Germantown dates to 1830, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 50% of U.S. towns · #87 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Most of Germantown was built recently: 0.7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Its Register listings are the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and the William and Catherine Biggs Farm. Its Register listings are the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and the William and Catherine Biggs Farm. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1980.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1857.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Germantown’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Germantown is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #87 of 261 in Maryland. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Germantown’s overall grade.
Few Maryland towns list much on the Register (a typical Maryland town has 0.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Germantown’s 1.2 sits near the middle of its state (50% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 11 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1830.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to A−. The pre-1940 share (±0.4 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Germantown’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Germantown’s post office has been open since 1863. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Middlebrook
1857–1905
Germantown
1863–today
Brink
1898–1905
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Black HillBlount CommonsBrandermillBrinkBrownstown EstatesCedar Creek EstatesChadswoodCider Barrel Motor Home CourtFarmingdale EstatesFox ChapelGermantown EstatesGermantown ParkGermantown ViewHenderson CornerKings SquareKingsview KnollsLiberty HeightsMeadowbrook EstatesMiddlebrookMiddlebrook HillsMiddlebrook Mobile Home ParkMilestoneNeelsvilleNorth Germantown
1cemetery inside Germantown
Neelsville Presbyterian
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Germantown’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Germantown’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
In the 1830s and 1840s, the central business area was focused around the intersection of Liberty Mill Road and Clopper Road. Several German immigrants set up shop at the intersection and the town became known as "German Town", even though most residents of the town were of English or Scottish descent.
Passages that mention Germantown, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Montgomery county, Maryland, from its earliest settlement in 1650 to 1879 ..1879 · page 47Read the page →
Read the text
Chestnut Ridge, granted to George Buchanan in 1732, embraced the lands in and adjacent to Germantown Station, on the Metropolitan Railroad. Ital to, granted George Scott in 1740, includes a portion of Horace Waters' land, and others.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Germantown, 1830 to 1975
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1830, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Germantown’s post office opened in 1857, and the census of 1980 counted 9,721 people here.
How does Germantown rank for history?
Germantown is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #87 of 261 in Maryland. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Germantown?
Two places: the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (listed 2016) and the William and Catherine Biggs Farm (2001).
How old are the homes in Germantown?
0.7% of Germantown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1990.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (18), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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