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Montgomery County, Maryland

Montgomery County is a suburban county located in the U.S. State of Maryland north and west of Washington, D.C.

Its county seat is Rockville.

This county is a part of the Washington-Baltimore Metropolitan Area.

Table of contents
1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 Law and Government
5 Cities and Towns

History

The area now known as Montgomery County was originally a part of Charles County when counties were first established in Maryland. In 1696 parts of Charles and Baltimore Counties were split off to form the new Prince George's County. In turn, in 1748, a portion of Prince George's County produced Frederick County. Montgomery County was formed in 1776 by the splitting of Frederick County. The former Frederick County was subdivided into three; the central portion remained Frederick County, while the western was named Washington County in honor of General (later President) George Washington, and the eastern part was named Montgomery County in honor of another Revolutionary War general, Richard Montgomery.

In 1791, portions of Montgomery and Prince George's County, Maryland, as well as parts of Virginia, were ceded to form the new District of Columbia. (The portions originally ceded by Virginia were returned by an act of Congress, approved July 9, 1846.)

In 1997, a portion of Prince George's County was transferred to Montgomery County so that the entire city of Takoma Park would be in a single county.

Geography

Montgomery County includes nineteen municipalities: Though the three incorporated cities of Gaithersburg, Rockville, and Takoma Park lie within its boundaries, the most urbanized areas in the county include such unincorporated areas as Bethesda and Silver Spring. The United States Census Bureau recognizes the following Census-Designated Places in Montgomery County:
  1. Ashton-Sandy Spring
  2. Aspen Hill
  3. Bethesda
  4. Brookmont
  5. Burtonsville
  6. Cabin John
  7. Calverton (This CDP is shared between Montgomery and Prince George's Counties.)
  8. Chevy Chase (Note that this is also the name of an incorporated town!)
  9. Clarksburg
  10. Cloverly
  11. Colesville
  12. Damascus
  13. Darnestown
  14. Fairland
  15. Forest Glen
  16. Friendship Village
  17. Germantown
  18. Hillandale (This CDP is shared between Montgomery and Prince George's Counties.)
  19. Kemp Mill
  20. Montgomery Village
  21. North Bethesda
  22. North Kensington
  23. North Potomac
  24. Olney
  25. Potomac
  26. Redland
  27. Rossmoor
  28. Silver Spring
  29. South Kensington
  30. Travilah
  31. Wheaton-Glenmont
  32. White Oak
Other entities, such as the United States Postal Service, use a different selection of local place names. In all these cases, since the places are unincorporated, the boundaries are determined by the classifying authority.

The county has a total area of 1,313 km2 (507 mi2). 1,283 km2 (496 mi2) of it is land and 30 km2 (12 mi2) of it is water. The total area is 2.29% water.

Demographics

As of 2000, there are 873,341 people, 324,565 households, and 224,274 families residing in the county. The population density is 680/km2 (1,762/mi2). There are 334,632 housing units at an average density of 261 persons/km2 (675 persons/mi2). The racial makeup of the county is 64.78% White, 15.14% African American, 0.29% Native American, 11.30% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 5.00% from other races, and 3.45% from two or more races. 11.52% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 324,565 households out of which 35.00% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.20% are married couples living together, 10.50% have a woman whose husband does not live with her, and 30.90% are non-families. 24.40% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.70% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.66 and the average family size is 3.19.

In the county the population is spread out with 25.40% under the age of 18, 6.90% from 18 to 24, 32.30% from 25 to 44, 24.20% from 45 to 64, and 11.20% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 37 years. For every 100 females there are 92.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 88.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county is $71,551, and the median income for a family is $84,035. Males have a median income of $54,005 versus $40,714 for females. The per capita income for the county is $35,684. 5.40% of the population and 3.70% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 5.90% are under the age of 18 and 5.90% are 65 or older.

Law and Government

Montgomery County was granted a charter form of government in 1948.

County Executive

The current county executive is Douglas Duncan, who was inaugurated in 1994. Earlier county executives have included:
  1. James P. Gleason (1970-1978)
  2. Charles W. Gilchrist (1978-1986)
  3. Sidney Kramer (1986-1990)
  4. Neal Potter (1990-1994)

Legislative body

The Montgomery County Council was originally composed of seven members, all elected at large, but with five required to reside in specific districts. In 19__ the charter was revised to provide that the five district councilmembers would be elected by the voters in their districts, but the size of the council was increased to nine members, with four at large.

Cities and Towns