Tobytown, MD

Factual Questions
1

Earlier this evening I found the following on the web:

"A few miles northwest of Washington DC is a tiny hamlet known as Tobytown. You won’t find it on most maps, but long-time residents know where it is, hard by the Potomac, founded by slaves who swam across the river to escape from the Confederacy. Its not much to look at. Just a collection of ramshackle wood and tar paper dwellings stuck in a grove of trees. Over time it become surrounded to $2 and $3 million homes to some of Washington’s elite and powerful: high powered attorneys, lobbyists, the occasional Senator or Congressman. The sight of Tobytown out their back windows, from their pools, or tennis courts was somewhat discomforting. So a few years ago these magnanimous residents took up a collection to build…

a ten foot high fence surrounding"

This sounds preposterous, but not too preposterous, if you know what I mean. Anybody know enough to confirm/debunk this story?

2

I found a Land Use and Zoning Plan (note: that’s a direct link to the pdf file) on the Montgomery County (MD) Planning Board website. One section deals with Tobytown and has this to say:

You can also see a map of Tobytown on their site.

It certainly sounds like an Urban Legend to me.

3

I’m not sure why my first link didn’t work properly. I’ll try again to link to the pdf file.

4

Thanks JeffB, I really appreciate it. Some of the things one can find on the net…

I still think the question is open about a fence being around the community though. Hopefully there are some Dopers who live in the area and can tell me.

5

Thanks JeffB, I really appreciate it. Some of the things one can find on the net…

I think the question is still open about a fence being around the community, though. Hopefully there are some Dopers who live in the area and can tell me.

6

I’ve been there. It’s real, but not as bad as described. I don’t recall a fence, but it was night, so there may have been one. It’s not a “collection of ramshackle wood and tar paper dwellings stuck in a grove of trees”. As I recall, it was just a few sorta low-end houses that you might see anywhere in poorer sections of the suburbs. Still, it’s kind of odd, given the location.

7

I live right near there, about two miles away, and I can do a drive-by with my camera if the thread is so inclined for me to do so.

8

Wow, Tobytown got a M.D.!? He didn’t even invite me to his graduation from med school. That bastard. :smiley: