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Gaithersburg, Maryland

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Gaithersburg, Maryland
City
View of Washingtonian Waterfront, in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
View of Washingtonian Waterfront, in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Official seal of Gaithersburg, Maryland
Seal
Location in the State of Maryland
Location in the State of Maryland
CountryUnited States
StateMaryland
CountyMontgomery
Founded1802
IncorporatedApril 5, 1878
Government
 • MayorSidney A. Katz
Area
 • City
10.2 sq mi (26.3 km2)
 • Land10.1 sq mi (26.1 km2)
 • Water0.1 sq mi (0.2 km2)
Elevation
350 ft (106 m)
Population
 (2008)
 • City
58,744
 • Density5,816.2/sq mi (2,250.7/km2)
 • Metro
5,358,130
Time zoneUTC-5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
Area code301
FIPS code24-31175
GNIS feature ID0593389
Websitehttp://www.gaithersburgmd.gov/

Gaithersburg is a city[1] in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. As of 2010, the city had an estimated total population of 60,108, making it the fourth largest incorporated city in the state behind Baltimore, Rockville, and Frederick.[2] Gaithersburg is located at 39°8' North, 77°13' West, to the northwest of Washington, D.C., and is considered a suburb and a primary city within the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. Gaithersburg was incorporated in 1878. The Greater Gaithersburg Area swells to over 200,000 people when the Gaithersburg suburbs of Montgomery Village and North Potomac are factored in.

Gaithersburg is divided into an east and west district which is split by I-270. The eastern section of the city is older and includes the historic central business district of Gaithersburg called "Olde Town". It also included Lake Forest Mall and the Montgomery County Fair grounds. The east side of the city is the business and job center for the region. Gaithersburg is the biotech hub for the United States located right in the middle of the Montgomery County Technology Corridor. The east side of the city has many neighborhoods that were designed with smart growth techniques and embrace new urbanist. These include the award winning Kentlands community, and the Lakelands community. Three new urbanism communities are under construction including Crown Farm, Watkins Mill Town Center (Casey East and West), and the massive "Science City". The city has a light rail line planned for the western portion of the city to connect all these neighborhoods with 8 total stops planned in Gaithersburg.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is headquartered in Gaithersburg on the west side of the city.[3] Other major employers in the city include IBM, Lockheed Martin Information Systems and Global Services business area headquarters, MedImmune (recently purchased by AstraZeneca), and Sodexo.

The city is also the location of the 220th Military Police Brigade of the United States Army Reserve.

History

Gaithersburg began in 1765 as a small agricultural settlement known as Log Town near the present day Summitee Hall on Ralph Crabb's 1725 land grant "Deer Park", gaining the name Gaithersburg a few years later. The northern portion of the land grant was purchased by Henry Brookes, and he built his home 'Montpelier' there in the late 1780s or early 1790s. His son-in-law, Benjamin Gaither, inherited a portion of that land, and by the 1850s the area had ceased to be called log town and was known to inhabitants as Gaitherburg.[4]

The Forest Oak Post Office, named for a large tree in the town, was located in Gaither's store in 1851. However, when the railroad was built through town the new station was called Gaithersburg, an officially recognized name for the community for the first time. The town incorporated under its current name in 1878. Gaithersburg boomed during the late 19th century and churches, schools, a mill, grain elevators, stores, and hotels were built. Much of this development focused around the railroad station.[4]

In 1873 the B&O Railroad constructed a station at Gaithersburg, designed by Ephraim Francis Baldwin as part of his well-known series of Victorian stations in Maryland. Rapid growth occurred shortly thereafter, and on April 5, 1878 the town was officially incorporated as the City of Gaithersburg. In 1899, Gaithersburg was selected as one of six global locations for the construction of an International Latitude Observatory as part of a project to measure the Earth's wobble on its polar axis. The Gaithersburg Latitude Observatory is (as of 2007) the only National Historic Landmark in the City of Gaithersburg. The observatory and five others in Japan, Italy, Russia, and the United States gathered information that is still used by scientists today, along with information from satellites, to determine polar motion; the size, shape, and physical properties of the earth; and to aid the space program through the precise navigational patterns of orbiting satellites. The Gaithersburg station operated until 1982 when computerization rendered the manual observation obsolete. During the last 20 years, it has become one of the most economically and ethnically diverse areas in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, with many different people from all walks of life calling Gaithersburg home.

