History · Redland

Redland’s post office opened in 1869

More historic than 14% of U.S. towns · #204 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it

Most of Redland was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1908 on and the census since 2000.

1869first post office

0on the National Register

1%homes built before 1940

1famous people

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Quick answers

How Redland began

When was Redland founded?

1869

The Redland post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Derwood (1883) and Avery (1892), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 16,998 in 20002020 census: 18,592157 years

How historic is Redland?

More historic than 14% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Redland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Redland’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Redland is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #204 of 261 in Maryland. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Redland’s overall grade.

Founding era1869, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC⁺Homes built before 19401.1% of homes (±0.8) · typical MD town 3.3% · U.S. 8.4%D National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MD town 0.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 14%

NewerOlder

Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 22%

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 Redland’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (20% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be D. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (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 Redland’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Redland are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Redland, and 7 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19086 editions of the USGS map, 1908 to 1981. Watch Redland change.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Redland’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Redland’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Redland had its own post office from 1869 to 1906. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Redland

1869–1906

Derwood

1883–1966

Avery

1892–1905

18601940today

Hamlets and corners on the map

AveryCandlewood ParkCashell EstatesEmory GroveHamlet NorthNeedwood EstatesWinters Run

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the map

Redland on the map, 1908 to 1981

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Redland. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1908Rockville sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Redland.

The story

How Redland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Redland.

Read it all →

The area that is now Redland was part of a 100-acre tract called "Banks' Venture," which was surveyed for John Banks on November 29, 1752. in 1862, the area of Redland shows up on at least one map as an intersection. It is around this time that the settlement of Redland begins taking shape.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Redland in 1879

Passages that mention Redland, cut from the printed page as they were published.

River, thence to Brookeville, thence to Redland, thence to Charles_ Saffell's residence, thence to F. A. Tschiftely's residence, thence to where the river road crosses Watts' Branch, thence up the river road to the road from Poolesville to White's Ferry, thence west to the Potomac River, a tolerabl… — **The history of Montgomery county, Maryland, from its earliest settlement in 1650 to 1879 ..**1879 · page 48Read the page →
Read the text
River, thence to Brookeville, thence to Redland, thence to Charles_ Saffell's residence, thence to F. A. Tschiftely's residence, thence to where the river road crosses Watts' Branch, thence up the river road to the road from Poolesville to White's Ferry, thence west to the Potomac River, a tolerably well defined boundary line of the settlements made before 1730 will be had, excepting a few mentioned settlements made on the head-waters of the Great Seneca and the Dry Seneca. Beyond this bound-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Paradise, surveyed for Thomas Cittings, September 17th, 171*8, for two hundred acres. These two tracts lie on the I side of Bock Creek. The road from Redland to Muncaster's Mill passes through them. Bernard's Desire, surveyed for Luke Bernard, February 1st, 171';;, containing two hundred and thirty… — **The history of Montgomery county, Maryland, from its earliest settlement in 1650 to 1879 ..**1879 · page 41Read the page →
Read the text
Paradise, surveyed for Thomas Cittings, September 17th, 171*8, for two hundred acres. These two tracts lie on the I side of Bock Creek. The road from Redland to Muncaster's Mill passes through them. Bernard's Desire, surveyed for Luke Bernard, February 1st, 171';;, containing two hundred and thirty acres. The road from Bockville to Redland passes through this tract, as also through the farm of the late John Bean.
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

Redland, 1754 to 1966

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

18th century
1754Born hereJohn Ross Key is born here
19th century
1869Post officeThe Redland post office opens
1883Post officeThe Derwood post office opens
1892Post officeThe Avery post office opens
20th century
1905Post officeThe Avery post office closes
1906Post officeThe Redland post office closes
1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1966Post officeThe Derwood post office closes

People over time

Redland, census by census

Between 16,998 and 18,592 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Redland’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

DerwoodIts storyC⁻Washington Grove1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town Gaithersburg5 historic placesC⁺Rockville11 historic placesA⁻Flower HillIts storyD

Questions about Redland’s history

What year was Redland founded?

The Redland post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Redland rank for history?

Redland is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #204 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.

How old are the homes in Redland?

1% of Redland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1980.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (30), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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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