In 1938 local businessman Eugene B. Casey built his barn, which was used as a dairy barn. All the lumber to build the barn came from Casey's farms that were located across from one another on Frederick Avenue. The 60 cows at the dairy barn produced 300 gallons of milk a day, which were sold to the Thompson and Chestnut Farms dairies. Casey's barn had a secondary life as a signboard, most notably for political candidates in the 1940s, as shown in the picture above. The dairy barn soon became a local landmark. Archived Comments
The Holiday Motel is another interesting building that has vanished. Build circa 1945, it was originally called the All States Motel, and was one of the first buildings motorists would see as they entered Gaithersburg along Route 355. In the 1960s, the Gaithersburg Gazette Newspaper was published at the Holiday Motel and in 1970, the DC metro area's first cable television franchise was operated from the motel. I remember, as a child in the early 1990s, driving by this building with my parents and thinking that it looked haunted. Now in its place is an EZ Storage facility and a Hyatt Suites. Archived Comments
Walker Avenue is the most cohesive street in Gaithersburg's historic district. Most of its houses were built between 1904 and 1930. The street is named after John Walker, whose farm became Walker Avenue when he decided to subdivide the front end in 1904. Walker was mayor of Gaithersburg from 1906 to 1908 and again from 1918 to 1924. Archived Comments
Susanna Gaither was the mother of Thomas Brookes, who inherited much of the land now occupied by the Brookes and Russell subdivision. Susanna lived at 16 Brookes Avenue, next to Epworth Church. The black-and-white photograph was taken in 1918 and the house is still standing today. Archived Comments
