Dickerson, Maryland | |
---|---|
Unincorporated community | |
Country | United States of America |
State | Maryland |
County | Montgomery |
Population (2000) | |
• Total | 1,848 |
ZIP code | 20842 |
Dickerson is an Unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Maryland. It is on Maryland Route 28, between Sugarloaf Mountain and the Potomac River. It is a community near the town of Poolesville, Maryland. Dickerson is 61.5 square miles (159 km2).
Dickerson was officially founded in 1871. It was named after its first postmaster, William H. Dickerson, who served from 1873 to 1897. The earliest land grant known to have been given out in the land that is now Dickerson was granted to Arthur Nelson: He received 97 acres (390,000 m2) in 1739. Most of what is now considered Dickerson originally belonged to Nathan Hempstone.
Before the Civil War, Dickerson was little more than a couple roads, a store, and a few houses. After the Civil War, the population began to rise more sharply. This was because after the Civil War, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company were able to continue their hunt for a route to place the Metropolitan Branch. Travelers wanted a way to travel west toward the capital and other places without having to go to Baltimore first. They decided on a route that passed through Dickerson and began construction. The railroad line going from Dickerson to Point of Rocks, MD was finished in 1871; the entire line was open for public use in 1873.
The Monocacy Site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
Dickerson is home to Neutron Products Inc., a low-level nuclear facility operating since the 1960s (EPA ID# MDN000305785). The site is described by the EPA as follows:
"The facility had four Nuclear Regulatory licenses, but because of many past violations, is under permanent injunction prohibiting operation of its license to manufacture radioactive materials. Neutron appealed this injunction to the highest court in Maryland, and the court upheld the injunction. Because the facility no longer is licensed to manufacture, the Maryland Department of the Environment is concerned about its economic state, and therefore, its ability to effectively store, handle and clean up radioactive materials."
It is listed as a superfund site.