From a community effort in 1981 to a gathering place for cultural heritage today.
At Sandy Spring Museum, it’s all about the community. Everything we do, every milestone we celebrate, every program and exhibit is here for the community and because of the community. Sandy Spring Museum connects diverse communities and advances social equity through shared and inspiring experiences of our region’s cultural heritage.
Sandy Spring Museum was founded in 1981 when a group of residents led by Delmas Wood, an insurance salesman and auctioneer, noted that the community’s history was being sold off with every passing of a long-time resident. The first incarnation of the museum was in the basement of Sandy Spring Bank, out of which we operated for many years, exhibiting artifacts in handmade cases and hosting lectures on local history.
On June 12, 1982 this group of volunteers held the first Strawberry Festival at the old Montgomery Hospital grounds in Olney; in the subsequent years since then the Strawberry Festival has become so well-known that it has become part of the community’s history itself!
In 1986 the museum moved to a brick, four-story colonial house called Tall Timbers, which had been the home of Gladys Brooke Tumbleson.
In 1994 local resident Helen Bentley, who could trace her ancestry to the original residents of Sandy Spring nearly 300 years prior, donated over seven acres of land on Bentley Road to the museum, where we built our permanent home in 1997.
Since its dedication in September 1997, the facility has received the Excellence in Design Award from the Potomac Valley Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, a Merit Award from the Maryland chapter of the American Institute of Architects and “Best New Building in a Historical Area” from the Historic Preservation Office of Montgomery County.
In 2007 the museum complex was completed with the addition of a research library and a state-of-the-art collections storage facility.
Sandy Spring Museum continues to be a place where people create, connect, and share their cultural heritage. Willow Grove Cultural Commons brings flexible indoor creative space together with the outdoor Warner Williams Plaza, providing room for folk and traditional artists to rehearse, perform, record, lead workshops, and gather with their communities.
Willow Grove Cultural Commons carries the museum’s founding spirit into a new chapter: a place where living traditions can grow and neighbors can learn from one another through shared cultural experiences.
Having a museum in town creates a sense of place and provides public space for people to engage and participate in many different meaningful social and cultural activities. The term “living history museum” traditionally means a museum that uses costumed reenactors to interpret history. To us, living history means having artists working in their studios; it means having cultural artists create experiences for the entire community to enjoy; it means bringing people together to make new friends and have unexpected encounters; it means having a wedding, a life-cycle event, or other gathering here. In a world dominated by technology and virtual communities, we bring people together for face-to-face connections. The museum is the heart of the Sandy Spring community. We strive to be the community gathering place in order to improve the quality of life in Sandy Spring for everyone.
