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Take a tour of the dynamic central business district of Silver Spring, Maryland, and its surroundings.

In 1840, journalist and politician Francis Preston Blair discovered a sparkling mica-flecked spring that would serve as the centerpiece of his country estate, Silver Spring. In just over a century, this bucolic woodland, located across the border from Washington, D.C., became known as downtown Silver Spring, Maryland. Author Jerry A. McCoy, founder and president of the Silver Spring Historical Society and a special collections librarian at the D.C. Public Library's Washingtoniana Division and Peabody Room, takes you inside of how it came to be.

Established in 1776, Montgomery County, Maryland, grew from a land of towering forests and rolling farmland into one of America's most vibrant communities.

Ranked among the 50 most populous counties in the nation and one of the top 10 wealthiest counties, Montgomery also boasts the most educated workforce in the United States, with nearly 30 percent of adults over the age of 25 holding a postgraduate degree. Through the juxtaposition of old and new photographs, noted author and historian Mark Walston chronicles the progression of Maryland life in all its variety, offering historical insights into how modern Montgomery came to be.