Hyattstown
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Finding work depended then, as now, on where you lived. As downcounty areas such as Bethesda and Silver Spring rapidly expanded their population, many people moved from farm labor to domestic and hotel labor, mill work, railroad work (upkeep of the lines and eventually as porters), to work for the state and local government to repair roads and the canal, or to work on Navy projects. Upcounty work was more likely to include farm labor, railroads, and skilled labor as builders, blacksmiths, or in quarries.
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Montgomery County also had many stone, lumber, grain, bone, cider and wool mills. Hyattstown Mill, located next to Little Bennett Creek, was a gristmill built between 1783 and 1798, and operated as a mill until the 1940s. Work for Black employees of mills at the turn of the 20th century included operating and maintaining the stones and complex machinery, transporting the grain, flour and meal and other responsibilities. Many of the mills are in ruins or gone now, but Hyattstown Mill now operates as an arts center.
Frederick Road | Hyattstown | Hyattstown Mills | Lewisdale | Montgomery Chapel | Employment in the northern county | References
Frederick Road
Hyattstown, MD
Hyattstown Mills
Lewisdale
Hyattstown, MD
Montgomery Chapel
Hyattstown, MD
Employment in the northern part of the county
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries for many people, census records show that work for Black employees was often as a day laborer, not as a steady employee of a farm or business, so income was undependable. (U.S. Censuses, 1870-1920) Work was often seasonal for farm or hotel workers. For grist mill workers, work depended on the stream powering the mill – if it was low in summer, the mill couldn’t run. If it froze in the winter, grinding stopped. Workers could be paid in goods, shoes or even alcohol.
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Other skilled workers were blacksmiths, carpenters, cooks, seamstresses or bricklayers. And local midwives, herbalists, and dentists, who often each worked in several Black communities.
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Work then, as now, depended on transportation. For some workers in the mid-to-late 1900s, work was accessed on foot, so they depended on jobs within three miles or so from their homes. So before and after a day of work, they could have a walk of an hour or longer to get to and from work. If they had access to a horse or mule and cart, that could help, and in the early 1890s, some trains and trolleys were built downcounty, which meant that workers could work farther from their homes.
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References
​Clarke, Nina H., and Lillian B. Brown. 1978. History of the Black Public Schools of Montgomery County, Maryland, 1872-1961. D.C., Washington: Vintage Press.
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Keyes, Allison. 2016. “For Nearly 150 Years, This One House Told a Novel Story About the African-American Experience.” Smithsonian Magazine, (Sep).
Maryland National Park & Planning Commission. 2025. “Clarksburg Heights Historic District: Clarksburg, Montgomery County, MD. Master Plan Historic District Designation Form.” Maryland: MNPPC.
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Smithsonian Institution. 1978-1979. “Historical Records related to the Jones-Hall-Sims House.” Smithsonian Institution.