Prince George's County is a vibrant and prosperous community, one with a rich heritage and an even richer future. Named for Prince George of Denmark when it was founded in 1696, Prince George's County enjoys the traditions of nearly 300 years of history and a diversity of landscapes and lifestyles not found ELSE where in the Washington metropolitan area.

Prince George's County is known for its rapid growth and development. The population doubled from 1900 to 1930. By the 1960's Prince George's was one of the fastest growing counties in the country. Prince George's current population figures are listed at approximately 764,000 and rising. Part of the attraction to Prince George's residents and businesses alike, is its centralized location and its rich diversity. An easy blend of the old and the new, Prince George's is at once urban and rural, historic and modem, large enclaves and small towns. Located in the heart of the Baltimore/Washington Common Market, Prince George's County covers 487 square miles and borders Washington D.C. on the East and is just 37 miles south of Baltimore. Prince George's is just minutes from the political, social and cultural life of Washington, D.C. and from the many pleasures of Annapolis, the Eastern Shore and the neighboring mountain areas.

Much of Prince George's County's economic growth can be attributed to its location. Proximity to the Nations Capital has been a considerable benefit in attracting Federal contracts and installations. While a number of private, high technology and research & development firms have been attracted to Prince George's County's pro business attitudes and initiatives.

Andrews Air Force Base contributes greatly to Prince George's County economic growth. One of Prince George's major employers, it dominates much of the life in Camp Springs and Clinton. The base itself is the home of the 89th Military Airlift wing which maintains Air Force One and other aircraft used by high level government officials. Also, until recently, the headquarters of the Air Force Materiel Command, which is responsible for all Air Force research and development, was located at Andrews.

While Prince George's County is a progressive and modern community, it has not lost touch with its past. Prince George's strong link to its history can make for some noticeable contrasts. Farmers harvest tobacco as they have for 300 years right along side the modern research facilities of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. The College Park Airport, where Wilbur Wright once gave flying lessons in 1909, is just miles from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt. The grounds of the 18th century Montpelier Mansion, where George and Martha Washington are said to have stayed when traveling, is now the home of a lively cultural arts complex. with the help of an extensive highway system, one can travel from a more urban area of high-rises and shopping centers to rural communities of farms and country stores in minutes.

A rewarding mix of recreational and cultural activities awaits you in Prince George's County. Residents play golf on championship courses, attend symphonies, visit art exhibitions and frequent the USAir Arena in Landover for concert and sporting events. 

Dispersed through out Prince George's County are 220 historic landmarks including mansions such as Montpelier, Belair, Marietta, Rivesdale and Darnall's Chance. Jousting tournaments are magnets for family outings, as are more recent markers of history -- NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and the National Air and Space Museum's Paul E. Garber facility in Suitland, where vintage aircraft are stored. Old fashioned harness racing can be found at the Prince George's County Equestrian Center in Upper Marlboro, where the Showplace arena hosts many special events for the whole family to enjoy. The new 10,000 seat, Prince George's County Stadium in Bowie, is currently the home of the Bowie Baysox, Prince George's County's Class AA minor league baseball team, an affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. Children are especially fond of the Oxon Hill Children's Farm and National Colonial Farm, not to mention the water rides at Adventure world Amusement Park. The International visitors Center at the 4700-acre Patuxent Wildlife Research Center is a place were visitors can see the magnificent but endangered whooping crane and Bald eagle, which are bred and monitored here. The Prince George's Conference and visitors Bureau provides information on current and ongoing events in Prince George's County. While the Prince George's County Community Foundation, Inc. a non-profit charitable organization raises funds for the many parks and recreational, environmental, and cultural activities in Prince George's County.

More Prince George's County Area History

Every generation in Prince George's County for the past 300 years has produced men and women who, through their dedication, intelligence, and sheer determination, have established themselves among the pioneers in every walk of life, from military command and politics, air and space flight, farming and commerce, as well as the clergy.

John Hanson, first president of the United States under the Articles of Confederation, made his home in Prince George's County, while John Carroll, the first archbishop of the United States, was born in Upper Marlborough (later shortened to Upper Marlboro).

Officially established in 1696 after heavy exploration and colonization by Captain John Smith and settlers from England and continental Europe, Prince George's County quickly became the jewel of the new world. Prince George's vast wilderness provided lumber while its many navigable rivers such as the Potomac and the Patuxent, as well as the Chesapeake Bay, offered shipping and trading opportunities. Although many of the original Prince George's establishments remained small, Upper Marlboro and Bladensburg grew into major centers of political activity, commerce and culture.

Upper Marlboro still retains the Prince George's County seat which was moved there in 1721; while Bladensburg, through revitalization efforts, is currently reaching into the past to recapture the significance it held when it was a thriving port city and a protector of the young American nation's capital. It was through that last defensive line in Bladensburg that British troops arched during the War of 1812 before plundering Washington, D.C., and burning several federal buildings, including the unfinished Capitol building.

It was from the northwest corner of expansive Prince George's County that a portion of land was ceded by Maryland to the federal government to establish Washington, D.C., and now, as then, many of our residents owe their livelihood to positions of national and international significance. Agriculture was a key to growing Prince George's County in the beginning and still remains vital in the southern and eastern regions, but the ever-changing landscape and surge of the metropolitan area has ushered in a new age of modernization and technological advances.

Prince George's stands on the threshold of that advance and has contributed mightily to the growth of research and development strategies benefitting national defense, health services, the aerospace industry and private businesses and contractors. 

With more than 750,000 citizens, Prince George's County presently has a population larger than that of five states, and more than 800 people each week move here looking for professional and employment opportunities.

With its advanced educational systems, from nationally recognized elementary and secondary programs to world-renown institutes of higher education such as the University of Maryland, Prince George's County and its residents are facing the challenges presented by changes in the government, the environment, the evolution of society and the new global economic order. In many ways, the challenges of today mirror those of nearly three centuries ago. 

And not unlike our forefathers, Prince Georgians enjoy an abundance of leisure activities. Horse racing, which began at the Marlborough Race Track, is still a favorite and, according to his diary, George Washington was one of the first to wager money at the track. Thoroughbreds and sulkies still run in Laurel and Rosecroft. The hills, rivers and parklands, as well as the many historic homes that grace them, are a historic treasure few other regions in the country can offer. Arts programs, music concerts, historic reenactments abound, as do town and community festivals.