Bethesda, Maryland

Bethesda is a town in Montgomery County, Maryland, USA. It covers 13.2 sq mi (34.2 sq km) and has a population of 61,000 people (2011 estimate). It was named after the local church, Bethesda Meeting House, which in turn was named after the Pool of Bethesda, which was mentioned in the Bible, in John 5:2. The town is located to the northwest of Washington DC.

Bethesda, Maryland
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Author: EnLorax G. Edward Johnson


Today Bethesda ranks as the wealthiest and most educated communities in the United States, placed first on Forbes list of small towns. As it was not an incorporated town, it does not have any official boundries. Often the Bethesda Urban Planning District is used to define the location of the town.

The history of Bethesda goes back to 1862, when a village called Darcy's Store was named. In 1871 it was renamed Bethesda after the Presbyterian church built there since 1820.

Downtown Bethesda
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Author: EnLorax G. Edward Johnson

Visiting Bethesda

Take Interstate 495 and leave the highway at Exit 34, then head south on Maryland Route 355. Also called Wisconsin Avenue, Route 355 is the main street running through Bethesda. You can also reach Bethesda by taking the metro from Washington DC to the Bethesda Metro Station.

Places of Interest in Bethesda

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

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