Laytonsville: From Crossroads to Community

05/28/2026

PEONY FLOWERS BLOOMING IN MAY

THAT'S A LOCAL THING

Given all the dry farm fields and home gardens around Laytonsville recently, we really needed every drop of last week’s rain. Unfortunately, the rainfall did quite a job on the beautiful blooming peonies. Maybe a few late bloomers will appear this weekend. Peonies have been the flower of the traditional Memorial Day, May 30.

Since this is a historical page, let’s take a look back 100+ years to Edward Schwartz’s peony garden in Gaithersburg. When you’re driving though Old Town Gaithersburg, the City Hall you see on South Summit Avenue used to be his house, along with 10.5 acres of land around it. Today where you see the post office, the Shell station, the City Hall offices – all that used to be thousands of peony plants, six acres of them in full bloom at this time of year.

How did that happen? Here’s the story from a 1923 interview in the Washington Herald newspaper with Edward Schwartz, a DC realtor.

“Ten years ago Schwartz bought a home and ten and one-half acres of land out at Gaithersburg. He noticed a bush planted near the house, but could not identify the variety of flower.

“Taking some of the foliage, he repaired to the Department of Agriculture. There he was told it was a peony plant – one of good variety. He returned home, divided the root into thirty-two units, which he planted. It happened to be a fine variety – white and light pink petals and a red center.

“So interested became Schwartz that he made further inquiries at the Department of Agriculture. He learned that of 2,000 varieties only 400 are worth planting.

“So he gathered together the 400 highly rated varieties. He has imported them from England, Japan, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Today his collection is envied throughout the United States.”

If you live in one of the older homes in the Laytonsville-Gaithersburg area and have peonies in the garden, as our Town Hall does, the original plants probably came from the Schwartz garden. The Laytonsville cemetry used to have many peony plants.

People traveled to Gaithersburg to buy bouquets to decorate family graves in cemeteries as well as to take home and enjoy. May and June weddings at St. Martin’s Catholic Church often featured peony bouquets from the Schwartz gardens across the street.

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Incidentally, Edward Schwartz bought that house, the one that is now the Gaithersburg City Hall, from a man from Laytonsville. Israel G Warfield, Jr. (1869-1918) grew up on the family farm, which is now the Rolling Ridge homes on Brink Road. His father told his three sons that a 250-acre farm was not enough land to support them all. They each must go out and build a career. Two of the sons became dentists. Israel Warfield lived there on South Summit in Gaithersburg and practiced dentistry for many years.

05/24/2026

THE NEW FREEDMEN'S STATE PARK OPENS

NEAR LAYTONSVILLE AND UNITY

Maryland’s newest state park, the 1,042-acre Freedmen’s State Park near Laytonsville, was officially opened on Friday, May 15, 2026. The park honors the legacy of the Howard family, who owned the land after emancipation from slavery, and became major contributors to black communities in Maryland, including by founding the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper.

State officials said that they were able to create the new state park thanks to the Great Maryland Outdoors Act, which the legislature passed in 2022 after a historic surge in state park visitation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The law allowed for the park’s dedication and allocated funds for its branding and additional park rangers.

05/21/2026

DON’T FORGET THE GHS MAJORETTES

After we posted on Tuesday about Miss Frieda Price, the band director at Gaithersburg High for 23 years, there was some interest about the majorettes of that time. GHS majorettes were busy girls, appearing at (and practicing for) parades, pep rallies, and football games along with the marching band. Majorettes at Gaithersburg in the 1960s were part of the transition from the baton twirling of the 1950s toward the dance team routines of today.

Majorettes add visual entertainment to the performance of the band, connecting the music to the crowd with their routines. Here are a few photos of the GHS majorettes from the early 1960s. One problem — the yearbooks did not give the name of the faculty sponsor. Does anyone remember which teacher sponsored the majorettes back in the 1960s? Did Miss Price sponsor them too?

Please feel free to add your photos from those days in the comments.

05/20/2026

STRIKE UP THE GHS MARCHING BAND

WITH FRIEDA PRICE

Hello to all you Gaithersburg High School graduates of yesteryear, especially if you marched in the band. We're passing along a change-of-address message about the indomitable Miss Frieda Price. At the age of 98, Miss Price has finally given up driving and moved from her longtime home in Gaithersburg to a new location in Virginia.

We've included a couple of photos from a 60s "Sail On" yearbook to take you back to those days.

