Laytonsville: From Crossroads to Community

11/11/2025

HONORING OUR VETERANS

Veteran’s Day offers us an opportunity to express gratitude for the sacrifices made by our nation’s veterans. Every veteran represents a story of dedication, courage, and resilience.


So how many military veterans are there in the USA? Approximately 16.5 million. Over 50% are aged 65 or older. The US Census estimated that there are about 36,589 veterans living here in Montgomery County.


The men and women who have served have taken a front seat to some of history’s most powerful events. Honoring veterans lets us appreciate those past sacrifices while making sure our veterans feel valued and supported.

11/04/2025

LABYRINTH GALLERY - GRAND OPENING

NEW USE FOR AN OLD (REALLY OLD) BUILDING

As of next Saturday, Nov. 8, Laytonsville will have a permanent art gallery with two resident artists. Everyone is invited to the opening reception Saturday afternoon from 3-5 p.m. Be there at 4:00 for a conversation Q&A with the artists.

The gallery is located in a very old (1850s) Laytonsville building on Sundown Road, long known as Temperance Hall, then as blacksmith Frank Bell’s place, then the home of Virginia Griffith, and most recently the New to You second-hand shop. Now St. Bartholomew Church has renovated the building for use as a meeting space and as an art gallery.

6920 Sundown Road
(St. Bartholomew’s Meeting House)

You may already know our two local artists. Jennifer Rutherford is originally from Canada, but she and her family have lived in Laytonsville since 2014. Lori Myers grew up in northern Montgomery County, and her folks were farm families here and in Frederick County. Both share a love of the beautiful countryside in this area.

Here’s a link to a Family Room page about Jennifer and her work.
https://www.thefamilyroomlaytonsville.com/post/featured-artist-jennifer-rutherford

Here are links to pages about Lori’s life and her work with landscapes.
https://www.lorimyersart.com/about

https://www.lorimyersart.com/artwork/landscapes

If you have not seen the renovations at the Meeting House, this is a good time to see what has been done to keep the historical connection to the 1850s while modernizing it for modern use. It was originally built as a sort of Town Hall and meeting area for local residents, so after many years it has returned to its original purpose.

Opening Reception
Saturday, November 8
3-5 p.m.
Conversation Q&A with the artists at 4 p.m.
6920 Sundown Road
(St. Bartholomew’s Meeting House)

10/13/2025

NATIVE AMERICAN PEOPLE IN OUR REGION

WHY ARCHAEOLOGISTS TALK ABOUT THE "HOLE IN THE MAP"

Native American tribes have a history in Maryland spanning over 10,000 years, including major nations like the Piscataway and Susquehannock living in agricultural villages, farming corn, beans, squash, and to***co along the rivers. But if we search for stories and traces of these people in the Laytonsville/ Montgomery County area of central Maryland, there just is not much to discover. Local farmers used to find stone projectile points (arrowheads, scrapers, etc.) near Griffith Road and at other spots near creeks, but archaeologists have not found established villages, even before Europeans arrived.

If the Laytonsville of today is a great place for wildlife, crops, and life in general, why don’t we find more evidence of indigenous people living here? Laytonsville Historical Center member Richard Rutherford wondered about that. He set out to explore the current literature and to speak with local archaeologists and historians to find an answer. Some experts refer to our area as “a hole in the map” in terms of settled tribal territories. Others refer to it as a DMZ (demilitarized zone), where small groups ventured to hunt or to seek local stone but did not dare to build homes.

Here is a link to Richard’s summary of his research and the sources he used. The download link is at the bottom of the “Town History” page on the town website.

https://www.laytonsville.md.us/page-1105533

Here is a link to “The 31 Great Places to find Arrowheads in Maryland in 2025.”

https://rockchasing.com/arrowheads-in-maryland/

09/22/2025

LAYTONSVILLE PICNIC 2025

Sometimes September weather is hot, sometimes it’s chilly, but sometimes it’s just perfect, and that was how it was for Laytonsville’s Town Picnic for 2025.

Here are a few photos of Saturday’s entertainment and activities.

As always, we never get around at the right time to get pictures of everyone and everything going on. Please upload photos in the comments for what we missed.

