Olde Towne Today and Tomorrow
Posted 1/14/2008

(reprinted from The Communique, Winter 2007, by Jeanne North)

Nader Saleh

The old Bowman Mill

Granary Row today

On the day before Thanksgiving, Nader Saleh was in his Chicken Basket restaurant on North Summit Avenue in Gaithersburg, supervising the roasting more than 50 20-pound turkeys – for the ninth straight year.  Saleh and a corps of 80 volunteers spent the holiday serving a traditional Thanksgiving dinner to all who showed up at Gaithersburg Elementary School across the street. It is, says Saleh, a way of giving back to the community. “I love Gaithersburg,” he says, “I truly believe in this community.”

An immigrant from Lebanon, Saleh came to the U.S. because it is “the dreamland” where “the sky’s the limit.”  He started out as a dishwasher when he first arrived in Gaithersburg in 1989, earned a business degree at Montgomery College, then eight years ago took over as owner of the Chicken Basket.

Saleh is known in the City for his community spirit.  On the wall of the Chicken Basket is a 2006 “Person of Character Award” from the City of Gaithersburg in recognition of his “consistent modeling of the ideals of the CHARACTER COUNTS! program.”  And his restaurant was named Gaithersburg’s Outstanding Organization in 2002.

Gaithersburg has a long tradition of entrepreneurial activity, and many of today’s immigrants are following that tradition. When Benjamin Gaither settled near the intersection of today’s Diamond and Frederick Avenues, sometime before 1800, he opened the kinds of enterprises that travelers and locals needed: a blacksmith shop, a store, a tavern.

As settlers moved in, agriculture thrived. Early on tobacco was the favored crop; later, in the early 1800’s, farmers switched to corn and wheat, and since these grains needed to be processed, gristmills sprang up throughout the region. Stagecoach service from Georgetown to Rockville and beyond allowed for the delivery of the cash crop to Georgetown and the return of supplies.

The arrival of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1873 made Gaithersburg a thriving trade center for upper Montgomery County.  The Gaithersburg Milling and Manufacturing Company was established in 1891, eventually bringing a flour mill, grain elevator, fertilizer mixing plant and cannery to town. Evidence of this industry remains: the very buildings that were the hub of activity in Gaithersburg’s agricultural heyday today house modern business activities: offices, stores and restaurants. The Bowman Mill, renamed “Granary Row,” won the 1997 Merit Award by the Maryland Society of American Institute of Architects.

Eventually the area around the intersection of Summit and Diamond Avenues became known as “Olde Towne.”  Today joining the descendants of early settlers are recent immigrants from all over the world: the Middle East, Latin America, Africa and Asia.  The Thai and African restaurants, the Guatemalan bakery, the Latino markets – all are examples of the ethnic richness of the Olde Towne neighborhood scene.

Now the City, with input from Gaithersburg residents, is midway through a plan for revitalization of Olde Towne, working toward the creation of a livable, vibrant, people-friendly urban center that honors the City’s heritage while allowing further opportunity for growth.

Like immigrant Nader Saleh, longtime Gaithersburg resident John Roddy lauds his home town. “I like the government,” he says; “I think the Mayor and the Council are good. ...It’s been a great place to raise children. I fully appreciate living where I do.”

• Gaithersburg Community Museum