Summer Reading List: Montgomery County Centuries of Change

By Marc Korman.

Still have a little free time this summer? I have one more book recommendation for your summer reading list. My last recommendation, Carl Bode’s Maryland A History, was a bit light on Montgomery County history. To try and make up for it, I recently picked up Montgomery County Centuries of Change from the Bethesda Library. The book was written by Jane Chinn Sween, a lifelong county resident who has worked as the librarian for the Montgomery County Historical Society, and William Offutt, a county native and historian who has worked as a columnist for the Gazette.

The book is primarily a chronological history of the County, from its origins as “Lower Frederick County,” to its establishment as Montgomery County in 1776 (which at the time included Georgetown), through its rapid development with the growth of the federal government, until today. Along the way, the book occasionally stops and focuses on a particular area, such as the County road system, first responders, or religious life. The last chapters of the book profile major entities in the County, such as the National 4-H Conference Center and gives multi-paragraph entries on many of the County’s major towns and municipalities.

Most interesting to readers of this blog will be the County’s fights over growth and the County’s political transformation.

In the 1950s, dealing with massive growth due to the federal government’s expansion, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission began drafting a General Plan. However, before the plan was enacted a group of real estate developers and zoning lawyers formed a political coalition called County Above Party, which swept the County Council and School Board elections and spent four years rezoning and building high density neighborhoods in Bethesda, Friendship Heights, Silver Spring, and other areas before the Planning Commission’s “wedges and corridors” plan became the master plan for the County. Under “wedges and corridors,” development was concentrated along major transportation routes with wedges of green space in between. To me, the concept of County Above Party brought to mind the End Gridlock political slate from 2002. Although the County Above Party actions were controversial, some of their development action may have been necessary to make the County what it is today and jumpstart growth in areas that would go on to be transit hubs.

Politically, Montgomery County had a commissioner structure until the 1940s, when a Charter movement began. The push for a Charter came about in response to the Commissioners making too many decisions behind closed doors with too much special interests influence. The Commission system also kept more power in Annapolis. The new charter, which established increased local rule, failed on its first time on the ballot in 1944, but a rewrite led to its successful enactment in 1948 and the first 7-member County Council in 1949. The County Council was a legislative body, but also acted as executive through an appointed County Manager. As the government grew, a further reform effort called for creating a County Executive so that executive and legislative functions would be separated, which finally occurred in 1968. The office’s first occupant was a Republican, James Gleason, a feat that has not been repeated by any other member of Gleason’s party.

My brief summary cannot do the book’s treatment of the County’s history justice, and I encourage those with the time to flip through it. The book is billed as an illustrated history, so there are also wonderful photos, pictures and maps of the County’s historical figures and places.