Montgomery Village (pop 2000 38,051) is located adjacent to and northeast of the City of Gaithersburg, about 20 miles from Washington, D.C. The community of Montgomery Village was first proposed by Milton Kettler to the City of Gaithersburg in March 1964. The new “village” found its origins in the offices of the Kettler Brothers, Clarence, Milton and Charles. Milton Kettler had married into the Walker family of Gaithersburg, and the Walker farm was one of those developed for the community, now home to more than 40,000 residents. In 1965, town sector zone classification was granted for the new town of Montgomery Village by the Montgomery County Council.

A Planned Community
Montgomery Village is a planned residential community, located on what were Gaithersburg area farms, just north and east of the town. In fact, as Gaithersburg’s nearest neighbor, there is a close physical relationship. In 1978, about 140 of the then 1,939 acres of Montgomery Village were located within Gaithersburg city limits. The Kettlers acquired farms in the area between 1962 and 1984, totaling 2,566 acres. Some of the original tract names included “Charles and Johns Choice,” “Crabb’s Fortress,” “Dorsey’s Meadow,” “Gray’s Neck”, “Deer Park,” “Fair Rosamond’s Bower,” “Lost Knife,” and “William’s Range.”

Many of the communities take their names from the former farm owners: “Walker’s Choice,” “Mill’s Choice,” and “Thomas Choice” are on the old Walker, Mills, and Thomas farms. A part of “Patton Ridge” is on the farm obtained from Julian T. Patton. “Watkin’s Mill” was named for a mill operated by the Watkins family on Seneca Creek where it crossed Watkin’s Mill Road. The “McKendree” community takes its name from farmer McKendree Fulks’ first name. “Nathan’s Hill” is the top of the hill overlooking the old Nathan Walker’s grist mill.

The Kettler Brothers set up Montgomery Village without government funding, unlike several earlier planned communities in the State of Maryland. They created homeowners’ foundations to manage the ownership of each community and maintain the common grounds, without passing on any initial costs or debts to the foundations. As each community within Montgomery Village was developed, the Kettlers incorporated a homeowners’ group, feeling that the corporation rights and responsibilities were better suited to the management of communities than unincorporated homeowners associations.

Community Living
In 1966, Articles of Incorporation were filed for the Montgomery Village Foundation and the Whetstone Homes Corporation, and on September 25, 1967, the first residents moved into the Village. That same month, the Montgomery Village Golf Course was completed and Lake Whetstone, a man-made lake containing 27 surface acres, opened for fishing and boating. The following spring, the Montgomery Village Swim Center opened for membership with year-round swimming, sauna, exercise room and paddle tennis. This building was later donated by Kettler to the YMCA.

The Village foundation publishes the Montgomery Village News, delivered to every residence in Montgomery Village, with information about recreational facilities openings and events, such as their summer concerts, pool openings and closings, and club meetings. They also maintain a village Web site.

Religious Spaces
Spaces for churches and schools were designated on the original land use plan in 1965 and, as the population in the community grew, the public school system developed with four elementary schools, a middle school and senior high school now located in Montgomery Village. The Kettlers also developed recreation areas and provided land at nominal costs for church development within the village.

Eight possible sites for church use were on the original plan, and the Kettlers sold congregations the land at cost, and in several cases donated the land outright. The village now enjoys several congregational choices: a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Christ the Servant Lutheran Church, Covenant United Methodist Church, Northgate Community Church, and St. John Neumann Catholic Church and Mother of God (Catholic) School. The Gaithersburg Hebrew Congregation took one of the church sites and broke ground in November 1978 for their synagogue, now known as Kehilat Shalom.

Commercial areas were limited to the Village Mall in the center of the development, opening in 1970 with banking, grocery shopping, a drugstore, hardware, post office, and several convenience shops; a Professional Center opened in 1971. In the early 1980s, Montgomery Village received its own zip code 20886, distinct from Gaithersburg, along with permission to use the name “Montgomery Village” for address purposes.

Hurley, W.N., Jr. Montgomery Village: A New Town. Montgomery Village, Md., 1993.

Hurley, W.N., Jr. Montgomery Village, A New Town: Twenty years later. Montgomery Village, Md., 1987.