On Friday morning, July 16, 2010, Gaithersburg was struck by a 3.6-magnitude earthquake, the strongest recorded quake on the East Coast since records were first kept in the 1970s.

For more history of the town, go to www.GaithersburgHistory.com

Geography

Gaithersburg is located at 39°7'55" North, 77°13'35" West (39.131974, -77.226428)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.2 square miles (26.3 km²), of which, 10.1 square miles (26.1 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it is water. The total area is 0.69% water.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 52,613 people, 19,621 households, and 12,577 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,216.2 people per square mile (2,013.3/km²). There were 20,674 housing units at an average density of 2,049.7/sq mi (791.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 58.2% White, 15% Black or African American, 0.4% Native American, 13.8% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 8.6% from other races, and 4.4% from two or more races. 19.8% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 34.3% of Gaithersburg's population was foreign-born.

There were 19,621 households out of which 34.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.6% were married couples living together, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.9% were non-families. 27.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.14 the population was spread out with 25.0% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 37.7% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 8.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 95.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $74,883 and the median income for a family was $86,422 as of a 2007 estimate.[5] Males had a median income of $44,331 versus $35,861 for females. The per capita income for the city was $27,323. 9.1% of the population and 4.9% of families were below the poverty line. 7.2% of those under the age of 18 and 11.4% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Economy

According to the City's 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,[6] the top employers in the city are:

# Employer # of Employees
1 National Institute of Standards and Technology 2,115
2 IBM 1,100
3 MedImmune 1,027
4 Sodexo USA 1,000
5 Asbury Methodist Village 867
6 The Gazette 428
7 Gene Logic 362
8 BroadSoft 200
9 Qiagen 280
10 Airline Foods 185

Government

Gaithersburg has an elected, five-member City Council, which serves as the legislative body of the city. The Mayor, who is also elected, serves as president of the council. The day-to-day administration of the City is overseen by a career City Manager, currently Angel Jones.

Gaithersburg City Hall

Its current mayor is Sidney A. Katz. (1998-). Previous Mayors include:

  1. George W. Meem 1898–1904
  2. Carson Ward 1904–1906
  3. John W. Walker 1906–1908
  4. E. D. Kingsley 1908–1912
  5. Richard H. Miles 1912–1918
  6. John W. Walker 1918–1924
  7. Walter M. Magruder 1924–1926
  8. William McBain 1926–1948
  9. Harry C. Perry, Sr. 1948–1954
  10. Merton F. Duvall 1954–1966
  11. John W. Griffith 1966–1967
  12. Harold C. Morris 1967–1974
  13. Susan E. Nicholson, May–September 1974
  14. Milton M. Walker 1974–1976
  15. B. Daniel Walder 1976–1978
  16. Bruce A. Goldensohn 1978–1986
  17. W. Edward Bohrer, Jr. 1986–1998
  18. Sidney A. Katz 1998 -

The departments of the city of Gaithersburg and their directors include:

  • Office of the City Manager, Angel Jones
    • Assistant City Manager, Vacant
    • Assistant City Manager, Tony Tomasello
  • Finance and Administration, Harold Belton
  • Planning and Code Administration, Gregory Ossont
    • Neighborhood Services, Kevin Roman
    • Community Services, Crystal Carr
    • Animal Control, Lisa Holland
    • Planning Department, Lauren Pruss
    • Permits and Inspections, Wesley Burnette
  • Information Technology, Peter Cottrell
  • Parks, Recreation, and Culture, Michele McGleish
  • Police, Mark P. Sroka of the Maryland State Police (temporary)
  • Public Works, Jim Arnoult

Transportation

Gaithersburg train station

Roads

The primary spine of Gaithersburg's road network is Frederick Avenue, which runs generally north-south through the middle of the city and connects Gaithersburg to Frederick, Rockville and Washington, DC. The most important east-west cross streets are Diamond Avenue and Quince Orchard Road.

