The Somerset Historic District Web Pages
Editorial Policy
Ordinance Establishing History Committee

House Tour - take a photographic tour of Somerset's historic houses - read their histories.
Historical Beginnings ~ Dorset & Wisconsin Entrance
Town Journal article introducing virtual Historic District
Maps: Historic District ~ Diamond Jubilee ~ Town Streets
The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation

These pages are prepared and maintained by the Town of Somerset History Committee. Our aim is to describe the history of the physical properties -- the buildings and landscape that make up our Town, and the changes they have undergone over the years. We also describe the families that lived here. They, and the events that they were associated with them, have built our heritage and have influenced the changes that make our Town what it is today. A number of resources were used to prepare these histories (they are listed below). The descriptions are accurate as far as we know but further information, photographs and corrections are always welcome: please contact the History Committee at the Somerset Town Hall for more information. All submissions are welcome. Final editorial decisions as to what will be posted on this web site will be made by the History Committee.

Sources:

  • Cavicchi, Clare Lise, Places from the Past: the tradition of Gardez Bien in Montgomery County, Maryland, Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Silver Spring Maryland, 2001
  • O'Brien, Dorothy, Fifty Years A Town, Town of Somerset, Maryland 1956
  • O'Brien, Dorothy and Jaszi, Helen H., The Town of Somerset, The Montgomery County Historical Society, Rockville, Maryland, 1977
  • Offutt, William, Bethesda: A Social History, The Innovation Game, Bethesda, Maryland, 1995
  • Town of Somerset Diamond Jubilee: 1906-1981, Town of Somerset, Maryland, 1981
  • United States Department of the Interior, National Parks Service, National Register of Historic Places Registration Forms (for National Register listed properties)
  • Wiley, Harvey, Harvey W. Wiley: An Autobiography, The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis, 1930
  • The Maryland Historical Trust Sites Inventory Form

Also:

  • Original research undertaken by Donna Harman as part of the TownÕs Diamond Jubilee in 1981
  • Conversations and correspondence with individual home owners