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Hello GHS Classmates:

We have received information as to Frieda Price – “the instrumental leader” of the GHS Band Marching band from its beginning with her arrival at GHS in 1947 until her retirement from leadership at the end of the 1970 school year. Frieda has been a bit under the weather health wise, and the family and her doctors have directed her to take a rest from her active life.

Frieda, who is going all speed ahead into her 99th birthday year (Feb. 5, 2027), is currently in assisted living, letting others assist her in the day-to-day chores of living.

Frieda would like to return home and being able to get behind the wheel of her “band mobile”, what else would she drive - (yes, she was still driving); but with the reality of approaching her 99th birthday that is more in the wish column then a real reality.

I thought you would like to know, and you would like to send Frieda a card with your wishes for good health, encouragement, and good thoughts. In addition, tell her what you have been doing as well. Perhaps, don’t just send one card, correspond throughout the year: it is simple: a card, an envelope, and a stamp. Please share this message with fellow GHS Classmates for whom I do not have email addresses.

Ms. Frieda Price, Resident
English Meadows
15089 Harmony Hills Lane
Abingdon, VA 24211

05/17/2026

2026 LAYTONSVILLE TOWN PARADE

As always, we try to get photos of everyone in the parade, but we always miss a few and need a little help. So please feel free to add any photos or names or comments in the comments. Thanks

05/10/2026

REMEMBERING OUR AGRICULTURAL ROOTS

One week till the 2026 Laytonsvile Town Parade, and this year the theme is “Remembering Our Agricultural Roots.” If you are an old-timer from this area, you’re thinking “Grandpa would love this.” But if you are more of a newcomer, you may be wondering exactly what are Laytonsville’s agricultural roots supposed to be? "Is something supposed to be different about farming around here than farming back where I grew up in Wisconsin, New York, Colorado, etc.?"

Here’s a short history along with a few photos of our beautiful local farms and a video about “Farming for Two Centuries,” located in the comments for this post.

The agricultural roots of Laytonsville run very deep and are central to why the town exists at all. Its history reflects a classic pattern in Montgomery County. Fertile land → successful farms → crossroads market community → small rural town that still retains agricultural character today.

Fertile land made farming the foundation

First, the fertile land. Laytonsville developed in an area with exceptionally productive soil, especially clay loams. These soils are:
- well-drained but moisture-retaining
- supported by a red clay subsoil that helps crops survive dry summers
- This made the area ideal for grain, livestock, and general mixed farming, and farming success was one of the primary reasons the settlement grew.

A farming crossroads (“Cracklintown”)

Before it was Laytonsville, the community was known as “Cracklintown,” a name tied to local food culture (cracklin cornbread). But more importantly, it sat at a key transportation crossroads in the late 1700s and early 1800s.

- Roads connected western Maryland farms to Baltimore markets
- Livestock—especially cattle and pigs—were driven through the area.
- The town became a natural stopover for drovers and traders

This positioned Laytonsville as a service hub for surrounding farms, with taverns, blacksmiths, and stores supporting agricultural commerce.

A true farming community in the 19th century

By the mid-1800s, Laytonsville was unmistakably an agricultural town:
- Dozens of farmers formed the backbone of the population
- Supporting trades included blacksmiths, wheelwrights, harness makers, and merchants
- The town functioned as a local market center for nearby farms


Farms shaped the landscape and architecture

Many historic properties in and around Laytonsville—such as Layton House and area farmsteads—originated as working farms or were tied to agricultural families.

Continued agricultural identity into the present

We are very fortunate. Unlike many Washington, D.C. suburbs, Laytonsville has retained a strong rural and agricultural identity:

- It sits on the edge of Montgomery County’s agricultural areas
- Farmland still exists around the town
- Local planning emphasizes preserving its “rural town” character and proximity to agriculture

Another bonus for us — Nearby places like the Agricultural History Farm Park help interpret and preserve this broader farming heritage.

In short
Laytonsville began as a fertile farming district, grew into a crossroads market town serving farmers, and has remained a small rural community shaped by agriculture for over two centuries. Its identity today still reflects those origins—something increasingly rare in the Washington suburbs. Our Town Matters!

