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1965 Map of Kensington

Name: 1965 Topographic Map of Kensington
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1966
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1966

About this map

Montgomery County suburbanization reaches a fever pitch in the mid-1960s, as shown by the dense red-tinted residential developments surrounding Kensington and Wheaton. The landscape is transitioning from the rolling hills of the Northwest Branch Park and Rock Creek Park into a modern metropolitan corridor defined by the Capitol Beltway and Washington National Pike. Major institutional footprints dominate the southern portion of the sheet, including the sprawling grounds of the National Institutes of Health and the Naval Medical Center.

Educational and religious institutions anchor these new neighborhoods, from the historic Georgetown Preparatory Sch to Holy Cross Academy. The era's commercial shift is centered on the Wheaton Plaza Shopping Center, while the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad provides a structural link to the older rail-oriented growth of Garrett Park and Silver Spring. This survey captures the county just as the post-war building boom solidified the current suburban footprint.