Rockville

Rockville, city (1990 pop. 44,835), seat of Montgomery co., W central Md., a NW suburb of Washington, D.C. settled c.1760s, inc. as a city 1860. It has several scientific research and technology laboratories that focus on the aerospace, electronics, nuclear energy, and communications industries. Rockville's commercial center was destroyed in the early 1970s to make way for a shopping center, but in the early 2000s the city sought to restore the commercial center by building the mixed-use Rockville Town Square on the site. The Food and Drug Administration is there, as is a campus of Montgomery College. Nearby in Travilah is Glenstone, a museum of modern art. F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, are buried in a local cemetery.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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