- Calvert County, Maryland
Infobox U.S. County
county = Calvert County
state = Maryland
map size = 225
founded year = 1654
seat wl = Prince Frederick | area_total_sq_mi =345
area_land_sq_mi =215
area_water_sq_mi =130
area percentage = 37.65%
census yr = 2004
pop = 86474
density_km2 =134
web = www.co.cal.md.us
|Calvert County is a
county located in theU.S. state ofMaryland . It is on a peninsula, bordered on the east by theChesapeake Bay , and on the west by thePatuxent River . Calvert County is part of theSouthern Maryland region. Its residents are among the highest-income in the United States. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highest-income_counties_in_the_United_States#Counties_with_populations_65.2C000-250.2C000]As of 2004 , the population was about 86,475. Itscounty seat is the town ofPrince Frederick, Maryland .The county's name is derived from the family name of the Barons of Baltimore, the proprietors of the English Colony of Maryland.Calvert County is one of the several Maryland counties that make up part of the
Washington Metropolitan Area or theBaltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area .Business and Industry
Calvert County is the home of the notable
Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant atLusby .A branch of the
United States Naval Research Laboratory is located atChesapeake Beach .The
Patuxent River Naval Air Station is located immediately to the south of Calvert County, inSt. Mary's County .Tourism is an important part of the economy, especially in supporting such activities as fishing, hunting, and boating.Fact|date=August 2008
History
First settled as Charles County (not the same as present-day
Charles County, Maryland ) around 1650,Arnett, pp 92, discusses role ofRobert Brooke, Sr. ] ,it was renamed.Patuxent County was established in 1654 by an Order in Council. [Calvert County Guide states that it was the Puritans, who named it for an Indian word meaning "place where tobacco grows"] In 1658 the county was renamed Calvert County. [Maryland Online Encyclopedia "Calvert County"] It is one of the older counties in Maryland, afterSt. Mary's County , Kent County andAnne Arundel County .Once made up primarily of farms and tobacco fields, the county was/is slowly claiming its place as a fast-growing
exurb an neighbor of Washington. Many home prices have nearly quadrupled in the past decade, with many four-bedroom homes in the northern half of the county averaging over $1,000,000. The popular weekend resort townsSolomons, Maryland andChesapeake Beach are notable.Law and government
Calvert County is governed by county commissioners, the traditional form of county government in Maryland.Calvert County is a jurisdiction of Maryland's 5th Congressional District. The District is represented in the U.S House of Representatives by Congressman and current House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 345
square mile s (894km² ), of which, 215 square miles (557 km²) of it is land and 130 square miles (336 km²) of it (37.65%) is water.Climate
Calvert County lies in the
Humid subtropical climate zone, with hot, humid summers and mild to chilly winters with plentiful precipitation year-round. Its proximity to theChesapeake Bay has a moderating effect on temperatures compared with locales further inland.Famous Residents
Living:
* Best selling authorTom Clancy
* FormerCNN Anchor andPBS journalistJudy Woodruff
* Executive editor for Bloomberg NewsAl Hunt
*WJLA-TV weathermanDoug Hill
* Theoretical ecologist Dr.Robert Ulanowicz
* FormerMaryland State Senator andPatuxent River advocateBernie Fowler
* Maryland Senate PresidentThomas V. Mike Miller, Jr.
* ActorMichael Willis , whose credits include HBO'sThe Wire andMen in Black Deceased:
*Judith Catchpole , anindentured servant who in 1656 was tried and acquitted of murdering her unborn child by one of the earliest all-female juries in the United States.
*Roger Brooke Taney , the U.S. Supreme CourtChief Justice who presided over the Dred Scott decision.
* FormerMaryland comptroller Louis L. Goldstein
*Arthur Storer , firstastronomer in the American colonies and the original namesake forHalley's Comet
* Thomas Johnson, the first electedgovernor ofMaryland and U.S. Supreme Court justice
*Louisa Adams , wife of U.S. PresidentJohn Quincy Adams
*Margaret Taylor , wife of U.S. PresidentZachary Taylor
* FormerU.S. Senator and Marylandgovernor Joseph Kent
* FormerU.S. House of Representatives memberAugustus Rhodes Sollers
* Nineteenth century professionalbaseball playerCupid Childs Adjacent Counties
* Anne Arundel County (north)
* Prince George's County (northwest)
* Charles County (west)
* Dorchester County (east)
* Talbot County (east)
* St. Mary's County (south)Demographics
As of the
census GR|2 of 2000, there were 74,563 people, 25,447 households, and 20,154 families residing in the county. Thepopulation density was 346 people per square mile (134/km²). There were 27,576 housing units at an average density of 128 per square mile (49/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 83.93% White, 13.11% Black or African American, 0.30% Native American, 0.88% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.49% from other races, and 1.27% from two or more races. 1.52% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 15.5% were of Irish, 15.0% German, 12.0% English, 11.5%United States or American and 7.1% Italian ancestry according toCensus 2000 .There were 25,447 households out of which 41.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.80% were married couples living together, 9.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.80% were non-families. 16.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.91 and the average family size was 3.26.
