MoCo History: The Origins of Montgomery Village

In the 1960s, the Kettler Brothers started buying farmland in the Gaithersburg area and eventually assembled more than 1,500 acres. In 1962, the Kettlers purchased the 412-acre Walker Farm adjacent to the City of Gaithersburg. This farm was their largest single property acquisition and where Montgomery Village started. Like many developers, the Kettlers named many new subdivisions in the sprawling “village” after the original farms: Walker, Thomas, Brothers Mill, French, Patton, Fulks, and Wilson. The Walker farm was developed into numerous residential communities – Walkers Choice, Cider Mill, Dockside – as well as a library, a day care center, South Valley Park, and the Montgomery Village Plaza retail center. In addition to memorializing the former farms, the Kettlers attempted to instill a sense of community identity in the names; for example, the “choice” in Walker’s Choice was meant to convey that this was a rental community; some units have since become condominiums. Stedwick means “the meadow,” or “the land that was a dairy farm.”

Watkins Mill Road was named after the Watkins family and the grist mill they operated in the area. The Kettler Brothers’ vision was to create attractive and desirable residential neighborhoods with a range of housing choices and plenty of green space and recreational opportunities, including parks, recreation centers, swimming pools, trails, and lakes. In creating a new community, the Kettlers were able to systematically plan where and how uses would interplay and function together. Locally serving retail centers were conveniently located throughout the area, along with several small office clusters and community facilities. The Village Center was planned to function as the town’s hub, a central location for shopping and community interaction. Other retail centers were located in the lower Village along Lost Knife Road and in the upper Village along Goshen Road.

Vehicular access in Montgomery Village was organized hierarchically with Montgomery Village Avenue serving as the north-south “main street.” Watkins Mill Road, along the west side of the Village, provides another north-south connector. Secondary roads such as Stedwick, Centerway, Apple Ridge, Arrowhead, and Wightman provide east- west connections. Secondary roads connect to smaller residential streets organized in a quintessential suburban pattern featuring curvilinear designs with numerous small private courts and cul-de-sacs. The Kettlers relied on the flexibility of a private street system to accommodate traffic. Houses were clustered close to the street to save space in the rear of the homes for private yards and, in some areas, to allow room for the Village’s network of public trails.

Lake Whetstone is situated along the eastern edge of lower Montgomery Village Avenue. The lake was created by a dam and is a focal landmark feature that provides a serene and peaceful panorama. The Kettlers felt so strongly about creating views of Lake Whetstone, they elevated the southbound lanes of Montgomery Village Avenue so drivers, walkers, and bikers going in both directions could take in the scenery. Lake Whetstone opened for boating and fishing in 1967. Montgomery Village also has Lake Marion and North Creek Lake.