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Transportation
in Rockville
(page
2 of 5)
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Trains
In 1873, the train steamed
into town and remade Rockville. Until then, going most anywhere meant hours of uncomfortable travel by foot, horse, or carriage. Now
Washington, D.C. was a short trip away. Local reaction was
enthusiastic: Rockville’s newspaper, the Sentinel, declared, "…instead
of eight or ten mortal hours of almost unendurable agony,
the trip can now be made in forty-five minutes, and at
trifling cost."
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Train service
brought huge changes to Rockville. Local farmers could now
easily get their
products to Washington markets, and Rockville became for a
time a vacation destination for city dwellers. A more
lasting change was the development of the town as a
Washington suburb and the arrival of a new type of resident—the commuter.
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Trolleys
From 1900 until 1935, the
trolley provided another inexpensive way to travel.
Trolley speed limits in Rockville of 12 miles per hour (6
miles per hour at intersections) increased up to 60 miles
per hour in rural areas along the Rockville Pike or in the
woods between Montrose and Grosvenor. You could travel
to Washington, D.C. in about an hour for 50 cents. The
trolley delivered goods such as wood stoves, furniture, ice,
butter, and milk from Washington shops to local
residents. Commuters and farmers used the train while
residents took the trolley. It was popular,
particularly for short trips, until cars became commonplace.
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