Garrett Park was an early planned community, originally promoted by businessman Henry W. Copp, who purchased the land in 1886.

Copp worked in conjunction with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which in 1893 built a train station.

[5] Builders were given reduced rates to transport workers and materials to the town site, and new residents were given free trips to move in.

It was named for John Work Garrett, who had led the B&O for nearly three decades, including during the American Civil War.

Garrett Park incorporated as a town in 1898, at which time it had thirty buildings and approximately 100 residents.

[6] However, rail suburbs did not catch on, and the community stagnated as automobiles replaced commuter trains and streetcars.

In May 1982 the townspeople of Garrett Park voted 245 to 46 to ban the production, transportation, storage, processing, disposal, or use of nuclear weapons within the town.

It is just west of Kensington, due north of Bethesda, northwest of Silver Spring, and southeast of Rockville.

Rock Creek Stream Valley Park, operated by Montgomery County, is located along the town's southeast borders.

[2] Garrett Park is primarily a residential town, with a post office, and a few small businesses.

The only road open to automotive traffic into or out of Garrett Park is Maryland State Highway 547 (Strathmore Avenue).

The town is unusual in that residents pick up their mail at the post office in person, rather than having home delivery.

[18][19] The institution, giving supplemental education to Japanese-speaking children in the Washington DC area, was founded in 1958,[20] making it the oldest Japanese government-sponsored supplementary school in the U.S.[21] The only state highway serving Garrett Park is Maryland Route 547.

The former B&O railway, which was instrumental in the town's inception, still serves the community as the MARC commuter rail.