article

Frederick County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Maryland, bordering the southern border of Pennsylvania and the northeastern border of Virginia. It is a part of the Washington-Baltimore Metropolitan Area, and is often recognized as part of Western Maryland. The county is home to Catoctin Mountain Park and the presidential retreat Camp David. The county seat is Frederick, which was home to several celebrated historical figures like Francis Scott Key. The county was named for Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore.

History

Frederick County was created in 1748 from parts of Prince George's County and Baltimore County.

In 1776, Frederick County was divided into three parts. The westernmost portion became Washington County, named after George Washington, the easternmost portion became Montgomery County, named after another Revolutionary War general, Richard Montgomery. The central portion remained Frederick County.

In 1837 a part of Frederick County was combined with a part of Baltimore County to form Carroll County.

Law/Government

Frederick County is governed by county commissioners, the traditional form of county government in Maryland.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,728 km² (667 mi²). 1,717 km² (663 mi²) of it is land and 12 km² (4 mi²) of it (0.67%) is water.

Attractions in Frederick include the Clustered Spires, a monument to Francis Scott Key, the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, Monocacy National Battlefield and South Mountain battlefields, and the Schifferstadt Architectural Museum.

Adjacent counties

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 195,277 people, 70,060 households, and 51,914 families residing in the county. The population density was 114/km² (295/mi²). There were 73,017 housing units at an average density of 43/km² (110/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 89.33% White, 6.36% Black or African American, 0.21% Native American, 1.67% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.92% from other races, and 1.47% from two or more races. 2.39% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 70,060 households out of which 38.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.10% were married couples living together, 9.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.90% were non-families. 20.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.16.

In the county the population was spread out with 27.60% under the age of 18, 7.40% from 18 to 24, 32.70% from 25 to 44, 22.60% from 45 to 64, and 9.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 96.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.90 males.

Economy

The median income for a household in Frederick county is $60,276, and the median income for a family was $67,879. Males had a median income of $42,378 versus $30,564 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,404. About 2.90% of families and 4.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.90% of those under age 18 and 6.00% of those age 65 or over.

The largest employers in Frederick County aside from government (especially Fort Detrick) are Wells Fargo, Frederick Memorial Hospital, MidAtlantic Medical Services and Bechtel Frederick County Office of Economic Development. Frederick County has a strong agricultural component of its economy, and it is the largest producer of milk in Maryland Frederick County Office of Economic Development (Fast Facts#Brief Economic Facts).

Cities and towns

  1. Ballenger Creek
  2. Braddock Heights
  3. Clover Hill
  4. Discovery-Spring Garden (a combination of the communities of Discovery and Spring Garden recognized as a unit by the Census Bureau)
  5. Green Valley
  6. Linganore-Bartonsville (a combination of the communities of Linganore and Bartonsville recognized as a unit by the Census Bureau)

Other unincorporated areas include

  1. Adamstown-Doubs
  2. Graceham
  3. Ijamsville
  4. Jefferson
  5. Knoxville
  6. Ladiesburg
  7. Lewistown
  8. Libertytown
  9. Lake Linganore
  10. Monrovia
  11. New Midway
  12. Point of Rocks
  13. Rocky Ridge
  14. Sabillasville
  15. Tuscarora
  16. Urbana

Miscellaneous

The newspaper of record is The Frederick News Post. The County Attorney for Frederick County is John Stephen Mathias, Sr.

References

Notes

External links

Frederick County, Maryland | Maryland counties | Potomac River counties

Frederick County (Maryland) | Condado de Frederick (Maryland) | Condado de Frederick (Maryland)

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Frederick County, Maryland".

Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world