How Germantown Roads Got Their Names

In the old days, roads were simply named for the places they went to or from, or for a local landmark. Now streets and roads are given their names by the National-Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC). Streets in large housing developments are named by the developer at site plan review before the M-NCPPC. People can also petition the local government for a particular street name.

When naming streets, the county government attempts to give the street a title that would be identifiable to the local community, either by landmarks or through history. Sometimes, however, the historical site or landmark may be far distant from the road named for it, creating confusion.

In Germantown, Richter Farm Road runs through the old Richter Farm, but extends far beyond that farm at the eastern end. Leaman Farm Road runs through the old Leaman Farm and right by the farmhouse that still exists. Dawson Farm Road, however, is located far from the original farm of Americas Dawson, which lay at the western edge of Germantown off Schaeffer Road. Wherever you see “King” in a street name, it either refers to the Herbert King Farm on Schaeffer Road, or the James and Macie King farm, which was a little further down Schaeffer Road. There were also King farms in the areas around Gaithersburg, Damascus and Clarksburg, but those were different Kings from our Germantown Kings. Of course you have to balance Kings with Queens, even though there were no families by the name of Queen living in old Germantown, so we have Queenstown Drive.

Dorsey Mill Road is on the other side of Interstate 270 from where Slagel Dorsey ran the old Waters Mill, located in Black Hill Regional Park. Bowman Mill Road off Germantown Road is near the mill for which it is named. Bowman Brothers Mill was the first mill built near the Germantown Train Station. The new mill constructed out of its ashes was called Liberty Mill. When the Germantown Road bypass was completed the old bridge over the railroad was closed to traffic and the old sections of Germantown Road were re-named Liberty Mill Road after the mill and Walter Johnson Road.

An 11-year-old, Jennifer Soderberg, was instrumental in getting the section of roadway named for Walter Johnson through petitions she circulated around the community. Johnson, known as “Big Train,” was a pitcher for the Washington Senators and one of the first five players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The large dairy farm that he purchased after the Senator’s World Series win was located on the south side of this road.

Gunners Branch Road is named for the small creek, or branch, that runs near it. The name for the creek dates back to when hunters used to roam the woods that it ran through. Anything named “Seneca” is connected with either Seneca Creek on the south side of Germantown or Little Seneca Creek on the north side. The Seneca Indians were based in what is now New York state. The name is based on an altercation that the local rangers had with a hunting party, maybe Seneca, in the 1790s.

Waters Landing Drive is named for William Waters, who owned all of what is now Churchill back in the early 1800s. There was no lake then and Little Seneca Creek was not navigable, so he had no “Landing.” He did have a mill on Little Seneca Creek, which was shared by his brothers Zachariah and Basil, who had farms to the east of William’s. There was a Waters Road connecting all of the Waters family farms, but only a small section still exists.

Kinster Drive is named for a famous racehorse, owned by Charles Waters in the 1890s. He was the “fastest trotter on the east coast” for a time and Charles used him as a stud on his farm which was on the east side of I-270.

Metz Drive off Clopper road is named for the Metz family farm. Hezekiah Metz hosted George Atzerodt for Easter dinner after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, having no idea that Atzerodt, who would later be arrested at the home of his cousin, Hartman Richter, was involved in the assassination plot.

Aircraft Drive got its name from the landing strip that used to be next to the Fairchild Industries building in the 1960s and 70s. Henderson Corner Drive is named for Reverend Henderson who owned a house there in the late 1800s.

Don’t be misled by street names. There may be no quail at Quail Woods Drive, or wisteria on Wisteria Drive. You may search in vain for crystal rocks on Crystal Rock Drive, or cherries on Cherrywood Place. Seneca Crossing Drive does not cross Great Seneca nor Little Seneca Creeks. There was never a mill at Brandermill Drive, nor a Manor at Milestone Manor Lane.  Milestone was simply the name of the property owner just before development.

Names can be deceiving.