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Although Charles County was one of the first parts of Maryland to be settled—Port Tobacco became its county seat in 1658—it today still contains a significant amount of wilderness land.

Geography
Charles County is on the southern Maryland peninsula. It borders St. Mary's County on the southeast and Prince George's County to the north. On the west it is bounded by the Potomac River, and it touches the Patuxent on the east. It contains the historically important Port Tobacco River, and its border with St. Mary's is defined by the Wicomico River. The land is generally flat, and much of it remains undeveloped forest. The coastline runs along the Potomac River for 150 miles.

Population
The 2000 census determined Charles County's population to be 120,546 people. The estimate for 2003 was 133,049 people.

Government
The county seat for Charles County is in the town of La Plata. The county is run by a board of five locally elected commissioners, under a form of government known as Code Home Rule. Code Home Rule is one of the three forms of local county governments allowed by Maryland law. Unlike a pure commissioner form, Code Home Rule permits certain bills affecting local matters to pass without first going to the state capitol, Annapolis. Charles County switched from a pure commissioner form to Code Home Rule in 2002.

The county is divided into four commissioner districts. Each of the four commissioners must be elected from a district in which he or she lives at least part-time. The commissioner president is elected at large.

Charles County makes up the whole of State Legislative District 28, and shares District 29A with St. Mary's County. Each district number is represented by one senator in the state senate, so two senators are affected by votes from Charles County. Each district is also represented by three members of the House of Delegates, with one delegate for each lettered subdivision. Charles County residents vote on four members of the House of Delegates.

Nine members sit on the Charles County Board of Education, including seven elected members, the Superintendent of Schools and one student member selected by the Charles County Association of Student Councils.

Charles County is part of Maryland's 5th District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Along with St. Mary's and Calvert, Charles County is part of the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland. Established in 1964 and established by Maryland statute 1966 (reenacted by law 1976 in State legislation), the agency plans the social and economic development of the three southern Maryland regions.

Industry
In 1940 the Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge was opened, providing passage across the Potomac River to and from Virginia on route 301. The resulting traffic, as well as the county's proximity to Washington, DC, has resulted in economic growth and development. The population grows steadily, and the county has become a popular site for new housing.

The largest industry in Charles County remains tobacco farming. Lumbering, commercial fishing, and oyster gathering are also significant. Consumer industries make up a large part of employment within Charles County. Many of the county's residence commute to jobs at the naval aviation industries in St. Mary's, into Virginia, or into Washington, DC. Tourism is important for historic sites, as well as for protected wilderness.

State Parks and Wildlife
Charles County contains several state parks, including Smallwood, Chapel Point, and Purse. The undeveloped land is popular for fishing, hiking, and hunting. The wilderness of Charles County is also home to a substantial number of bald eagles. The rivers are home to striped and largemouth bass, as well as large populations of oysters.

History
The current Charles County is actually the second to bear the name. The first, now known as Old Charles County, was established 1650. In 1654 that small county along the Patuxent was absorbed by the newly formed Calvert County. Modern day Charles County was formed in 1658, by the governor and council's order. The county's name Charles refers to Charles Calvert, Third Lord Baltimore, whose family established the colony of Maryland and also to King Charles I of England (1600-1649), whose cause the Calverts supported.

Before either Charles County existed, the first settlement in the area was established. Port Tobacco was colonized by Europeans as early as 1634. Using the Port Tobacco River, the town became a major port, shipping most of the colony's tobacco back to England. For a time it was the county seat. However, with construction of the railroad through La Plata and rising silt levels in the Port Tobacco River making the river usable only by small craft, Port Tobacco became less important. After a fire burned down much of the courthouse in 1892, the county seat moved to La Plata.

The Pennsylvania Railroad built a track through Charles County in 1869. La Plata was originally La Plata Station. The town grew around the railroad. When the county seat moved to La Plata following the fire at Port Tobacco's courthouse, the town quickly grew to become the economic center of the county.

Historic Sites
William Smallwood (`732-1792), who probably was a native of Charles County, became an American general after his heroic conduct at the Battle of Long Island in 1776 and the campaign in South Carolina in 1780. From 1785 to 1788 he served as Maryland's fourth governor. The Maryland General Assembly in 1957 authorized the purchase of 300 acres of his Charles County plantation, "Smallwood's Retreat," which, with its restored mansion, has been turned into Smallwood State Park.

Also located in Charles County is the house of Dr. Samuel Mudd, who set John Wilkes Booth's broken leg as the assassin fled south to Virginia through the Zekiah swamp. The house has been restored and is now the Samuel A. Mudd Museum.

The Maryland Indian Cultural Center in Waldorf documents the life of American Indian tribes who lived in the area for thousands of years before the coming of European settlers. The museum looks particularly at the Piscataway tribes.

The Afro-American Heritage Society Museum in La Plata displays artifacts spanning 250 years. The collection illustrates the lives of African Americans through the colonial period to the modern day.

Folklore
One of the more popular ghost stories in Charles County is that of the Blue Dog said to haunt Rose Hill Road near the town of Port Tobacco. The dog and his master, Charles Thomas Sims, are said to have been murdered by a man named Henry Hanos from the town of Port Tobacco. Hanos stole gold from Sims as well as a deed to land, and then buried it. When he came to retrieve his ill-gotten treasure, Hanos was scared away by the blue ghost of the Sims's dog. Hanos died soon after. The blue dog is said to protect his master's treasure still. The first written account of this tale was written in 1897.

—Mikhail Velichansky