Wheaton, Maryland was named for Major General Frank Wheaton, one of the few generals of the Civil War who attained this rank in the Union Army without attending West Point. In 1864, General Wheaton commanded the defense of Washington from Ft. Stevens against Confederate General Jubal Early's attack in early July. The fort, still standing, was not far down Georgia Avenue (then called the 7th Street Pike). Frank Wheaton was appointed colonel of the 2nd Infantry in 1874; brigadier general of the U. S. Army in 1892; and major general in 1897. He died in Washington on June 18, 1903, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

One of the early settlers to the Wheaton area, George F. Plyer became Postmaster on October 5, 1869. He set up the office in his home at Georgia Ave. and Plyers Mill Rd. Some accounts say that Plyer named the community for General Wheaton. Wheaton bore its name from that time except from 1874-75 when the area was called Leesborough.

Wheaton was the home of the first regularly scheduled television service in the United States. The first regularly scheduled television service in the United States. Beginning on July 2, 1928, the Federal Radio Commission authorized C.F. Jenkins to broadcast from experimental station W3XK. But for at least the first eighteen months, only silhouette images from motion picture film were broadcast.

By 1958 there were more than 400 businesses and professionals located in Wheaton. At the time of its construction, the Wheaton Plaza Regional Shopping Center, which is now Westfield Wheaton, was the sixth largest shopping center in the nation.

The latitude of Wheaton is 39.039N, and the longitude is -77.055W. The elevation is 466 feet. According to Rand McNally, in 2005 the Wheaton area had an estimated population of 134,800. The United States Postal Service has assigned zip code 20902 to Wheaton but the Wheaton Post Office is part of the Silver Spring area. Wheaton is served by the Red Line on the Washington Metro system. The Wheaton Metro station has the longest escalator in the Western Hemisphere.