From its eighteenth-century roots as Benjamin Gaither's upstart central Maryland crossroads, Gaithersburg grew quickly into an early agricultural powerhouse. With the mighty roar of railroads came the rush of cultural prominence and the sweep of growth and prosperity. The city soon bloomed into a high-tech hub for the capital region and the nation. Witness to the march of time from Washington's Revolutionary campaigns to pivotal Confederate troop movements, Gaithersburg was also a waypoint for many early westbound settlers and is today situated in the frenzied center of East Coast traffic and communications.Gaithersburg: History of a City paints a colorful portrait of the town's early days when Montgomery County's wheat and tobacco fields gained agricultural muscle. Readers ride the rails of the Baltimore & Ohio as the breathless young town connects to Washington and the world beyond. The excitement of the boom times that followed comes to life with detailed stories of the days when science came to town. First, the city participated in an international experiment that gathered astronomical information still used today. The story continues when the National Institute of Standards and Technology moved in, initiating an even bigger boom and ushering in the modern research and development industry that made Gaithersburg a national hub of technology.