05/08/2026

SATURDAY IN LAYTONSVILLLE

Join your neighbors in collectively taking a day to make Laytonsville cleaner & greener:

- residential & business yard maintenance
- trash walks in parks, trails, sidewalks and tree lines
- planting of flowers

Is town beautification a new idea for Laytonville? Actually, it's 100 years old. It was 1926 when town residents first organized a Community and School League and held a town cleanup. Good idea. Now we're getting ready for the Town Parade to be held the following Saturday, May 16. Help us show our hometown pride.

Our Town Matters!

05/02/2026

We're sharing a post from the always interesting Reed Brothers Dodge History 1915-2012 page along with an excerpt from our own "Laytonsville From Crossroads to Community" to take you back 97 years to a tragic date in local history.

"That Thursday evening in May between 9 and 10’clock, the Childs family was asleep at their Laytonsville farm along the Olney Road. Upstairs were Fielder B. and Mollie Childs and their sons, 18-year-old Hampton and 16-year-old Fielder. Grandmother Octavia Childs and her granddaughter, 9-year-old Florence, had fallen asleep on the sofa in the living room. The storm began with heavy rain, thunder, and intense lightning. Then a powerful twister struck the house. The brick chimney collapsed into the living room, crushing Octavia and Florence on the sofa. Hampton was swept out of his bed by the wind. Later he was found in a field 300 feet from the house. He was taken to Montgomery County General Hospital in Olney, but he died of his injuries the next morning. The rest of the family – parents Fielder and Mollie Childs, their 16-year-old son Fielder, and farm hand James Leizear -- were also hospitalized but survived with injuries.

The force of the winds demolished the farm, even scalping the feathers off of the surviving chickens. Financial papers from the farm were blown all the way to Howard County, where they were found later. Ironically, Hampton’s newly purchased car remained where he had parked it, untouched, although the garage shed around it had been blown away. Gaithersburg, Sandy Spring, and Rockville fire departments worked for hours to rescue family members and to recover the bodies.

As a result of the same tornado, another fatality occurred near Unity when the top floor of a stone house collapsed on Amelia Knapp, 88, after the roof was blown off her house and the upper story collapsed. Three other houses near Brookeville lost their roofs. Other farms in the area lost roofs, outbuildings, chimneys, and trees. On the Benson farm, next to the Childs farm, all the buildings were demolished, and the apple orchard was uprooted.

Ninety-seven years ago today, one of the worst tornado outbreaks in area history devastated a part of Montgomery County Maryland. At about 9 p.m. on Thursday, May 2, 1929, northeastern Montgomery C…

03/21/2026

MORE FAME FOR THE SUNSHINE BURGER

There is no shortage of places to eat in Montgomery County. Upscale dining, international cuisine, fast food, local favorites -- it's all there if you drive a few miles.

If you drive 4.7 miles east from the Laytonsville crossroads on Sundown Road, you'll find yourself at the Sunshine General Store, which once again has won fame for its Sunshine burger. Congratulations! We're sharing this notice from The MoCo Show.

Many in Montgomery County are already well aware of the burgers coming out of Sunshine General Store in Brookeville. Now, that local favorite is getting statewide recognition. This past summer, […]

03/14/2026

NOW WE KNOW WHO IS IN THIS PHOTO

WELL, FOUR OF THEM . . .

Update: Yes, thank you to Jamie Norton for help with the identification. Mark and Sean Kimble are two of the kids in the pool. Their family members agree. Given the birthdates of Mark and Sean, this is probably the LDVFD burn of the Fulks house on the Mobley property back in the mid-1970s. Roger and Clark Beall are the adults in the pool.

Mark and Sean Kimble do not recall the names of the other children, so if anyone else recognizes those kids, please let us know. It's nice to remember everyone in the name listing.

And thanks to Roger Lamborne for the photo, which has led to memories of the origins of the Laytonsville Historic District, the importance of all the Fulks family in town history over the years, and the service of the Laytonsville District Volunteer Fire Department toward the safety of the people of our area.

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So, were you around here in the 1970s? Do you remember this event? Maybe you can help identify who’s in the photo.

Roger Lamborne, originally from the Olney area, provided this information:
“Roger Lamborne and Clark Beall
Corner of Rt. 108 and Sundown Road
Laytonsville, Maryland
House burning drill, Co. 17
Laytonsville District Volunteer Fire Department”

And he commented, “About 1980-1982, cooling off in the dump tank following the Co. 17 House burning drill at the corner of Rt 108 and Sundown Rd, Laytonsville, Md with Clark Beall on the right. Clark, can you or someone ID the youngsters.”

Any ideas? Anybody you know in the picture?