ABOUT

Sandy Spring is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Maryland. 

History
The community was founded by Quakers who arrived in the early 18th century searching for land where they could grow tobacco and corn. One of the very early land owners in the Sandy Spring area was Richard Snowden, who patented (purchased) the 1,000 acres (4 km²) "Snowden's Manor" in 1715. Snowden gradually enlarged his property with additional land purchases over the next few decades until it was surveyed at over 9,000 acres (36 km²) as "Snowden's Manor Enlarged" in 1743. Another important early landowner, Major John Bradford, had patented over 2,000 acres (8 km²) in the Sandy Spring area, including "Charley Forest" in 1716, "Charley Forest Enlarged", "Higham", and "Discovery." Bradford sold off large parts of these properties, but Snowden's son-in-law, James Brooke, later bought up the original Charley Forest land as well as other land in the area, eventually owning over 22,000 acres (90 km²) by the 1760s.