Upper Marlboro, Maryland

Upper Marlboro is a town in and the county seat of Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The live-in population of the town core proper was only 648 at the 2000 census, although Greater Upper Marlboro is many times larger.

Although the area has many rural, pastoral features, including horse farms, it is surrounded by encroaching housing developments and is the daytime county seat of Prince George's County, a large urban and suburban area of some 850,000 people adjacent to Washington, D.C. U.S. Highway 301 and Maryland Route 4 intersect at the edge of town. Major features of the town include the courthouse, jail, county office building, board of education, country club, a lake with walking path, an annual county fair, and a major annual antiques show. There is also the large Show Place Arena located at the former Marlboro racetrack grounds. This arena is used for events such as hockey games, circuses, rodeos, conventions, trade shows, and graduation ceremonies of many regional high schools, as well as daily overflow parking for county governmental employees, jurors, and visitors. In earlier times the town was a tobacco auction market, before tobacco farming nearly disappeared in Maryland. On November 3, 2004, a major fire badly damaged the roof and interior of the court house, which is still not fully rebuilt. Other than supermarkets, car dealers, and a new Home Depot, the town has only minimal shopping; therefore, residents must travel to Bowie, Clinton, Waldorf, or Forestville to find department stores. Upper Marlboro is convenient to employees commuting to Andrews Air Force Base and the Federal Census Bureau.

Upper Marlboro is often mistaken for the unincorporated census-designated place of Greater Upper Marlboro, which surrounds the town with a population of nearly 20,000 in an area of 77 square miles (as designated by the post office) and which includes the very large Prince George's Community College some miles to the north.



Geography
Upper Marlboro is located at °N, °W (38.816488, -76.753454).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.4 square miles (1.1 km²), of which, 0.4 square miles (1.1 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (4.65%) is water.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 648 people, 292 households, and 165 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,586.7 people per square mile (610.2/km²). There were 309 housing units at an average density of 756.6/sq mi (291.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 51.54% White, 45.06% African American, 0.46% Native American, 1.08% Asian, 0.15% from other races, and 1.70% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.54% of the population.

There were 292 households out of which 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 29.5% were married couples living together, 22.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.2% were non-families. 34.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.86.

In the town the population was spread out with 23.9% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 36.3% from 25 to 44, 23.1% from 45 to 64, and 9.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 72.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.4 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $52,813, and the median income for a family was $58,542. Males had a median income of $42,639 versus $39,000 for females. The per capita income for the town was $28,892. About 1.3% of families and 1.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 4.0% of those age 65 or over.

Town Departments
The Town has three departments:
 * General Government- Since August 2006, Daithi Htun has been the Town Administrator. M. David Williams was hired as the Town Clerk in February 2007.
 * Public Safety consists of the Upper Marlboro Police Department (UMPD), which is the primary law enforcement agency serving the municipality of Upper Marlboro. Since July 2006 the Town has had 24-hour police coverage. The current chief of police is Michael T. Gonnella. The UMPD is also aided by the Prince George's County Police and Sheriff's Office as directed by authority.
 * Public Works- Lewis Carroll, Sr. has been the Public Work superintendent for over 10 years. The department has traditionally been divided into Highways and Streets and Sanitation.

Famous residents

 * Dr. William Beanes (1749 - 1828): indirectly responsible for precipitating the situation in which the American national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, was written.  (See also HMS Tonnant (1792) and Francis Scott Key for detailed accounts.) Today Dr. Beanes and his wife are buried in a brick-walled and iron-fenced plot off Governor Oden Bowie Drive, on a hill overlooking Schoolhouse Pond.


 * John Carroll, S.J. (1735 - 1815): first Roman Catholic Bishop and Archbishop in the United States and founder of Georgetown University.
 * Thomas J. Claggett (1742 - 1816): first Episcopalian Bishop consecrated in the United States.
 * William H. Clagett (1838 - 1901) U.S. Congressman from the Montana Territory, born in Upper Marlboro in 1838.
 * Joshua Cribbs - NFL Player for the Cleveland Browns
 * Shawne Merriman An NFL Linebacker for the San Diego Chargers
 * Lansdale Sasscer: U.S. Congressman for Maryland's 5th District, born in Upper Marlboro in 1893.

Education
Residents are zoned to schools in the Prince George's County Public Schools system.

Residents are zoned to:
 * Marlton Elementary School
 * James Madison Middle School
 * Dr. Henry A. Wise, Jr. High School

Sports
The Chesapeake Icebreakers of the East Coast Hockey League played two seasons in Upper Marlboro from 1997 to 1999 at the Show Place Arena before moving to Jackson, Mississippi.

The Chesapeake Tide of the Continental Indoor Football League started play at the Show Place Arena in 2007.