In the county the population was spread out with 29.60% under the age of 18, 6.40% from 18 to 24, 31.70% from 25 to 44, 23.40% from 45 to 64, and 8.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 97.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.00 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $65,945, and the median income for a family was $71,545. Males had a median income of $48,664 versus $32,265 for females. The
per capita income for the county was $25,410. About 3.10% of families and 4.40% of the population were below thepoverty line , including 5.10% of those under age 18 and 5.70% of those age 65 or over.Cities and towns
Calvert County includes two municipalities, both classified as
town s under Maryland law:
#Chesapeake Beach (incorporated 1886)
#North Beach (incorporated 1910)Unincorporated areas are also considered as towns by many people and listed in many collections of towns, but they lack local government. Various organizations, such as the
United States Census Bureau , theUnited States Postal Service , and local chambers of commerce, define the communities they wish to recognize differently, and since they are not incorporated, their boundaries have no official status outside the organizations in question. The Census Bureau recognizes the followingcensus-designated place s in the county:#Calvert Beach-Long Beach (a combination of the communities of Calvert Beach and Long Beach recognized as a unit by many people)
#Chesapeake Ranch Estates-Drum Point (a combination of the communities of Chesapeake Ranch Estates and Drum Point recognized as a unit by the Census Bureau)
#Dunkirk
#Huntingtown
#Lusby
#Owings
#Prince Frederick
#St. Leonard
#SolomonsDunkirk, Huntingtown, Lusby, Owings, Prince Frederick, St. Leonard and Solomons have all been designated by Calvert County government as being "town centers." The "town center" designation means while these communities may not have incorporated central governments, they do have specified boundaries surrounding the central business and residential areas for
zoning purposes. The reason behind the "town center" designation is to cluster new development within established areas with existing infrastructure, thus discouragingurban sprawl . The implementation of the "town center" concept in Calvert County over the past two decades has for the most part been successful in preserving rural and agricultural areas outside the designated "town centers", and stands as a key example of thesmart growth planning strategy. [cite web
url=http://www.ecalvert.com/content/business/commercialrealestate/search/zoning_info.asp
title=Zoning Information
publisher=Calvert County Department of Economic Development
accessdate=2007-10-06] [cite web
url=http://www.co.cal.md.us/assets/Planning_Zoning/Slideshows/March-6-07BOCC-UpdatesToTCMP.pdf
title=Architectural Review in Calvert County
publisher=Calvert County Planning and Zoning
date=2007-03-06
accessdate=2007-10-06]Other unincorporated places not listed as Census-Designated Places but known in the area include:
#Barstow
#Broomes Island
#Dares Beach
#Dowell
#Lower Marlboro
#Port Republic
#SunderlandHighways and Roads
The main artery serving Calvert County is
Maryland Route 4 (which begins inWashington, D.C. asPennsylvania Avenue before crossing intoPrince Georges County, Maryland andAnne Arundel County, Maryland ). Route 4 in Calvert County begins at the very northern tip of the county at Lyons Creek, approximately 3 miles north of Dunkirk. At Sunderland, Route 4 meetsMaryland Route 2 (traveling south as a two-lane road from Annapolis) and the two roads merge as Maryland Route 2-4. Route 2-4 continues south through Prince Frederick, St. Leonard and Lusby. At Solomons, Routes 2 and 4 split again, with Route 2 heading towards downtown Solomons and Route 4 crossing thePatuxent River at theGovernor Thomas Johnson Bridge into St. Mary's County.Route 2-4 is designated Solomons Island Road throughout much of the county, with the section south of Prince Frederick being recently renamed Louis Goldstein Highway in memory of
Louis Goldstein , the formercomptroller ofMaryland and Calvert County resident.In the 1970s and 1980s, Route 2-4 underwent an extensive expansion project, with the formerly two-lane road becoming a four-lane dual highway. Certain portions of the highway were re-aligned, with the former roadway becoming
Maryland Route 765 . The final portion of the dualized Route 2-4 between St. Leonard and Solomons was completed in 1988.Other major roadways in Calvert County include:
*Maryland Route 231 , which travels west from Prince Frederick to thePatuxent River , ultimately crossing the river at theBenedict Bridge into Charles County.
*Maryland Route 260 , which starts at an overpass interchange at the Calvert-Anne Arundel border and travels southeast to Chesapeake Beach. A portion of Route 260 is a four-lane dual highway.Notes
References
*cite book
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=lncOLHYhcrsC&pg=PA92&lpg=PA92&dq=patuxent+county+was+established+in+1654&source=web&ots=VFRKZJJ4I7&sig=iaWo2zYzP5p5-6-MJeai48BtmhY
title=Maryland: A New Guide to the Old Line State
last=Arnett
first=Earl
coauthors=Dr. Robert J Brugger, Edward C. Papenfuse
publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press
date=1999
accessdate=2007-10-06
*cite web
url=http://www.mdoe.org/calvert_co.html
title=Calvert County
publisher=Maryland Online Encyclopedia
date=2005
accessdate=2007-10-06
*cite web
url=http://www.southern-maryland.info/County%20Guides/Calvert_county/calvert.htm
title=Calvert County Guide
publisher=Southern Maryland Info
date=2007
accessdate=2007-10-06External links
* [http://www.co.cal.md.us/ Calvert County government]
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