Below you will see a brief history of Wheaton, courtesy of the Wheaton & Kensington Chamber of Commerce. Wheaton, Maryland was named for Major General Frank Wheaton, one of the few generals of the Civil War who attained this rank in the Union Army without attending West Point. The area developed from Leesborough, a small business district which grew near the junction of three major roads– Brookeville Pike (now Georgia Ave), Veirs Mill Road, and Old Bladensburg Road (now University Blvd).

In 1864, General Wheaton commanded the defense of Washington from Ft. Stevens against Confederate General Jubal Early’s attack in early July. The fort, still standing, was not far down Georgia Avenue (then called the 7th Street Pike) from the then thinly settled countryside that only five years later was to take the General’s name. Early Wheaton area families were the Cissells, Hardys, Stubbs, Hickersons, Godfreys, Bowies, Eustices, Dwyers, Pendletons, Wellers, Magruders, Ecclestons, and Plyers. Some of these didn’t settle in Wheaton until after the Civil War.