The Montgomery County History Center is expected to open Sept. 6, 2026, the date the county celebrates its 250th birthday.
The center will be located in a refurbished building at 4 Courthouse Square that most recently was the home of M&T bank. The art deco building was purchased by Montgomery History in January.
“Our mission is to collect, preserve, interpret and share the history of everyone who calls Montgomery County home,” said Matt Logan, executive director of Montgomery History. “It will be a place to come, explore and learn.”
The Farmers Banking and Trust Building will be home to exhibits, a lecture space, an oral history recording studio, archival storage and community events. The nearby Old Grey Courthouse’s vacant fourth floor is being leased to hold the organization’s 10,000-item collection of artifacts.
“We will bring the building back to life,” said Julia Wright, project manager. She spoke in awe of the building’s safety deposit boxes area and large bank vaults.
“We are so excited about this. We have been talking about it since at least the eighties,” said Ian Shuman, Montgomery History’s board president.
The project is expected to cost $8 million, including the $1.8 million building purchase price. Montgomery History has already received $1.2 million from the state and $420,000 from the county.
Thursday night, about 50 people gathered in the Potomac home of Bill and Diana Conway as two major donations were announced and details of the project were revealed.
Knight Kiplinger and his wife, Ann, announced they will contribute $1 million. The Kapiloff family, former owners of the Montgomery and Prince George’s County Sentinel newspapers, will donate “a substantial commitment to the campaign.”
“This is the center that this county needs,” Kiplinger said. “This is the right time to be putting a stake in the ground for real history,” he said. “Let people know the whole story, warts and all.” He noted that there were many slaves in Montgomery County.
Councilmember Andrew Friedson agreed it is important to know the county’s history in a time “when our history is being wiped off the earth.” Noting that the current council building where he works was the scene of two lynchings, he said, “We will be intentional in the way we think and tell our history.”
He called the proposed center “an effort to feel the truth … and tell the truth.”
Former County Executive Ike Leggett and former U.S. Rep. Connie Morella (Md.-8th), are the campaign cochairs.
