Day 38 - Gaithersburg

I needed to help my mother with a project today in Gaithersburg, so after we ate the nice lunch she fixed, I went to the "old town" area to take my walk.

New construction is reflected in the window
of a railroad car.

My family moved to the Germantown/Gaithersburg area when I was in junior high school, back in the mid-sixties.  At that time, we felt that we were absolutely being exiled to the country.

Over the years, Gaithersburg has become more and more of a bedroom community for the Washington/Metro area of workers.  The center of Gaithersburg has a big MARC station and a multilevel parking garage to handle the cars.  Downtown, which used to run along Diamond Avenue with a small commercial area at its center, has seen new, modern buildings spring up around its core.  Small homes that once lined the street are either completely gone, replaced by four story condos, or they have converted to small businesses like a flower shop, an insurance agency, and a dentist.

Diamond Drugs is reflected in the window
of Growlers.

When I was 16, I worked at Diamond Drugs, which still anchors the main downtown intersection.  Nearly every store today has signs with both Spanish and English displayed, because the population has undergone a change, too.

There is a railroad museum in the old depot, and a fire museum in the old fire station.  One of the corner buildings, the Belt Building, houses a microbrewery called Growlers.

Pretty soon, there will probably not be much left of Old Town Gaithersburg.  It appears that it is being swallowed up by new construction.

Click on any photo to enlarge it.

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Visit my web site: camscamerashots.zenfolio.com

Cam's rules for the Daily Photo Walk:

1. walk every day
2. the walk must be in addition to any other planned activity for the day
3. post a photo every day
4. use my Nikon P7100 (it is a very convenient size and weight)
5. no weather excuses
6. walk only where it is safe to do so