Interstate 270, runs approximately parallel to Frederick Avenue and connects Gaithersburg with the Capital Beltway. Interstate 370 begins in Gaithersburg and is the western terminus of the currently-under-construction Intercounty Connector, which when complete will provide a direct link to Interstate 95 near Laurel.

Transit

Gaithersburg is connected to the Washington Metro via Shady Grove station, which is located just outside the city limits and is the north-western terminus of the Red Line.

Maryland's MARC system operates commuter rail services connecting Gaithersburg to Washington, DC with two stations in the city, at Old Town Gaithersburg and Metropolitan Grove, and a third station - Washington Grove - just outside city limits.

Bus service in Gaithersburg consists of Metrobus routes operated by WMATA and Ride-On routes operated by Montgomery County, as well as paratransit service provided by MetroAccess.

Additionally, the State of Maryland is considering construction of a light rail or bus rapid transit line from Shady Grove Metro station to Clarksburg, Maryland called the Corridor Cities Transitway. If built, the transitway would have several stations in Gaithersburg.

Other

The mainline of CSX Transportation bisects Montgomery County and runs as many as 50 trains a day through the center of Gaithersburg. The MARC trains run on the CSX tracks, as do Amtrak trains, which go through Gaithersburg but do not stop.

The Montgomery County Airpark (IATA airport code: GAI) is a short distance outside Gaithersburg city limits. The airport is the larger of two general aviation airports in the county. For commercial airline service, Gaithersburg residents use Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport or Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

Education

Gaithersburg is served by Montgomery County Public Schools.

Media

Gaithersburg is primarily served by the Washington, DC media market.

Newspapers

Famous people from Gaithersburg

References and footnotes

  1. ^ "Gaithersburg", as place name, is used for more than just the City of Gaithersburg.\ Many unincorporated parts of Montgomery County near Gaithersburg have mailing addresses of "Gaithersburg". At the extreme, there are some properties on the south side of Damascus — several miles north of Gaithersburg, and north even of Montgomery Village, Germantown, Laytonsville and Clarksburg — which have Gaithersburg mailing addresses. For example, the intersection of Log House Road and Woodfield Road (Maryland Route 124) is more than five miles outside the Gaithersburg city limits. This article is, however, about the City of Gaithersburg.
  2. ^ Table 4: Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places in Maryland, Listed Alphabetically: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008, U.S. Census Bureau, released 01 July 2009. Retrieved 01 July 2009.
  3. ^ Technically, although NIST's mailing address is in Gaithersburg, and the City of Gaithersburg surrounds NIST's property, the land where NIST is situated is not incorporated into the City of Gaithersburg. Instead, it is in an unincorporated part of Montgomery County. Owing to the piecemeal manner land has been added to Gaithersburg over the years, there are multiple such unincorporated enclaves within the perimeter; see the City's Zoning Map for details (3MB PDF)
  4. ^ a b Offutt, William (1999). Montgomery County: Centuries of Change. American Historical Press. pp. 166–167. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ACSSAFFFacts?_event=Search&geo_id=16000US2402825&_geoContext=01000US%7C04000US24%7C16000US2402825&_street=&_county=gaithersburg&_cityTown=gaithersburg&_state=04000US24&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=geoSelect&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=160&_submenuId=factsheet_1&ds_name=ACS_2007_3YR_SAFF&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null&reg=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry=
  6. ^ City of Gaithersburg CAFR
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