Darnestown is a United States census-designated place (CDP) and an unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland. The CDP is 17.70 square miles (45.8 km2) with the Potomac River as its southern border and the Muddy Branch as much of its eastern border. Seneca Creek borders portions of its north and west sides. The Travilah, North Potomac, and Germantown census-designated places are adjacent to it, as is the city of Gaithersburg. Land area for the CDP is 16.39 square miles (42.4 km2). As of the 2020 census, the Darnestown CDP had a population of 6,723, while the village of Darnestown is considerably smaller in size and population. Downtown Washington, D.C. is about 22 miles (35 km) to the southeast.
North Potomac is a census-designated place and unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is located less than 5 miles (8.0 km) north of the Potomac River, and is about 20 miles (32 km) from Washington, D.C. It has a population of 23,790 as of 2020.
Germantown is an urbanized census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland. With a population of 91,249 as of the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous community in Maryland, after Baltimore and Columbia. Germantown is located approximately 28 miles (45 km) outside the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C., and is an important part of the Washington metropolitan area.
Seneca Creek is a 5.8-mile-long (9.3 km) stream in Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, roughly 16 miles (26 km) northwest of Washington, D.C. It drains into the Potomac River.
Seneca Creek State Park is a public recreation area encompassing more than 6,300 acres (2,500 ha) along 14 miles of Seneca Creek in its run to the Potomac River in Montgomery County, Maryland. The park features facilities for boating and fishing as well as trails for hiking, cycling, and horseback riding. It is managed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
Seneca Valley High School (SVHS) is a public high school serving grades 9-12 in Germantown, Maryland, United States. It is part of the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) system. The current building was finished in 2021, and has a capacity of 2,537 students.
Quince Orchard High School (QOHS), also known as Q.O. High School, is a secondary school located on Quince Orchard Road in the Quince Orchard neighborhood of Gaithersburg in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States.
Watkins Mill High School is located in Gaithersburg, an incorporated city in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Maryland Route 28 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The state highway runs 37.38 miles (60.16 km) from U.S. Route 15 in Point of Rocks east to MD 182 in Norwood. The western portion of MD 28 is a rural highway connecting several villages in southern Frederick County and western Montgomery County. By contrast, the eastern portion of the state highway is a major east–west commuter route, particularly within Gaithersburg and Rockville.
Gaithersburg High School (GHS) is a public high school located in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Part of Montgomery County Public Schools, the school is located at 101 Education Boulevard and consists of grades 9–12. Its feeder schools are Forest Oak Middle School and Gaithersburg Middle School.
Clarksburg High School is a public high school located at 22500 Wims Road in Clarksburg, Maryland, United States. It is part of the Montgomery County Public Schools system, Maryland's largest public school system. Its students mainly come from Rocky Hill Middle School and Hallie Wells Middle School.
Maryland Route 117 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The highway runs 12.40 miles (19.96 km) from MD 28 near Dawsonville east to West Diamond Avenue next to MD 355 in Gaithersburg. MD 117 is an L-shaped highway that connects the rural western Montgomery County communities of Dawsonville and Boyds with Germantown, Gaithersburg, and Interstate 270 (I-270) in the suburban central part of the county. The highway also provides access to Seneca Creek State Park, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and several commuter rail stations along MARC's Brunswick Line, which the highway parallels. MD 117 was the inspiration for the 1971 hit song "Take Me Home, Country Roads".
Maryland Route 118 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as Germantown Road, the highway runs 7.08 miles (11.39 km) from MD 28 in Darnestown north to MD 355 in Germantown. MD 118 is the four- to six-lane main highway through the central Montgomery County community of Germantown. The highway also connects Germantown and Darnestown with Interstate 270 (I-270). The northernmost part of MD 118 was paved by 1910. The highway was extended south through Germantown in the early 1920s and extended to Darnestown in the early 1930s. MD 118 was relocated and expanded to a divided highway through Germantown in the late 1980s and late 1990s, and near its northern end in the mid-1990s.
Maryland Route 124 (MD 124) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The highway runs 17.03 miles (27.41 km) from MD 28 in Darnestown north to MD 108 in Damascus. MD 124 connects the central and northern Montgomery County communities of Gaithersburg, Montgomery Village, Redland, Laytonsville, and Damascus. The route is a major conduit on the western and northern sides of Gaithersburg, where the highway serves the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the former Lakeforest Mall and connects with Interstate 270 (I-270) and MD 355. MD 124 continues north past the Montgomery County Airpark, beyond which the route changes from a four- to six-lane divided highway to a two-lane undivided road as it passes west of Laytonsville on its way to Damascus.
Lakelands Park Middle School is a public middle school located in Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States. Managed by Montgomery County Public Schools, the school educates over 1,000 students in grades 6-8. The school was named after Lakelands Park, which is adjacent to the school. With its premises used regularly for community events, the school has a high local profile. It is also the most highly ranked middle school in MCPS.
Maryland Route 119 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Also known as Great Seneca Highway, the highway runs 7.47 miles (12.02 km) from MD 28 in Rockville north to Middlebrook Road in Germantown. MD 119 is a four- to six-lane divided highway that connects several residential and commercial neighborhoods in Rockville, Gaithersburg, and Germantown. Great Seneca Highway was planned by Montgomery County in the late 1960s as a local relief route for traffic on parallel Interstate 270 (I-270) between the three communities. By the early 1980s, the highway had become controversial because it was proposed to pass through Seneca Creek State Park. A coalition of civic and environmental groups unsuccessfully pursued litigation to stop the highway. The National Park Service refused permission for the county to build the highway in 1985 but reversed itself two years later, by which time the first segment of the highway in Germantown was nearing completion. The Rockville–Gaithersburg section was completed in 1989 and the controversial segment through the state park was finished in 1990. Almost all of Great Seneca Highway became MD 119 in 1999.
Muddy Branch is a tributary stream of the Potomac River in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, located about 14 miles (23 km) northwest of Washington, D.C.
Quince Orchard is a neighborhood of the U.S. city of Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States, located on the western outskirts of the city.
The Seneca Creek Greenway Trail is a 24.2-mile (38.9 km) long trail that runs along Seneca Creek from the Potomac River to Watkins Road, with some parts maintained by the state of Maryland and some parts maintained by Montgomery County, MD
The Darnestown Presbyterian Church dates back to the 1850s, and is located in Darnestown, Maryland. It is a Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation and a member of the National Capital Presbytery. Behind the church building is a cemetery with the graves of many of the early settlers of western Montgomery County, and some of the local roads and villages are namesakes of members of those pioneering families. The first European landowner in the Darnestown area was Ninian Beall, who settled around 1749. Some Beall family members are buried in the church cemetery.
