Darnestown in Montgomery County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
A 19th Century Crossroads
Darnestown
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, October 22, 2013
1. A 19th Century Crossroads Marker
Inscription.
A 19th Century Crossroads. Darnestown. The thriving crossroads community of Darnestown during the 1880s looked much different than it does today. Photographs from that time, however, help us understand what someone traveling through Darnestown might have experienced., Darnestown grew during the 19th century to include a store and post office, blacksmith, schoolhouse, tavern, and church. Darnestown's growth and prosperity during this period was due to local grist mills, proximity to the Seneca Quarry, and the neighboring C&O Canal. Improved farming methods and the proliferation of slave labor encouraged farmers to grow tobacco, which was also sent down-river on barges. , By 1871, Darnestown ranked 9th among the most populous towns in Montgomery County with a population of ninety-nine. Population growth increased rapidly during the decade; by 1879 the population doubled to two hundred., Champion Trees, Two champion trees are located between the former location of Dr. Beall's house and the graveyard: a Northern Catalpa and a Kentucky Coffee Tree. Both are native to the Midwest and likely planted circa 1800-1840, possibly by members of the Darne family., As one of Darnestown's oldest trees, the Northern Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa) has witnessed much of the town's history. The tree, located to the east of this sign is 77 feet tall, has a trunk circumference of more than 20 feet and a crown spread of 85 feet. As the largest known tree of its species in Maryland, the catalpa was listed as a State Champion Tree on the 2009 Maryland Big Tree Register and a County Champion on the 2009 Montgomery County Register of Champion Trees.
The thriving crossroads community of Darnestown during the 1880s looked much different than it does today. Photographs from that time, however, help us understand what someone traveling through Darnestown might have experienced.
Darnestown grew during the 19th century to include a store and post office, blacksmith, schoolhouse, tavern, and church. Darnestown's growth and prosperity during this period was due to local grist mills, proximity to the Seneca Quarry, and the neighboring C&O Canal. Improved farming methods and the proliferation of slave labor encouraged farmers to grow tobacco, which was also sent down-river on barges.
By 1871, Darnestown ranked 9th among the most populous towns in Montgomery County with a population of ninety-nine. Population growth increased rapidly during the decade; by 1879 the population doubled to two hundred.
Champion Trees
Two champion trees are located between the former location of Dr. Beall's house and the graveyard: a Northern Catalpa and a Kentucky Coffee Tree. Both are native to the Midwest and likely planted circa 1800-1840, possibly by members of the Darne family.
As one of Darnestown's oldest trees, the Northern Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa) has witnessed much of the town's history. The tree, located to the east of this sign is 77 feet tall,
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has a trunk circumference of more than 20 feet and a crown spread of 85 feet. As the largest known tree of its species in Maryland, the catalpa was listed as a State Champion Tree on the 2009 Maryland Big Tree Register and a County Champion on the 2009 Montgomery County Register of Champion Trees.
Location. 39° 6.199′ N, 77° 17.453′ W. Marker is in Darnestown, Maryland, in Montgomery County. Marker can be reached from Darnestown Road (Maryland Route 28) just east of Seneca Road (Maryland Route 112), on the left when traveling east. In Darnestown Square Heritage Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 14029 Darnestown Road, Gaithersburg MD 20878, United States of America. Touch for directions.
The house and lot located to the west of the graveyard site (right foreground) was owned by the Griffith family at the time this photograph was taken. The frame and log house may have been built as early as the 1850s; by 1863 it was used as a house and store by Samuel Fisher, who eventually sold the property to Ulysses Griffith and James Windsor, who also used it as a store. Griffith and Windsor continued as partners for ten years, until Windsor built his own store and house at the southwest corner of Seneca and Darnestown Roads.
Close-up of the same background photo (on nearby Origins marker)
3. "Richard Beall's House" as sketched by Porte Crayon (David Hunter Strother)
Close-up of photo on marker Harper's New Monthly Magazine October 1866. Cornell University
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, October 22, 2013
4. Darnestown Looking East
Close-up of photo on marker Montgomery County Historical Society
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, October 22, 2013
5. Northern Catalpa
Close-up of photo on marker
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, October 22, 2013
6. Leaves of the Northern Catalpa
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, October 22, 2013
7. The Tobacco Picker
Sculpture by Cheryl Foster. One of six sculpted portraits at Darnesville Square Heritage Park.
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, October 22, 2013
8. Gate Post Finial
The distinctive leaves of Catalpa speciosa betray that this sculpture by Cheryl Foster depicts the champion northern catalpa tree adjacent to Darnestown Square Heritage Park.
Credits. This page was last revised on September 22, 2019. It was originally submitted on October 26, 2013, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. This page has been viewed 534 times since then and 13 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. submitted on October 26, 2013, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.