Washington Grove

History

The land where the residential community of Washington Grove now stands, and all of Montgomery County, was traveled and inhabited by indigenous people from around 10,000 BCE. Members of the Massawomeck, Susquehannock, Senaca (Iroquois), and Piscataway-Conoy tribes lived in the area, primarily using the land as crossover territory toward rock shelters, encampments and sizable villages near the Potomac River. Tribal boundaries were fluid. A group of Methodists began the tradition of having camp meetings in the area circa 1800. Camp meetings were a tradition where a group of Methodists would gather in a forest clearing to worship and socialize. Benches were arranged in a circle or oval with an elevated preachers' stand in the middle. The land was given to the Washington Grove Meeting Association, which had been recently incorporated on March 30, 1874. A person could build a cottage on the land by purchasing five shares of stock for twenty dollars per share. The first share had to be purchased with cash, while the other four could be financed at an annual interest rate of six percent. Named Washington Grove Camp, the first camp meeting began on August 5, 1874, with 240 tents. In 1877, a tabernacle with a belfry for a bell was built in the center of the circle. The camp-meeting managers used this power to prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages anywhere on the grounds. While entertaining programs were allowed, card playing, theater going, and dancing were all banned. The Barrett Brothers, who operated the camp store, asked for an exception to sell ice cream and sandwiches on Sundays, but their request was denied. The cottages peaked roofs resembled that of the original tents, and the architectural style was Carpenter Gothic, which was fashionable at the time. In 1879,…

Geography

Washington Grove is located in central Montgomery County at (39.139535, -77.175926). It is bordered to the west by the town of Gaithersburg, and to the northeast and southeast by unincorporated Redland. Rockville, the Montgomery county seat, is to the south, and downtown Washington, D.C., is to the south-southeast. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Washington Grove has a total area of , of which , or 0.59%, are water. The town sits on a ridge that drains northwest to Whetstone Run, a tributary of Great Seneca Creek, and southeast to Mill Creek, a tributary of Rock Creek. Seneca and Rock Creek are south-flowing tributaries of the Potomac River.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Walter Johnson High
  High · Bethesda · 2,942 students · 18.6:1 ratio
• Wheaton High
  High · Silver Spring · 2,599 students · 16.6:1 ratio
• Northwest High
  High · Germantown · 2,484 students · 17.3:1 ratio
• Gaithersburg High
  High · Gaithersburg · 2,436 students · 14.3:1 ratio
• Richard Montgomery High
  High · Rockville · 2,390 students · 17.8:1 ratio
• Clarksburg High
  High · Clarksburg · 2,251 students · 17.3:1 ratio
• Seneca Valley High
  High · Germantown · 2,239 students · 14.5:1 ratio
• Winston Churchill High
  High · Potomac · 2,234 students · 18.6:1 ratio