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Bethesda: An Historical Perspective
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By William Offutt
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Maryland.com
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 | | Bethesda Urban Partnership | | The Bethesda Presbyterian Church, from which Bethesda takes its name, was built in 1820 and rebuilt in 1850. |
Greater Bethesda is neither a town nor a city. It is a collection of pleasant neighborhoods sharing a post office designation, some up-scale shopping districts and many other amenities. Bethesda is also the name of the 7th Election District of Montgomery County whose boundaries are approximately the Beltway, the District Line, the Potomac River, and Rock Creek. By this definition Bethesda encompasses Chevy Chase (which includes several semi-self- governing special-taxing districts), Glen Echo, Somerset, Oakmont, Drummond, and Friendship Heights, all of which are towns, as well as Cabin John and several smaller enclaves.
A busy crossroads, Bethesda can trace its history back to the time of the War of 1812. Its main drag, Wisconsin Avenue or Route 355, is much older than that, having been an Indian trail whose roots are lost in time. Starting in the 1730s, it was an important rolling road to the port of Georgetown for local tobacco planters.
When the new toll road to Frederick was built early in the 19th century, it created the main intersection where the old road to Georgetown met the new "Pike." By the time of the Civil War the crossroads had a blacksmith shop, a large tavern and a couple of stores, one of which became the first post office. The area was then put on the maps as Darcy’s Store, but after the war ended and Will Darcy lost the postmaster job, the new post office was called Bethesda after the old Presbyterian meeting house that had moved from the Potomac to the new road about 1815.
Bethesda, the Biblical name of a healing pool, is obviously one of the most fortunate names the town could have garnered since the area has become the health center of the nation if not the world.
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(William Offutt, is the author of BETHESDA -- A Social History)
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