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
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maryland_187_at_md355_20090122_122820.jpg
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
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maryland_410_at_maryland_355_20090122_134846_1_crop.jpg
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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About this website

Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.