Open House at the Bethesda Meeting House Sunday December 8
Please join us Sunday December 8 from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm to relax and enjoy a brisk late autumn afternoon beneath old shade trees with other Bethesda history lovers at the historic Bethesda Meeting House.
You’ll have the opportunity to tour the buildings and learn more about the history of this amazing site. And you’re also welcome to bring your gloves, garden tools, rakes and battery-powered leaf blowers to help us garden.
We’re looking forward to seeing you. No need to RSVP. Ample parking is available. We’re at 9400 Rockville Pike, accessible only when driving south towards NIH.
President Franklin Roosevelt Dedicates the Opening of the National Institutes of Health in October 1940
On October 31, 1940, President Roosevelt, standing on the portico in front of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Building 1, speaks about the role of government in promoting and stimulating research into cancer and other diseases, and the work of the Public Health Service and the National Cancer Institute. Speaking in the context of the war in Europe, President Roosevelt emphasizes that the “total defense” of a nation relies not just on military might, but also on a strong and healthy population.
The transcript of the speech can be found here.
The story of how the Tree Tops country estate owned by Luke and Helene Wilson became the site of the first NIH buildings is told here.
Bethesda Historical Society's Celebration
of the 40th Anniversary of the opening of the
Bethesda Metro Station
Watch Bethesda Historical Society’s Hank Levine discuss the historical significance of Metrorail’s arrival in Bethesda in August 1984 here on NBC Washington’s Channel 4.
A Civil War skirmish in downtown Bethesda 160 Years Ago This Summer
In 1864, Bethesda was not much more than a stop on the way to somewhere else. But on July 11th of that year, what is now downtown Bethesda was the site of a skirmish between Union and Confederate forces that proved important in defending the nation’s capital from a Confederate assault.
On that morning, after advancing from Rockville to the Bethesda Meeting House site just north of today’s National Institutes of Health, 27-year-old Confederate General John McCausland and his 800 troops headed south on Rockville Pike towards the Union Army’s Fort Reno, located near today’s Tenleytown in the District of Columbia.
But at the vicinity of the Old Stone Tavern, where today’s Pumphrey’s Funeral now sits in downtown Bethesda, they were stopped by 600 Union forces dispatched from Tenleytown under the command of 29-year-old Colonel Charles Russell Lowell.
What followed was a skirmish with only slight casualties that lasted until mid-afternoon. It seems likely that the front line moved back and forth through the village as the day wore on, but the Confederates never advanced any further south than Bethesda on the Rockville Pike.
So although the engagement was a tactical draw, it was a strategic victory for the defending Union forces, like the more substantial engagement a few miles east at Fort Stevens just west of what is today Georgia Avenue.
“The Battle of Bethesda: A daylong firefight in Jubal Early’s march into Washington” by John H. Walsh (Washington Post April 26, 2014)
Past, Present and Future of the
Bethesda Meeting House
Watch Hank Levine, president of the Bethesda Meeting House Foundation, present an illustrated tour of this iconic building’s history, architecture and significance.
Click here to watch it on Youtube.
Hank’s presentation begins at the 3:10 mark.
We're always interested in Bethesda memorabilia
Do you have a copy of a history or reminiscences about your Bethesda neighborhood or your street?
Do you collect historical artifacts of Bethesda life that you’d like to share with the community? Do you have videos of past Bethesda?
The Bethesda Historical Society would like to talk with you!
Email us at bethesdahistory@gmail.com
Support the Bethesda Meeting House Foundation!
The Bethesda Meeting House Foundation is raising funds through Garden for Wildlife native plant sales. This is a “feel good, do good” fundraiser that helps our organization not only earn much needed financial resources but it also helps our community!
The Bethesda Meeting House will earn 15 percent of all plant sales when you use our unique sales link:
Contact us at bethesdahistory@gmail.com
Bethesda Historical Society
4424 Montgomery Avenue #307
Bethesda, MD 20814
Office is open by appointment