Bethesda Historical Society

Brief History of East Bethesda

Up until the 1920’s, the East Bethesda area where we live was still countryside. There was a farm house located near West Virginia Avenue, barns near the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School site, and a stream running through near Sleaford Road. Most of the rest of our area was woods.East Bethesda street map

In the late 1800’s, several private homes dotted Wisconsin Avenue, and East-West Highway was a tree-lined lane leading to Greenbury Watkins’ home. At Five Points, blacksmith shops stood at the proposed Metro site (1862) and at the site of the Bank of Bethesda (1870) a restaurant was located at the Hot Shoppes’ site; and there was one store. The land across Wisconsin Avenue from Glenbrook Parkway was the Woodmont Country Club.

Read more at “The Story of East Bethesda and the East Bethesda Citizens Association” By Marcie Sandalow on the ActiveRain website.