Editing Rockville, Maryland (section)

===20th century===
[[File:Looking north on what is now 355 in Rockville 1970.jpg|thumb|Downtown Rockville, 1970]]
[[File:Rockvillemd.jpg|thumb|right|Downtown Rockville, 2001]]
[[File:Rockville town center2.jpg|thumb|right|Rockville Town Center, 2006]]
[[File:Rockville - Maryland Ave at Middle Ln.jpg|thumb|right|Downtown Rockville, 2009]]
[[File:RockvilleMaryland-Northwest.jpg|thumb|Rockville, Maryland - Looking Northwest]]

Trolley service operated for four decades, until, eclipsed by the growing usage of the automobile, service was halted in August 1935. The Blue Ridge Transportation Company provided bus service for Rockville and Montgomery County from 1924 through 1955. After 1955, Rockville would not see a concerted effort to develop a [[public transportation]] infrastructure until the 1970s, when the [[Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority]] (WMATA) began work to extend the [[Washington Metro]] into Rockville and extended Metrobus service into Montgomery County. The [[Rockville (Washington Metro)|Rockville station]] of Washington Metro began service on July 25, 1984, and the [[Twinbrook (Washington Metro)|Twinbrook station]] began service on December 15, 1984. Metrobus service was supplemented by Montgomery County's own Ride On bus service starting in 1979. [[MARC Train|MARC]], Maryland's Rail Commuter service, serves Rockville with its Brunswick line. From Rockville MARC provides service to [[Washington Union Station]] (southbound), and [[Frederick, Maryland|Frederick]] and [[Martinsburg, West Virginia]] (northbound), as well as intermediate points. [[Amtrak]], the national passenger rail system, provides service from Rockville to [[Chicago]] and Washington D.C.

The mid-20th century saw substantial growth in Rockville, especially with the annexation of the [[Twinbrook (Rockville, Maryland)|Twinbrook]] subdivision in 1949, which added hundreds of new homes and thousands of new residents to the city. In 1954, [[Congressional Airport]] closed, and its land was sold to developers to build residences and a commercial shopping center.<ref>{{cite news |title= Congressional Airport Sold For Dwellings |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= April 4, 1954 |page= M6 |id= {{ProQuest|148631747}} }}</ref> The shopping center, named Congressional Plaza, opened in 1958.<ref>{{cite news |title= New Rockville Shop Center Is Dedicated |first= S. Oliver |last=Goodman |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=May 1, 1958 |page=C14 |id={{ProQuest|148990982}} }}</ref> These new areas provided affordable housing and grew quickly with young families eager to start their lives following [[World War II]].

During the [[Cold War]], it was considered safer to remain in Rockville than to evacuate during a hypothetical nuclear attack on Washington, D.C. Bomb shelters were built, including the largest one at [[Glenview Farm|Glenview Mansion]] and 15 other locations. The I-270 highway was designated as an emergency aircraft landing strip. Two [[Nike (rocket)|Nike]] missile launcher sites were located on Muddy Branch and Snouffer School Roads until the mid-1970s.<ref name='McGuckian'/>{{Rp|163}}

In 1975, [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]] and [[Zelda Fitzgerald]]'s caskets were reinterred at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Rockville, where his father, Edward, and a number of Key family members had been buried.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2014-09-13 |title=Scott and Zelda: Fractious in life, but together in death in a Rockville cemetery plot |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/f-scott-fitzgeralds-long-journey-to-a-rockville-cemetery/2014/09/13/4a97e826-39b3-11e4-9c9f-ebb47272e40e_story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170324084942/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/f-scott-fitzgeralds-long-journey-to-a-rockville-cemetery/2014/09/13/4a97e826-39b3-11e4-9c9f-ebb47272e40e_story.html |archive-date=March 24, 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post |author-first=John |author-last=Kelly}}</ref>

From the 1960s, Rockville's town center, formerly one of the area's commercial centers, suffered from a period of decline. Rockville soon became the first city in Maryland to enter into a government funded [[urban renewal]] program. This resulted in the demolition of most of the original business district. Included in the plan was the unsuccessful [[Rockville Mall]], which failed to attract either major retailers or customers and was demolished in 1994, various government buildings such as the new Montgomery County Judicial Center (opened 1982), and a reorganization of the road plan near the courthouse. The once-promising plan was for the most part a disappointment. Although efforts to restore the town center continue, the majority of the city's economic activity moved to [[Maryland Route 355|Rockville Pike]] (MD Route 355/Wisconsin Avenue). The [[U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission]]'s headquarters is on the Pike, just south of the city's corporate limits.

The [[R.E.M.]] song "[[(Don't Go Back To) Rockville]]", released in 1984, was written by [[Mike Mills]] about not wanting his girlfriend Ingrid Schorr to return to Rockville, Maryland.<ref name="Black, Johnny 2004">Black, Johnny (2004). ''Reveal: The Story of R.E.M.'' Backbeat Books. {{ISBN|0-87930-776-5}}.</ref>