Montgomery History purchases Art Deco bank in Rockville for $1.75M

Building to house county historical society’s headquarters, exhibits, library

January 30, 2025 11:42 a.m. | Updated: January 30, 2025 11:44 a.m.

Montgomery County’s historical society, Montgomery History, has purchased the former Farmers Banking and Trust Co. building, an historic Art Deco bank, in downtown Rockville for $1.75 million  and plans to use the site as a county history center, according to Matt Logan, the executive director at the organization.

Logan said Tuesday that Montgomery History intends to use the building at 4 Courthouse Square as the group’s headquarters as well as a hub to be named the Montgomery History Center. The building will be used for exhibits, lectures and receptions, and will house the county’s historical library and a studio for recording oral histories and podcasts.

“We really believe that this is going to be a huge asset for the community. We want it to be a place where people will come together,” Logan told Bethesda Today about Friday’s purchase of the building. “If we can use history as a way to get people to think about important issues and how to make Montgomery County better in the future, then we will have done our job.”

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Rockville Mayor Monique Ashton echoed Logan’s excitement about the building’s future as a history center.

“We believe that arts, history and culture play a big role in economic development and attracting people to visit the town center and also to capture the history of our county and our city,” Ashton told Bethesda Today on Thursday.

Ashton said she looked forward to having a space for young people and future generations to learn about county history in “the heart and center of activity” of Rockville.

Montgomery History Executive Director Matt Logan (bottom left) snaps a photo of the building’s central vault as workers paint the walls of the bank lobby. Photo credit: Elia Griffin

Built in 1931, the bank is considered by Peerless Rockville – a nonprofit organization that advocates for historic preservation and education in the city – to be Rockville’s only surviving example of Art Deco architecture.

Its previous occupant was M&T Bank, which vacated the building in September 2023. Following the bank’s closure, the building was put up for sale by M&T Bank.

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“When this building went on the market, we realized it checked all of our boxes in terms of size, requirements of location, and you know, the fact that it’s a historic landmark is sort of icing on the cake,” Logan said.

According to Logan, Montgomery History’s purchase of the building was made possible through a combination of funds acquired by the sale of a residential property owned by the historical society, private donations and legislative bond initiatives, which is a request to the state for funding to support local capital projects.

A press release announcing the purchase thanked three Montgomery County lawmakers – state Sens. Cheryl Kagan and Craig Zucker and Rep. Julie Palakovich Carr – for “championing the project.” Logan said their support helped Montgomery History secure the legislative bond initiatives.

In January 2024, the Rockville Historic Commission considered the bank for historic designation after Peerless Rockville submitted an application. The application stated the bank is an “excellent example of the Art Deco style which was popular from 1925 to 1940. The exterior of the bank features carved details which hold popular Art Deco motifs, such as the eagle, radiating lines, half circle and zig-zags.”

In late September, Ashton and the Rockville City Council voted to approve the historic designation for the building, Peerless Rockville announced in a social media post. The nonprofit said in the post it was “thrilled” by the decision.

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Peerless Rockville did not immediately respond to Bethesda Today’s request for comment on Thursday morning.

The original Farmers Bank sign remains on the façade of the building as well as the central vault door and safety deposit boxes inside the building. Logan noted that many of the building’s original fixtures such as lights, chandeliers, vaults, ceiling panels and floor tiles remain.

“We’re going to save all the historic elements that are still in place,” Logan said. “On the back wall, there’s a massive safe with an Art Deco design above it with a clock embedded. It’s spectacular.”

Check out photos of the building taken in 1933 in the Library of Congress archival website here.

Renovations

Logan said significant site work and renovations will occur before the building opens as the Montgomery History Center. Some of the work includes the installation of a new elevator and the creation of a climate-controlled space to store artifacts and archives.

According to a press release from Montgomery History about the purchase, renovations are expected to last up to 18 months. Logan said he hopes the building will be ready to move into by the spring or summer of 2026.

Logan anticipates the history hub will be a “welcoming” and “inclusive” space for the county residents to gather and share and celebrate histories.

“We’ve sort of found the perfect place to do our work,” Logan said of the space. “Our purpose is to help people to share their stories. And in the past, the people whose voices were heard tended to be a very narrow portion of the population. We’re working very hard to expand that to include all different people and all different voices.”

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