Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1948-04-01


not? We have held the cut for sew
eral years waiting to get just the
story we wanted to go with ton
Sunday we found this item in an
old SENTINEL dated May II, 1878:
strangers visiting our town
(Rockville) all exclaim in praise
of its neat appearance, and we at
home can see decided improve
ments and can attribute them to
their proper source-our efficient
board of town commissioners.
They have just finished paving
Washington Street and propose
paving the streets to the depot and
extending the pavement on Mont
gomery avenue to the Fair
Grounds, and also that on Wash
ingttC street to Texas We hope
that in their work they have not
ignored the triangle in front of the
Court House, which is at present
embellished by tumble-down con-
trivance formerly known as the
hay scales, and in its days a truly
attractive decoration for the pub
lie park Of the town. /. In the
meantime, we claim for the board
congratulations for the past and
encouragement for their future
enterprises.
"We leave our desk to dig new
potatoes out of our garden"
How about those new potatoes
on May IT? Looks like there was
an early spring that year.
But to go on with the story: The
late Albert ]. Almoney, who owned
and edited the Montgomery Adco-
cate for many years, and still had
time to serve as chief clerk of the
State House of Delegates before
his death described the corner
thus:
He said that where Wilson's
drug store stands stood the old
Washington Hotel and that an an
cestor of the Perry family once
lived on the present site of the
Montgomery County National
Bank. So quite likely the white
building in the picture is the old
hotel.
About the time Matthew Fields
died in 1871 an advertisement was
running in the SENTINEL in which
b@Perry Trail, proprietor of The
Washington Hotel" proclaimed
that he kept on hand the choicest
wines, liquors and "seegars" and
claimed to "set the best table the
town can afford"
Notice in the picture of 1870
the ruts in the roadway which
show it to be of dirt construction
the iron fence around the court
house. All the houses seem to have
been enclosed with white pal
ings"-there was one such fence
in front Of the house which stood
where the Kingdom Building houses
the SENTINEL office.
We have told you many times
that before Montgomery Avenue
was extended and the new" road
to Washington cut through = the
old Georgetown Road came into
Rockville about where the Fire.
house now stands. 1t went up JEFF
ferson Street several blocks before
turning towards Gaithersburg.
Judge Peters house, where Miss
Nellie Long now lives, is right in
the middle of that old road. The
first court house and possibly the
second, faced Jefferson Street.
Rockville was Incorporated in
1861 with the political privilege of
three commissioners, these being
named by the Board of Commits
sioners for Montgomery County.
In 1884, this system was changed
to the present one of Mayor and
four Councilmen elected by the
voters of the town. The Mayor was
given the privilege of trying crimi-
nal cases but is said never to have
exercised the power. The cases are
now heard in the County police
court.
Back in 1861, when the town was
first incorporated, Rockville was
simply a backward village, like
every other small place in the
United States. There we're no side
walks, nor were any of the streets
paved. The first brick pavement
was laid in front of the court
house, the bricks being moulded at
a kiln run by a man named Sheck-
ell. 1t was in sharp contrast to the
present town, with its smooth side
walks and its concrete roadways,
though we must admit there is still
room for much improvement, espe-
cially on Commerce Lane, Middle
Lane (probably Monkey Run to
you) and on Wood Lane all Of