Explore Gaithersburg, MD
Gaithersburg, is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It was incorporated as a town in 1878 and as a city in 1968.
Gaithersburg is located east and west of Interstate 270. The eastern section includes the historic area of the town. Landmarks and buildings from that time can still be seen in many places but especially in the historic central business district of Gaithersburg called “Olde Towne”. The east side also includes Lake Forest Mall, City Hall, and the Montgomery County Fair grounds, and Bohrer Park (a well-known joint community recreation center and outdoor water park for kids and families). The west side of the city has many wealthier neighborhoods that were designed with smart growth techniques and embrace New Urbanism. These include the Kentland community, the Lakelands community, and the Washingtonian Center (better known as Rio), a shopping/business district. Consumers often come to this area during Black Friday and other shopping holidays for the deals and variety of huge brand name stores like Target and Dick’s Sporting Goods, and smaller stores like Francesca’s and Blue Mercury.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is headquartered in Gaithersburg directly west of I-270. Other major employers in the city include IBM, Lockheed Martin Information Systems and Global Services business area headquarters, AstraZeneca, and the French multinational corporation, Sodexo. Gaithersburg is also the location of the garrison of the United States Army Reserve Legal Command.
Gaithersburg is noted for its ethnic and economic diversity; it was ranked second for ethnic diversity among the 501 largest U.S. cities, and first among smaller U.S. cities, by WalleHub in 2021.