Charles County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 166,617. The county seat is La Plata. The county was named for Charles Calvert (1637–1715), third Baron Baltimore. Charles County is part of the Washington metropolitan area and the Southern Maryland region.
Westminster is a city in and the county seat of Carroll County, Maryland, United States. The city's population was 19,960 at the 2020 census. Westminster is an outlying community in the Baltimore metropolitan area, which is part of the greater Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area.
La Plata is a town in Charles County, Maryland, United States. The population was 10,159 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Charles County.
Waldorf is a census-designated place in Charles County, Maryland, United States. Located 23 miles (37 km) south-southeast of Washington, D.C., Waldorf is part of Southern Maryland. Its population was 81,410 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous community in the state and the largest community in Southern Maryland. Waldorf has experienced dramatic growth, increasing its population 16-fold from fewer than 5,000 residents in 1980 to its current population. It is now the largest commercial and residential area in Southern Maryland as well as a major suburb in the Washington metropolitan area.
Upper Marlboro, officially the Town of Upper Marlboro, is the seat of Prince George's County, Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population within the town limits was 652, although Greater Upper Marlboro, which covers a large area outside the town limits, is many times larger.
William Smallwood was an American planter, soldier and politician from Charles County, Maryland. He served in the American Revolutionary War, rising to the rank of major general. He was serving as the fourth Governor of Maryland when the state adopted the United States Constitution.
Maryland Route 5 is a 74.34-mile (119.64 km) long state highway that runs north–south in the U.S. state of Maryland. The highway runs from Point Lookout in St. Mary's County north to the Washington, D.C. border in Suitland, Prince George's County. MD 5 begins as two-lane undivided Point Lookout Road which runs from Point Lookout to an intersection with MD 235 in the northern part of St. Mary's County. Point Lookout Road passes through rural areas as well as the county seat of Leonardtown. After the MD 235 intersection, the route becomes four-lane divided Three Notch Road and continues into Charles County, where it becomes Leonardtown Road. Here, the route bypasses Hughesville and continues north toward the Waldorf area, which it bypasses to the east on Mattawoman Beantown Road. The route merges onto U.S. Route 301 and enters Prince George's County, splitting from US 301 at an interchange in Brandywine. From here, MD 5 continues north on Branch Avenue, running through suburban areas, before becoming a freeway as it passes Andrews Air Force Base and has an interchange with Interstate 95 (I-95)/I-495. Past the Capital Beltway, the route runs through suburban areas of Hillcrest Heights and Suitland before reaching the Washington, D.C. border, where Branch Avenue SE continues, crossing Pennsylvania Avenue SE and eventually terminating at Randle Circle.
Maryland Route 6 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The state highway runs 47.36 miles (76.22 km) from a dead end at the Potomac River in Riverside east to MD 235 in Oraville. MD 6 connects several small communities in southern Charles County and northern St. Mary's County with U.S. Route 301 in La Plata, the county seat of Charles County, and MD 5 in Charlotte Hall. The state highway also provides access to multiple historic sites around Port Tobacco, the original county seat of Charles County. MD 6 was one of the original highways numbered by the Maryland State Roads Commission in 1927. The state highway was constructed from La Plata to Riverside in the late 1910s and early 1920s. The La Plata–Charlotte Hall section of the highway was built in the mid-1920s. The portion of MD 6 east of Charlotte Hall was mostly built in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The final section of the state highway was completed in Oraville in 1940.
The Charles County school system (CCPS) is a public school system run by the publicly-elected Charles County Board of Education and is funded by Charles County, Maryland through taxpayer money allocated by the Charles County Board of Commissioners.
La Plata High School is part of the Charles County Public Schools and is located in La Plata, Maryland, United States. The current school was built in 1979. Before that, it was in the building which now holds Milton M. Somers Middle School.
Henry E. Lackey High School is a high school in Charles County, Maryland, United States. It is run by Charles County Public Schools.
Maryland Route 225 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as Hawthorne Road, the state highway runs 10.59 miles (17.04 km) from MD 210 in Potomac Heights east to U.S. Route 301 in La Plata. MD 225 connects La Plata, the county seat of Charles County, with Indian Head in the northwestern part of the county, which is home to Indian Head Naval Surface Warfare Center. The state highway was designated one of the original state roads by the Maryland State Roads Commission and constructed in the mid 1910s. MD 225 was reconstructed in the early 1950s, shortly after the highway's western terminus was moved to Potomac Heights following the completion of Indian Head Highway during World War II.
Maryland Route 224 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The highway runs 26.70 miles (42.97 km) from MD 6 at Riverside north to MD 227 at Pomonkey. MD 224 is a C-shaped route that mostly parallels the Potomac River through southwestern Charles County. The northern part of the highway passes through the villages of Chicamuxen, Rison, Marbury, and Mason Springs on the south side of Mattawoman Creek. MD 224 originally included Livingston Road north from Pomonkey through Accokeek, Piscataway, and Oxon Hill in southwestern Prince George's County to Washington, D.C. This highway connected Washington with Fort Washington and the Naval Proving Ground at Indian Head.
Maryland Route 488 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as La Plata Road, the state highway runs 6.01 miles (9.67 km) from MD 6 in La Plata east to MD 5 near Bryantown. MD 488 is a connector between La Plata and eastern Charles County, including the town of Hughesville. The state highway was constructed in the mid-1930s.
Doncaster Demonstration Forest is a state park in Charles County of the state Maryland. The park is 1,447 acres (586 ha) in size. It serves as an educational resource where a variety of silvicultural practices, forest best management practices and wildlife habitat management practices are implemented and studied. Recreational opportunities in Doncaster include hunting, hiking, horseback riding and mountain biking. It contains about 13 miles (21 km) of marked trails.
Smallwood State Park is a public recreation and historic preservation area located on Mattawoman Creek near Marbury, Charles County, Maryland. The state park preserves Smallwood's Retreat, the plantation home of former Continental Army officer and Governor of Maryland, Major General William Smallwood. The park's 984 acres (398 ha) include a marina, boat ramps, picnicking facilities, campsites, cabins, trails, and nature center.
Maryland Route 382 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as Croom Road, the highway runs 15.34 miles (24.69 km) from the Charles–Prince George's county line near Aquasco north to U.S. Route 301 in Marlton. MD 382 connects Upper Marlboro with the southeastern corner of Prince George's County and northeastern Charles County. The highway formerly extended west from its southern terminus to Waldorf. MD 382 was built from what is now US 301 south through Croom between the mid-1920s and early 1930s. The highway was extended south and west through Charles County to near Waldorf in the mid-1950s. Part of the extension has been built in the late 1920s as part of MD 233, a parallel highway that extended east to the county line near Aquasco. MD 382 was truncated at the county line to achieve its present length in the late 1980s.
Christ Church is one of the oldest (1732) surviving Episcopal church buildings in the U.S. state of Maryland. Christ Church is located in the village of Ironsides within the town of Nanjemoy. Old Trinity Church, Church Creek, Dorchester County, dates to c. 1675 and is thus older.
Glymont is an unincorporated community in Charles County, Maryland, United States.
The 2002 La Plata tornado was an extremely powerful and fast moving multi-vortex F4 tornado that devastated the town of La Plata, Maryland, killing 3 people and injuring 122 others. It was the costliest tornado of the tornado outbreak of April 27–28, 2002 causing at least $115 million in damages. It is also one of the strongest tornadoes ever to hit the greater Baltimore-Washington D.C. area.
