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Map of Prince George's County

Library of Congress, Geography and Maps Division

A growing urban area around the nation’s capital, Prince George’s County (pop 2005 est. 846,123; 2000 801,515), known commonly as PG County, was once one of the largest tobacco farming areas in Maryland. Some of the rural areas remain, with the county reflecting the urban areas of northern Maryland and Washington, D.C., in addition to the rural lands in southern Maryland.

History
As much as 10,000 years ago, and possibly before, the lands around Prince George’s County are thought to have been inhabited by American Indians. One of the two primary tribes was the Piscataway tribe, which grew crops in the southern Maryland regions. The Susquehannock hunted to the north. Warlike, they often fought with the Piscataway for land.

Captain John Smith was the first European to explore the land when he sailed up the Potomac River. In 1634, Governor Leonard Calvert requested use of the land from the Piscataway Indians. Receiving permission, he returned south and formed St. Mary’s City. Soon colonists used land up and down the Potomac and Patuxent Rivers, establishing farms and settlements in what would become Prince George’s County.

Established in 1696, Prince George’s County was created out of lands in Calvert and Charles counties through an act passed by the General Assembly. It was named after Prince George of Denmark, the husband of Princess Anne, heir to England’s throne.

When the revolution came, many in Prince George’s County flocked to the cause. One resident, John Rogers, sat in on the Continental Congress, which voted to make the colonies free states in 1776. Daniel Carroll, another resident, was one of the signers of the U.S. Constitution. In 1790, Prince George’s County gave up most of the land needed to create the nation’s capitol. Along with Calvert County, Prince George’s suffered devastation at the hands of the British army during the war of 1812.

Government
Prince George’s County is divided into three Congressional Districts. It shares the 4th and 8th Districts with Montgomery County and the 5th District with Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s Counties as well as parts of Anne Arundel County. Residents of Prince George’s County vote on three members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Prince George’s County is part of State Legislative Districts 21 (with Anne Arundel County), 22, 23A, 23B, 24-26, 27A (with Calvert County), and 47. Each numbered district is represented by one member in the State Senate and by three members in the House of Delegates, one each for one lettered subdivision. In all, Prince George’s County residents are represented by nine Senators and 21 Delegates in the state legislature in Annapolis.

In 1970, Prince George’s County adopted a Charter form of government, one of three allowable by Maryland law. A County Executive is elected to a four-year term. The County Executive is chief of the Executive branch whose job is to carry out laws passed by the County Council. The Council is made up of nine elected officials, one from each local district; each serves a four-year term. Of these, two members are selected by the Council to serve as Chair and Vice Chair for a year. The Council also acts as the District Council on matters concerning land use and zoning, and also sits as the Board of Health and decides on health policy within the county.

The Charter (County Council) form of government gives Prince George’s more independence on issues within the county. Specifically, it allows many local bills to become law without having to pass through the state legislature in Annapolis. Prince George’s County’s Board of Education has nine elected members, along with the Superintendent of Schools and a student member.

Geography
Prince George’s County is located on the western end of Maryland, along the northern end of the Patuxent River. It borders Charles County in the south, Calvert County in the southeast, Anne Arundel in the east, and Montgomery County in the northwest. Prince George’s border touches Howard County at its northernmost point, and meets the northernmost point of the Potomac River at its most southern border. Much of the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.) is contained within the west of Prince George’s County.

Prince George’s features many urban areas, especially near Washington. The Beltway, the major highway that circles Washington, connects many of these urban centers. Further east or south, the land becomes rural farmland. Parks still preserve some of Prince George’s County’s wilderness, particularly along the Patuxent River.

Industry
The county’s historic industry is tobacco farming in addition to commercial fishing from the Potomac and Patuxent Rivers. As Washington became a major city and the federal government grew, many government buildings and agencies expanded out into Prince George’s County. It has become tied with the functions of the federal government, with many of its residents commuting into Washington or working for the government in the county. Since 1970, Prince George’s County has worked to create industry that establishes Prince George’s County as more than a suburb of Washington.

For a long time, Prince George’s County had more tobacco farms than any other state county, with 60 percent of the population slaves. After the Civil War, the plantation system lost its cheap labor and large tobacco farms were replaced by small farms, many of them owned by free slaves. Farmers also began to plant other crops in soil that had been depleted by centuries of tobacco growth. Meanwhile, unlike counties further south, Prince George’s County began to see the effect of the Industrial Revolution as cotton mills began to appear.

The city of Washington, experienced a boom in the twentieth century and quickly grew to be a major economic center; government buildings stretched out into Prince George’s County. The county grew as part of the major Washington metropolitan area.

Higher Education
Prince George’s County contains the University of Maryland, College Park campus, one of the top state schools in the nation. It is known particularly for its business and journalism school in addition to strong physics and aerospace engineering research because of grants from NASA and the military. It is the largest campus of the University System of Maryland. Prince George’s County is also home to Bowie State University, Prince George’s Community College, and Capitol College.

Goddard Space Flight Center
The Goddard Space Flight Center, a division of NASA, is also located in Prince George’s County. Among its many tasks, such as planning missions into space, the Center researches Earth and its environment, the solar system, and the universe. It also develops technology, including telescopes and satellites. The Hubble Telescope was built at the Goddard Space Flight Center (but not the infamous malfunctioning lens) and it is currently developing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite system that will be used to provide environmental information for research and forecasting.

—Mikhail Velichansky

Chesapeake Beach, Md.