Gaithersburg Community Museum

10/14/2026

Celebrate Earth Science Week & National Fossil Day with Us!

Looking for a fun and educational outing for the whole family? Stop by the Museum to explore the incredible world beneath our feet! In honor of Earth Science Week and National Fossil Day, we’re inviting our community to discover Maryland’s unique rocks, minerals, and fossils.

Our small but fascinating collection offers a hands on look at the geology that shapes our state. Whether you’re a curious kid, a budding scientist, or just someone who loves learning new things, there’s something here for everyone.

10/13/2026

Did you know Gaithersburg was almost names Germansburgh?

In 1769, when Gerard Briscoe subdivided land along Frederick Road (now Route 355), he named his settlement Germansburgh. Unfortunately, the name Logtown had already been adopted for the area, and he could not dislodge it.

Why Germansburgh? We don’t really know. Briscoe himself was not of German origin, but the German people already had a reputation for industriousness and perhaps he hoped to attract families that could build a community.

Image: Modern interpretation of Logtown 1765. GCM 1989.003.006

10/12/2026

Since 2019, a team from the Maryland State Archives has been working closely with Indigenous communities across the Chesapeake region to strengthen how Native history is represented in Maryland’s public records. Archivists Maria Day, Megan Craynon, and Maya Davis co-created the Indigenous Archives Program with one goal in mind: ensuring Native people can see themselves and their stories reflected in the state’s archives.

At Museum on Tap this week, Maria Day will share how Tribal consultations helped shape Mayis, an online guide created in partnership with community members. She’ll also talk about a grant-funded initiative that preserves oral histories with Tribal Knowledge-Keepers on the Eastern Shore — and highlight upcoming projects that continue these partnerships while addressing challenges Native people face in Maryland today.

Join us this Wednesday (10/14) at 7 p.m. at Head Alehouse - Gaithersburg, MD for Museum on Tap to learn more about this important work!

Guests receive $10 off their food or drink order.

10/09/2026

A field off River Road, just outside of Poolesville, used to stand one of the world’s largest radio telescopes and was the site of the discovery of planetary radio emissions.

In 1955, scientists Bernard Burke and Kenneth Franklin of the Carnegie Institution in Washington D.C. were using this radio telescope, called the Mills Cross Radio Array (or Radio Telescope) to study the northern sky. They were pioneers in this new field of radio astronomy. That spring, they noticed a strange observation. They initially brushed it off as interference, but it was happening at a regular interval and appeared 4 minutes earlier each night.

After eliminating all the obvious sources – they discovered the source was Jupiter! No one had ever considered planets could emit radio waves before this point.
Their observation opened an entirely new field of radio astronomy and new ways of understanding our solar system.

Today, the field is filled with sunflowers, but you can see a historical marker on River Road in the parking lot area that pays tribute to Burke and Franklin’s amazing discovery.

Image: The Mills Cross Radio Telescope, a 96-acre antenna array with 5 miles of wire circa 1954. Credit: The Archives of the Carnegie Institution of Washington

10/08/2026

Did you know a tree located just off 270 in Bethesda has a tie to the space race?

Command Module Pilot Colonel Stuart Roosa of the Apollo 14 Mission carried hundreds of seeds from five different tree species into lunar orbit in his personal kit. These “Moon Tree” seeds were germinated at US Forrest Service stations and planted around the country.

On September 30, 1975, one of the saplings was planted in Bethesda, just a few hundred feet south of Grosvenor Lane. Today, it is marked by a worn wooden plaque with the number 12 on it.

Learn more about this Moon Tree in this article:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/society-of-american-foresters-moon-tree

Residing quietly in suburban Maryland, this tree has a star-powered history and was grown from a seed that journeyed to space on Apollo 14.

10/07/2026

Celebrate at the Museum and make a solar system mobile!

10/06/2026

Thanks to a University of Maryland physicist, we can measure the distance to the Moon within millimeter accuracy.

Physicists Carroll Alley and Doug Currie, in partnership with other physicists around the country, designed an array of specialized prisms called retroreflectors to be left on the surface of the Moon by the Apollo 11 and future missions. These prisms bounce light directly back to their source.

