Clopper Road is one of the oldest roads in Montgomery County and was originally a Native American trail. For the most part, the road still follows the original trail, except for a small section between the bridge over Seneca Creek and the entrance to the State Park. Before 1951, travelers crossed over a small stone bridge and winded through a gravel Clopper Road, which led up towards the present-day Visitor Center parking lot, and back out to the modern route, directly across the street from Game Preserve Road. Shown here is the old section of Clopper Road in 1945, which is today part of the Great Seneca Trail in Seneca Creek State Park.
In John Denver's famous song "Take Me Home, Country Roads", the country road was Clopper Road. Songwriters Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert wrote most of the tune while driving on Clopper Road near Gaithersburg, on their way to a family reunion. They completed the song, with the help of John Denver, in December 1970.
| Name | Date | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Bob Marshall | 12/1/13 | As a lifelong (66) years resident of G'Burg I love seeing these old pictures. When I graduated from GHS in 1965 the population was 2,600 and there were 2 stop lights in the town. Quite different now. |
| Pat Lawrence | 12/1/13 | I love these pictures. Thank you for posting. |
| Dianne Sommerville Rice | 12/1/13 | Gaithersburg has changed so much. I hate to go down there anymore. My mother is Catherine Broschart Sommerville, Dr. Broscharts daughter. the picture that you have to guess what street I believe is Summit ave.. nice seeing the old pictures again. |
| Margie Hickman | 12/1/13 | I was a Montg Co resident for a long time and loved Gaithersburg. It has changed so much that I hardly recognize the place but hold it so dear to my heart. |
| ronnie brooke | 3/25/16 | I lived at 16 park ave -love seeing the old pictures of places where I grew up thanks very much -- |
| Dick Rabil | 12/6/17 | Though there is no photo of Clopper road here in the 70s, this is where the lyrics for the song "Almost heaven, West Virginia" were actually written. The writer took them to John Denver and they massaged the lyrics to the current version. |
| Frederick Edelstein | 9/27/20 | According to wikipedia (Maryland_Route_117 see Cultural Significance), Clopper Rd was the inspiration for John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" |