09/12/2025

BACK TO SCHOOL AND DEVELOPING TALENTS

You never know what you’re going to find when you clean behind the furniture. This poster turned up behind a file cabinet in the History Center. It’s from the year ???? and pays tribute to talented students and the music faculty at Laytonsville Elementary School.

Reading, writing, and arithmetic are the essentials, but kids learn so much from music activities like chorus, band, orchestra, and concerts. Besides, we “play” music — it’s fun. Many thanks to all the L.E.S. music teachers over the years for what they have brought to this community.

Does anyone have a guess which year this poster shows, or any of the people in the photos? There are no labels or any writing on the poster.

09/02/2025

AN OVERHEAD LOOK AT YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

A recent visitor to the Laytonsville History Center asked us where to find aerial maps of Montgomery County, especially the area around Laytonsville.

Answer: Not at the History Center. The county’s aerial maps are all online at this link, and they are easy to use:
https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/4d1be724c222444daf63b80b676539a9

Here’s what is available:
“All images prior to 1993 considered “low res and incomplete” but images covering the entire county are provided from the years 1951, 1970, 1979, 1993, 1998, and every 2-4 years throughout the 2000s. Online GIS layer interface provided by Montgomery Planning.”

You just type your address in the search box in the upper right corner and click the search icon. Over on the left side, you click the “annotations” box if you want to see road names. Leave it empty if you don't want road names. The annotations show where future roads will be, even if the location was farmland at the time of the photo.

So give it a try. It's interesting to look at the changes in our area over the last 74 years.

08/27/2025

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/trip-ideas/maryland/tiny-town-time-capsule-md

With historic landmarks, a quaint district and quirky festivals, this tiny community in Maryland is frozen in time.

08/14/2025

BIG THINGS DO HAPPEN IN LAYTONSVILLE

Hey, Laytonsville and Sundown Road residents. Did you notice any funny noises outdoors very late on Wednesday night?

Here’s the explanation from Tom Burke, who was out to witness it all. He took these videos to share with the community.

“Big things DO happen in Laytonsville! Last night around Midnight, this 500,000 pound transformer rolled through town. Signs were taken down, mats were laid on the road, and the 18 axle transporter slowly made the turn from Sundown Road to Rt.108. An amazing sight! Sorry about the long videos.”

This transformer had come from Brighton Dam Road and was headed for the District Line. To DC via Rt.108 and Sundown Road? Yes.

Anyhow, it slowly navigated the intersection and headed for the roundabout at the other end of town.

08/07/2025

PROPERTY RESEARCH IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Have you ever wondered about the history of the place where you live? If it is an older house, you might wonder about who owned it in past years. If you live in a new building, you might wonder about the names of the farming families who once worked that land.

Whether homes are old or new, the Montgomery County Land Records can help provide a history of ownership, and it’s all online and free.

Montgomery History (https://montgomeryhistory.org/) has many resources available to help. One great resource is Director of Library and Archives Sarah Hedlund, who has often been a great help to Laytonsville families and individuals seeking answers to questions about local, county, and state history.

Next Tuesday afternoon, August 12, at 2:00 p.m., Sarah will conduct a Zoom session to provide an overview on the tools available for researching your Montgomery County property, using everything from maps and atlases to insurance records and real estate directories.

To register for the Zoom session, here’s a link.
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_y453fvQBQYCW69REnpDiHw #/registration

You can also visit the Montgomery History website to register.
https://montgomeryhistory.org/event/history-conversations-property-research-in-montgomery-county/

If you have any questions about accessing the talk, Montgomery History suggests that you please contact Matt Gagle, Director of Programs, at [email protected].

08/06/2025

MEETING TONIGHT ABOUT KEYSTONE HOMES

Update corrected with information from the Town.

Sorry -- just heard about this meeting a few minutes ago.

7:00 p.m. Wednesday night, August 6, at the Montgomery Country Club. Keystone Homes intends to build houses on the property adjoining Laytonsville to the west.

Update - there will be more meetings later. The area is in town limits but is not being discussed because of the building moratorium. This meeting is an introduction to the community. Thanks VERY much to Laytonsville Town Council members for sending the correct information. We wanted to inform people but not upset everyone.

07/30/2025

Woo hoo. Go Orioles! A great night, especially if you love heat and humidity. And baseball. ⚾️❤️⚾️

07/28/2025

DAY 4 -- but hopefully the work on the bridge will be completed today.,