The Beall-Dawson Historic Park in Rockville on Sunday felt much like it might have on a Sunday afternoon more than a century ago. A vintage doctor’s buggy, circa 1890, was on display; a child fashioned 19th-century-inspired hats from paper plates, construction paper and doilies; volunteers in hoop skirts and petticoats acted out yesteryear.
Area residents gathered to commemorate the 235th anniversary of the founding of Montgomery County.
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The celebration, an annual event since the mid-1990s, returned after a hiatus last year, according to Joanna Church, director of collections for the Montgomery County Historical Society and one of the event’s organizers. Staffing changes and budget cuts left the county without a proper party on its 234th birthday, she said, but “we wanted to come back this year and say that we’re still here, we’re active and we’re ready to roll.”
In a county that continues to evolve — census figures released this year showed that Montgomery’s demographics have shifted dramatically in the past decade, with minorities now a majority of the population — Church said the society has kept pace with the changes and hopes to continue to anchor the community in a sense of common history.
“For a lot of people, it’s the first time anyone has heard of us,” she said. Even residents of nearby neighborhoods were often surprised to learn the historic significance of the Beall-Dawson House, built in 1815 for a prominent former clerk of court for Montgomery County, she said.
The organization began offering tours of the house in Spanish and Chinese, as well as English, several years ago.
“We try to make this an opportunity for everyone in the county, all the cultural and historic nonprofits, to come share what they’ve got” with longtime residents and new visitors alike, she said.
The event has drawn a crowd of 250 to 350 people in past years, Church said, and organizers hoped for a similar turnout Sunday.
Seated on a wooden rocking chair in the shade of a white tent, Mary Lou Luff, 83, was ready to greet the new arrivals. Luff, a “living history” volunteer who played the part of a local doctor’s mother at the event, has lived in Montgomery since 1955 and raised her six children nearby, she said.
“I’ve seen it change, yes indeed,” she said. “This is a wonderful area to live in.”
Luff, who lives in Gaithersburg, said she volunteers with the Historical Society twice per month and also shares her historical knowledge as a speaker at local events.
When a visitor wandered near her table, Luff immediately shifted into 1860’s character: “Would you like to know what I’m wearing?” she asked.
Luff made her costume herself, she explained, showing the guest the hoop skirt and layers of petticoats beneath her rose-colored button-down dress.
Her late husband used to affectionately tease her about her collection of historic artifacts — medicine bottles, coins, other trinkets, Luff said.
“He used to say, ‘All you do is like old things!’ ” she laughed. “I told him, don’t worry, the older you get, the more I like you, too.”
The event’s organizers also hoped to win the attention of the county’s younger residents.
At a nearby craft table, 3-year-old Emma Kinzelman meticulously colored a paper hat for her doll — named Caramel — while her father explained why they had come to the celebration.
“So this is a birthday party for the county we live in,” he told her. “It’s 235 years old. Pretty old, huh?”
But Emma was too preoccupied to answer, hard at work on her hat and its vibrant, decidedly modern shades of hot pink and orange.
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