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Not to be confused with Prince George County, Virginia

Prince George's County is a suburban county located in the U.S. state of Maryland immediately north, east, and south of Washington, D.C. It is home to the USDA Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Andrews Air Force Base, the University of Maryland's flagship College Park campus, Six Flags America & Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, Ikea, and FedEx Field (home of the Washington Redskins).

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

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

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. 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.

On July 1, 1997, the Prince George's County section of the city of Takoma Park, Maryland, which straddled the boundary between Prince George's and Montgomery counties, was transferred to Montgomery County. This was done after city residents voted to be under the sole jurisdiction of Montgomery County, and subsequent approval by both counties and the Maryland General Assembly. This was the first change in Prince George's County's boundaries since 1791, and the first alteration of the boundaries of any county in Maryland since the early 1900s. This event passed with little controversy, yet to this day many residents question why the Prince George's County Council so easily allowed the boundary to be changed, which resulted in a loss of several thousand residents and a great amount of property tax revenue.

A scandal erupted in 2004 when Prince George's County Schools Chief, Andre Hornsby, purchased $1 million in educational software from Leapfrog Enterprises Inc, a company that employed his live-in girlfriend, Sienna Owens, as a saleswoman. Amid an FBI investigation, Hornsby resigned on May 27, 2005.

Law and government

Presidential elections results
Year Republican Democrat
2004 17.4% ''55,532 81.8% ''260,532
2000 18.4% ''49,987 79.5% ''216,119
1996 21.9% ''52,697 73.5% ''176,612
1992 24.5% ''62,955 65.7% ''168,691
1988 38.8% ''86,545 60.0% ''133,816
1984 41.0% ''136,063 58.6% ''95,121
1980 40.7% ''78,977 '50.9% 98,757
1976 42.0% ''81,027 58.0% ''111,743
1972 58.5% ''116,166 40.3% ''79,914
1968 41.2% ''73,269 40.3% ''71,524
1964 36.2% ''46,413 63.8% ''81,806
1960 42.0% ''44,817 58.0% ''62,013
Since 1792, the county seat has been Upper Marlboro. Prior to 1792, the county seat was located at Mount Calvert, a 76 acre (308,000 m²) estate along the Patuxent River on the edge of what is now in the unincorporated community of Croom.

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

County Executive

See also: 2006 Prince George's County Executive Election.

NamePartyTerm
William W. GullettDemocrat1970-1974
Win KellyDemocrat1974-1978
Lawrence HoganRepublican1978-1982
Parris N. GlendeningDemocrat1982-1994
Wayne K. CurryDemocrat1994-2002
Jack B. JohnsonDemocrat2002-2006

State's Attorney

The current State's Attorney is Glenn F. Ivey.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 498 mi² (1,291 km²). 485 mi² (1,257 km²) of it is land and 13 mi² (34 km²) of it (2.61%) is water.

Adjacent Jurisdictions

Demographics

As of the estimated census² of 2004, there were 842,967 people, 286,610 households, and 198,047 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,651/mi² (638/km²). There were 308,929 housing units at an average density of 1,651.1/mi² (241/km²).

  • The racial makeup of the county was:
  • 62.70% African American
  • 27.04% White
  • 7.12% Hispanic or Latino
  • 3.87% Asian
  • 3.38% Other races
  • 2.61% Two or More of any race
  • 0.35% Native American
  • 0.06% Pacific Islander

There were 286,610 households out of which 35.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.00% were married couples living together, 19.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.90% were non-families. 24.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 persons and the average family size was 3.25 persons.

In the county the population was 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 were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 91.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $55,256, and the median income for a family was $62,467. Males had a median income of $38,904 versus $35,718 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,360. About 5.30% of families and 7.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.20% of those under age 18 and 6.90% of those age 65 or over. Prince George's County is the most affluent county with an African American majority in the United States.

Cities and towns

  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)
The city of Takoma Park was formerly partly in Prince George's County, but since 1997 has been entirely in Montgomery County.
  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)

  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 (a combination of the communities of Carmody Hills and Pepper Mill Village recognized as a unit by the Census Bureau)
  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 (Which houses the neighborhoods of Kentland, Palmer Park, Brightseat, Lansdowne Village, and portions of Largo and Capitol Heights)
  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 (a combination of the communities of Lanham and Seabrook recognized as a unit by the Census Bureau)
  26. Largo
  27. Marlow Heights
  28. Marlton
  29. Mitchellville
  30. Oxon Hill-Glassmanor (a combination of the communities of Oxon Hill and Glassmanor recognized as a unit by the Census Bureau)
  31. Rosaryville
  32. South Laurel
  33. Springdale
  34. Suitland-Silver Hill (a combination of the communities of Suitland and Silver Hill recognized as a unit by the Census Bureau)
  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 unincorporated places not listed as Census-Designated Places but known in the area include:

  1. Aquasco
  2. Ardmore
  3. Avondale
  4. Berwyn
  5. Cheltenham
  6. Green Meadow
  7. Lewisdale
  8. Montpelier
  9. North College Park
  10. North Englewood
  11. Rogers Heights
  12. South Bowie
  13. Tuxedo
  14. West Bowie
  15. West Hyattsville

And one locality: Muirkirk

Sister Cities

Prince George's County has three sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):

Religion

The county is home to over 800 churches, as well as a number of mosques, synagogues, and Hindu temples. Property belonging to religious entities makes up 3,450 acres (14 km²) of land in the county. *

Hospital

The main hospital facility, The Prince George's Hospital Medical Center is located in Cheverly.

Education

Colleges and universities

Public schools

The county's schools are run by the Prince George's County Public Schools system.

Transportation

Four terminus stations of the Washington Metro subway system are located in Prince George's County, at Greenbelt, New Carrollton, Largo, and Branch Avenue. The County also contains a large portion of the Capital Beltway. Also see Intercounty Connector.

The College Park Airport is the world's oldest.

External links

Maryland counties | Washington, D.C. suburbs | Prince George's County, Maryland | Potomac River counties

Condado de Prince George (Maryland) | Condado de Prince George's | 乔治王子县

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Prince George's County, Maryland".

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