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This Arts & Crafts-style bungalow  was built in the mid-1920s and is associated with several citizens prominent in Rockville's history.

   I'm currently working on survey of historical places and themes of 20th century Rockville, Maryland. The project, called Rockville's Recent Past, involves identifying, documenting, and conducting an initial assessment of places that appear to meet criteria used to evaluate for historic significance.

    The scope of this study will provide a reference for further research, public planning, preservation, conservation, and educational activities related to 20th century history and architecture in Montgomery County, Maryland.

    Much of Montgomery County's identity is defined by the 20th century--its recent past.  Although Rockville, the county seat, is more than 250 years old, the city today was largely formed since 1945.  Since that time, Rockville's population has increased twenty fold, its land area has multiplied by eighteen, and it has changed in perception and description from a county town to a small city.

    An increasing number of resources from the 20th century are reaching established thresholds for historic evaluation.  The speed of change--driven by technology and an increasing population--continues to produce dramatic change in Rockville's land use, architecture, and landscape.  Our challenge is to set effective priorities for historic preservation of 20th century resources--before they are lost or irreversibly altered.  My organization, Peerless Rockville, has identified this time period as containing the most endangered and beleaguered group of historic resources.  Buildings and landscapes have not been fully identified, researched, protected, and considered in planning and development.

    The information and technical expertise (including GIS capability) gained through Rockville's Recent Past will aid in current and future preservation efforts by Peerless Rockville and other local organizations.

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    Author F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Fitzgerald, icons of the Jazz Age, are buried in Saint Mary's Church Cemetery in Rockville, Maryland.  The inscription on the tombstone is from the last line of The Great Gatsby.  When Showtime Networks needed a photo for a Spring 2003 production about  Fitzgerald, I ran over to the cemetery and took three snapshots.  Showtime used one in its production, and the photo to the left was published in the Winter 2003 edition of The Wilson Quarterly.

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    Rockville, Maryland is shown as "Montgomery Court House" at a crossroads near the center of Montgomery County on Dennis Griffith's 1794 Map of Maryland.    - From the Peerless Rockville Collection

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    My first introduction to GIS!  Working with the City of Rockville's GIS manager and bicycle advisory committee, I'm in the process of producing a series of bicycle tour brochures highlighting historic Rockville.  The maps that go with the brochures are getting better with each new route we develop.  They can be downloaded from the Peerless Rockville web site if you have Adobe Acrobat Reader.