Peerless Rockville

May is Preservation Month.  This year’s theme is “See! Save! Celebrate!” and Peerless encourages the community to participate in creative activities that show your support.  Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Glenview Mansion, 1926

• Explore Rockville’s Civic Center Park and visit Glenview Mansion, Rockville’s newest locally designated landmark.
• Spend an hour or two among the tombs at Rockville Cemetery. Dating back to the colonial era, Rockville Cemetery is the resting place of many community leaders.
• Take a bike ride between Adam, Washington, and Jefferson streets and Wood Lane, the original 1803 Plan of Rockville.  There you can find historic markers telling more about the historic homes of old Rockville.

• 

  Dawson Farmhouse, 1893

  Have a picnic on the grounds of Dawson Farm Park.  Dawson Farm Park features two privately owned historic farmhouses, historic outbuildings, and a beautiful park.

• Discover the timeless appeal of the neighborhoods of Twinbrook, Woodley Gardens, New Mark Commons, Americana Centre, and King Farm. 

Show us which historic place matters to you.

• Participate in “This Place Matters,” a fun way to celebrate the places that make Rockville special.  Download a This Place Matters sign and take a picture of yourself holding the sign while standing in front of your favorite historic place. Send your picture to info@peerlessrockvile.org and you may see your picture featured on Peerless’ Facebook page.

This spring in a series of illustrated presentations and walking tours, Peerless Rockville welcomes you to re-discover the timeless appeal of several of Rockville’s most loved modern planned neighborhoods. Through these events, residents will learn more about the city’s growth and development as we focus attention on several neighborhoods of Rockville’s recent past.

Free and open to the public, the series will highlight five neighborhood communities from the early postwar housing boom to mid-century planned development to the “new town” movement popular at the end of the century.  The series will culminate in an evening lecture and panel discussion at Rockville City Hall, offering guest lecturers and residents an opportunity to discuss the factors that influenced modern development, the significant elements of each time period and the special features of each community that have contributed to its success and left lasting imprints.

The schedule for the upcoming series:

Building Houses, Creating Community: Joseph Geeraert and Twinbrook, featuring Professor Richard Longstreth of George Washington University, Saturday, March 23, 10 am at the Twinbrook Community Center Annex

Woodley Gardens: A Traditional Red Brick Neighborhood with a Modern Feel, featuring Historian Joan Zenzen, Saturday, April 6, 10 am at the Rockville Senior Center

New Mark Commons: Edmund Bennett’s Mini-New Town and Its Legacy, featuring Professor Isabelle Gournay of University of Maryland, Saturday, April 20 at 10 am at New Mark Commons Clubhouse

Americana Centre: Home-Owning from a Different View, featuring Historian Teresa Lachin, Saturday, April 27, 10 am at the Red Brick Courthouse

Re-Designing Suburbia: Smart Growth in Action at King Farm, featuring Rockville’s Chief of Planning, Jim Wasilak, AICP, Saturday, May 4, 10 am at King Farm Community Center

Modern Living in Rockville:  Panel discussion featuring the speakers and architect Elizabeth Milnarik as moderator on Thursday, May 9, 7:30 pm at Rockville City Hall.

For a sneak preview about the series, watch this Rock11 segment.  More information about each presentation can be viewed on our  events page.

Join us for the seventh annual Montgomery County History Conference on Saturday, January 26, 2013 at the Johns Hopkins University Montgomery County Campus.  This year’s conference includes sessions on science and technology in Montgomery County; the desegregation of Montgomery County public schools; Civil War cemeteries and memorials in the county; recent archaeological work in Clarksburg; women who dared; and many more.  Click here to see the complete schedule and descriptions of sessions.

Sunday, December 2, 2012
1-4 pm
Red Brick Courthouse

On Sunday, December 2, 2012 from 1-4 pm, Peerless Rockville will host a Holiday Open House at the historic Red Brick Courthouse. Free to all, this event is a wonderful opportunity to socialize with members of the community while enjoying light hors d’oeuvres provided by Clyde’s Tower Oaks Lodge, hot cider, live music, and Victorian-style decorations. Peerless will also have the gift shop open where guests can find many discounted gifts related to Rockville’s heritage. We hope to see you there!

Built in 1873, the B&O Railroad Station was one of several stops along the route between Washington’s Union Station and Point of Rocks where the Metropolitan Branch joined the mail line of the B&O Railroad.

Peerless Rockville is proud to launch the fourth Peerless Places Commemorative Ornament highlighting local historic landmarks. The beautifully crafted ornament features Rockville’s B&O Railroad Station. Proceeds benefit Peerless’ educational programs and preservation work.

The 1873 Station has been exquisitely recreated in miniature, capturing the details of the building. This wonderful 2½” high, gold-plated souvenir will be offered in a limited edition. Packaged in a handsome gift box with a descriptive card, this ornament will be treasured for generations to come.

Peerless member price $21.95; non-member $26.95. Ornaments are available for pickup at Peerless Rockville at our Holiday Open House on December 2, 2012 or by mail after December 3, 2012.