inform the vestrymen it was safe. A Confederate rear guard followed her, however, and arrested them. When local secessionists told her that they had taken no role in the arrests, she replied, "I know positively that not one of you could have any influence today, as Gen. Stuart had a written list of all the Union men's names. But some one here furnished that list."
ROCKD_121225_203.JPG: The Eternal Flame
by American Legion Post 86
Wikipedia Description: Rockville, Maryland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rockville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. According to the 2006 census update, the city had a total population of 59,114, making it the second largest city in Maryland.
History:
Situated in Piedmont region and crossed by three creeks (Rock Creek, Cabin John Creek, and Watts Branch), Rockville provided an excellent refuge for semi-nomadic Native Americans as early as 8000 BC. By the first millennium BC, a few of these groups had settled down into year-round agricultural communities that exploited the native flora, including sunflowers and marsh elder. By AD 1200, these early groups (dubbed Montgomery Indians by later archaeologists) were increasingly drawn into conflict with the Senecas and Susquehannocks who had migrated south from Pennsylvania and New York. Within the present-day boundaries of the city, six prehistoric sites have been uncovered and documented, and borne artifacts several thousand years old. By the year 1700, under pressure from European colonists, the majority of these original inhabitants had been driven away.
The first land patents in the Rockville area were obtained by Arthur Nelson between 1717 and 1735. Within three decades, the first permanent buildings in what would become the center of Rockville were established on this land. Still a part of Prince George's County at this time, the growth of Daniel Dulaney's Frederick Town prompted the separation of the western portion of the county, including Rockville, into Frederick County in 1748.
Being a small, unincorporated town, early Rockville was known by a variety of names, including Owen's Ordinary, Hungerford's Tavern, and Daley's Tavern. The first recorded mention of the settlement which would later become known as Rockville dates to the Braddock Expedition in 1755. On April 14, one of the approximately two thousand men who were accompanying General Edward Braddock through wrote the foll ...More...
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Directly Related Pages: Other pages with content (MD -- Rockville -- Downtown) directly related to this one:
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2022_MD_Rockville: MD -- Rockville -- Downtown (106 photos from 2022)
2015_MD_Rockville: MD -- Rockville -- Downtown (111 photos from 2015)
2011_MD_Rockville: MD -- Rockville -- Downtown (13 photos from 2011)
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[Structures]
2012 photos: Equipment this year: My mainstays were the Fuji S100fs, Nikon D7000, and the new Fuji X-S1. I also used an underwater Fuji XP50 and a Nikon D600. The first three cameras all broke this year and had to be repaired.
Trips this year:
three Civil War Trust conferences (Shepherdstown, WV, Richmond, VA, and Williamsburg, VA),
a week-long family reunion cruise of the Caribbean,
another week-long family reunion in the Wisconsin Dells (with lots of in-transit time in Ohio and Indiana), and
my 7th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con trip (including side trips to Zion, Bryce, the Grand Canyon, etc).
Ego strokes: I had a picture of Miss DC, Ashley Boalch, published in the Washington Post. I had a photograph of the George Segal San Francisco Holocaust memorial used as the cover of Quebec Francais (issue 165). Not being able to read French, I'm not entirely sure what the article is about but, hey! And I guess what could be considered to be a positive thing, my site is now established enough that spammers have noticed it and I had to block 17,000 file description postings for Viagra and whatever else..
Number of photos taken this year: just below 410,000.
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