Dawson Farm Park - Rockville's History in Your Own Backyard

The Dawson Family named their farm "Rocky Glen" because of the landscape and the massive outcroppings of white quartzite rock, the glen was once shaded by a grove of huge chestnut trees, but the trees were lost to a blight in the early 1900's. Rocky Glen, or the Dawson Farm is significant both for the architecture of the farmhouses and its historical association with the prominent Dawson family.

Four generations of Dawsons lived at Rocky Glen from 1840 to 1980, many of whom played important roles in local politics and commerce. By the early 1900s, the farm consisted of about 500 acres and contained two dwellings, a granary, stable, barn and other outbuildings. It extended west from Rockville Pike to where Interstate 270 is now located, and from Edmonston Drive to Monroe Street.

The creek flowing through the glen is a fork of Cabin John Creek, which flows into the Potomac River. Henry (Hal) Dawson raised western cattle and horses upon his return to Rocky Glen after almost 30 years in South Dakota. Cattle, hogs, milk and cream were sold at various times, but pigs and chickens were kept for family use.

The Dawsons donated parcels of the farm for various civic purposes, including a high school. The bulk of the property was sold for residential development beginning in the 1950s. The two dwellings



and the last 14 acres passed out of Dawson family hands in 1980. The Dawson Farm park was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

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Dawson Farm - 1840-1979
Rocky Glen Farm / Dawson Farmhouse: Built 1874
Rocky Glen Farm/Dawson Farmhouse: Built 1912
John C. Brown Memorial Bridge
Saint Mary's Catholic Church
Saint Mary's Church
Rockville Station
Montgomery County Jail
1803 Plan of Rockville and Boundary Stone
Boundary Stone

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