Rockville, Peerless Rockville
Rockville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland. It is a suburb of Washington, D.C. and a city in its own right. I am familiar with Rockville from living in Washington, D.C. for more than 40 years, visiting friends in the city, using its educational and cultural resources, and driving and taking the Metro by and shopping in the endless stores along Rockville Pike.
This short photographic history, "Rockville" (2020) is part of the Images of America series of local histories. It is written by "Peerless Rockville Historic Preservation, Ltd" together with local historian Frank Buglass. Peerless Rockville is a non-profit community organization founded in 1974 to protect buildings and other things important to Rockville's history and to teach about Rockville and its history.
The most striking thing about this book is the love and enthusiasm it brings to the community. Reading the text and viewing the many images, the book convinces the reader that Rockville is, if not always "peerless" a comunity with a shared history and a sense of spirit ranging from its colonial past to the present and projecting into the future. The book presents a lively, diverse city with a sense of itself and a cohesiveness through good times and bad. It is valuable to have love and loyalty towards one's home as displayed in this history of Rockville.
In ten brief chapters, Peerless Rockville takes the reader on a historical journey beginning when Rockville was little more than a crossroads during the revolutionary era and continuing through its growth as a city due to the railroad, trolley, automobile, and Metro, and the city's expansion following WW II. The early chapters document the growth of the city and its rise as the county seat. The book shows the large African American presence and influence in Rockville beginning with the years of segregation. Rather than covering over this segregationist history, the book shows how the city has moved on. Chapters of the book cover education in Rockville, the many different neighborhoods of the city, houses of worship, and residents of the city over the years who have made a difference to the nation.
The latter chapters of the book cover the story of urban renewal in Rockville. With the growth of Rockville Pike, the downtown community seemed to be fading away. In the 1960's many old storefronts and homes were demolished in an effort to revitalize the city. There were some successes in building residences, but the business revitalization of the downtown failed badly. Undaunted, the city tried again. It was able to reinvent itself and now boasts a thriving, prosperous business district. The old buildings and the new, historic sites and contemporary places are presented in this book with informative texts.
I enjoyed visiting Rockville through this book and learning about the city in more depth than I have done in my years in the D.C. metropolitan area. But more than the particulars of Rockville's history, I learned from the spirit of community, shared purpose, and enthusiasm for "Peerless Rockville" that shines through the pages of this book.
