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Prince George's County, Maryland

Prince George's County is a suburban county located in the U.S. State of Maryland, located immediately east of Washington, D.C.

The county was named for Prince George of Denmark, the brother of King Christian V of Denmark and Norway, and husband of Queen Anne I of the United Kingdom. Its county seat is Upper Marlboro.

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

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

History

Prince George's County was created in 1696 from portions of Charles and Calvert Counties, and a portion was detached in 1748 to form Frederick County. (Actually, since Frederick County was subsequently divided to form the present Allegany, Garrett, Montgomery, and Washington Counties, all of these counties in addition were derived from what had up to 1748 been Prince George's County.) Another portion later became part of the District of Columbia when that entity was formed in 1791.

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

Law/Government

Prince George's County was granted a charter form of government in 1970.

County Executive

The current county executive is Jack B. Johnson.

Geography

Prince George's County has 27 municipalities:
  1. 10 Cities:
    1. Bowie (incorporated 1882)
    2. College Park (incorporated 1945)
    3. District Heights (incorporated 1936)
    4. Glenarden (incorporated 1939)
    5. Greenbelt (incorporated 1937)
    6. Hyattsville (incorporated 1886)
    7. Laurel (incorporated 1870)
    8. Mount Rainier (incorporated 1910)
    9. New Carrollton (incorporated 1953)
    10. Seat Pleasant (incorporated 1931)
    11. The city of Takoma Park was formerly partly in Prince George's County, but since 1997 has been entirely in Montgomery County.
  2. 17 Towns:
    1. Berwyn Heights (incorporated 1896)
    2. Bladensburg (incorporated 1854)
    3. Brentwood (incorporated 1922)
    4. Capitol Heights (incorporated 1910)
    5. Cheverly (incorporated 1931)
    6. Colmar Manor (incorporated 1927)
    7. Cottage City (incorporated 1924) (note that, despite the name, Cottage City is a town and not a city.)
    8. Eagle Harbor (incorporated 1929)
    9. Edmonston (incorporated 1924)
    10. Fairmount Heights (incorporated 1935)
    11. Forest Heights (incorporated 1945)
    12. Landover Hills (incorporated 1945)
    13. Morningside (incorporated 1949)
    14. North Brentwood (incorporated 1924)
    15. Riverdale Park (incorporated 1920)
    16. University Park (incorporated 1936)
    17. Upper Marlboro (incorporated 1870)
Unincorporated areas are also considered as towns by many people, but they lack local government. The United States Census Bureau recognizes the following Census-Designated Places in Prince George's County:
  1. Accokeek
  2. Adelphi
  3. Andrews Air Force Base
  4. Beltsville
  5. Brandywine
  6. Calverton (This CDP is shared between Montgomery and Prince George's Counties.)
  7. Camp Springs
  8. Carmody Hills - Pepper Mill Village
  9. Chillum
  10. Clinton
  11. Coral Hills
  12. East Riverdale
  13. Forestville
  14. Fort Washington
  15. Friendly
  16. Glenn Dale
  17. Goddard
  18. Greater Landover
  19. Greater Upper Marlboro
  20. Hillandale (This CDP is shared between Montgomery and Prince George's Counties.)
  21. Hillcrest Heights
  22. Kettering
  23. Lake Arbor
  24. Langley Park
  25. Lanham-Seabrook
  26. Largo
  27. Marlow Heights
  28. Marlton
  29. Mitchellville
  30. Oxon Hill-Glassmanor
  31. Rosaryville
  32. South Laurel
  33. Springdale
  34. Suitland-Silver Hill
  35. Temple Hills
  36. Walker Mill
  37. West Laurel
  38. Woodlawn (Note: this is also the name of a CDP in Baltimore County!)
  39. Woodmore
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 1,291 km2 (498 mi2). 1,257 km2 (485 mi2) of it is land and 34 km2 (13 mi2) of it is water. The total area is 2.61% water.

Demographics

As of 2000, there are 801,515 people, 286,610 households, and 198,047 families residing in the county. The population density is 638/km2 (1,651/mi2). There are 302,378 housing units at an average density of 241 persons/km2 (623 persons/mi2). The racial makeup of the county is 27.04% White, 62.70% African American, 0.35% Native American, 3.87% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 3.38% from other races, and 2.61% from two or more races. 7.12% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 286,610 households out of which 35.30% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.00% are married couples living together, 19.60% have a woman whose husband does not live with her, and 30.90% are non-families. 24.10% of all households are made up of individuals and 4.90% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.74 and the average family size is 3.25.

In the county the population is spread out with 26.80% under the age of 18, 10.40% from 18 to 24, 33.00% from 25 to 44, 22.10% from 45 to 64, and 7.70% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 33 years. For every 100 females there are 91.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 87.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county is $55,256, and the median income for a family is $62,467. Males have a median income of $38,904 versus $35,718 for females. The per capita income for the county is $23,360. 7.70% of the population and 5.30% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 9.20% are under the age of 18 and 6.90% are 65 or older.

Cities and Towns

Colleges and Universities

The main campus of the University System of Maryland is located in College Park.