Observatories on Earth can fire powerful laser beams tat these arrays. By measuring the total round-trip travel time and multiplying it by the speed of light, scientists can calculate the Earth-Moon distance extremely accurately.

Data from these experiments has shown the Moon is slowly moving away from Earth (about 3.8 cm per year, or about the speed at which your fingernails grow), helped test Einstein’s Theory of General Relatively, monitor plate tectonic movement, measure Earth’s rotation, and the wobble of Earth’s axis, and more!
And it all started here in Maryland.

Images: Carroll Alley (second from left) in his lab at UMD. Credit: University of Maryland//Apollo 11 Laser Ranging Retroreflector experiment on the Moon. Credit: NASA

10/05/2026

Before the Saturn V Rocket could launch the Apollo Astronauts to the Moon, NASA needed to make sure it would have enough thrust to ensure it could break orbit. Enter Gaithersburg and the Million Pound Deadweight Machine at NIST.

This three-story, million-pound stack of steel disks is largest machine of its kind in the world. Each disk weighs just over 50,000 pounds. Together, they apply up to 1 million pounds of force in precise increments! It helps calibrate devices that measure large forces, such as a rocket’s thrust or airplane’s wing deflection.

The machine is accurate to 0.0005%. In other words, when it pulls down with a full million pounds of force, the margin of error is less than 5 pounds!

This incredible machine was built in 1965 during the heart of the Space Race. It operated continuously until it had to be recalibrated in 2015 but is fully operational again and provides precise measurements for the commercial aviation industry and U.S. Government.

Image Credit: NIST

10/04/2026

On October 4, 1957, the world looked up as Sputnik I became the first human-made satellite to orbit Earth, marking the beginning of the Space Age. Today, thousands of satellite orbit earth. And some of the data to improve satellite and spacecraft navigation came from right here in Gaithersburg.

The historic Gaithersburg Latitude Observatory, one of only 6 in the world, spent decades measuring the tiny, continuous wobble of Earth’s axis. Although newer technologies have since taken over, the Observatory’s data remains scientifically valuable even today!

Researchers worldwide continue to use Gaithersburg’s observations to study polar motion, refine knowledge about Earth’s size and shape, explore climate variation, investigate earthquake mechanisms, and improve satellite and spacecraft navigation. Hundreds of scientific papers have cited findings supported by measurements taken right here in our community.

As begins, we celebrate not only humanity’s first step into space, but also Gaithersburg’s ongoing contribution to understanding our dynamic planet and supporting exploration far beyond it.

Image: Gaithersburg Latitude Observatory 1940s-60s. GCM 2007.068.004 donated by Pat Adams.

10/01/2026

Did you know the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair published its own cookbook in 1977? From appetizers, side dishes, desserts, and Blue Ribbon winners, this cookbook has something for everyone! This apple bread recipe from the Grand Champion Demonstration by Joy Lynne Schwab looks particularly delicious for a fall day.

Apple Bread
2Tbs. butter
1/2c. sugar
1tsp. cinnamon
1-2 apples, peeled and thinly sliced
Few raisins
1 pkg. active dry yeast
¾ c. warm water
¼ c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 c. flour
1 egg
¼ c. butter
1 ¼ c. flour

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a 9x9x2-inch baking pan. Mix in small bowl the ½ cup sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over melted butter. Cut apples into thin slices; arrange on mixture in pan. Add a few raisins.

Stir in a large bowl the dry yeast and warm water; add sugar, salt and 1 cup flour. Beat until batter sheets from spoon. Add egg, butter (softened), and 1 ¼ cups flour. Beat until smooth. Drop the batter by spoonfuls over apples in pan. Cover pan and let rise in warm place until double, 50-60 minutes.

Heat over to 350 degrees. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until brown. Remove from oven; immediately turn upside down onto service plate. Serve hot or cool. Serves 6-8.

Image: Page from Montgomery County Agricultural Fair Cookbook, GCM 2008.011.001