Prince George’s

Formed April 23, 1696 (11^th county)

Prince George’s County (967,194), Upper Marlboro (717), Bowie (58,335)

The Modern red brick courthouse was built in 1991.  The courthouse is on Main Street between East Court Drive and West Court Drive.  Maryland State Highway 725 is Main Street in the town.  There was an 1881 courthouse also in Upper Marlboro.  Mount Calvert was the county seat until 1721 when Upper Marlboro assumed the role.  Helmuth, Obata & Kassabaum are the architects of the current courthouse.  Prince George’s County is named for Queen Anne’s husband Prince George.  The county seat is named for the Duke of Marlborough.  Prince George’s County was the birthplace of 4 Maryland Governors, Thomas S. Lee, Robert Bowie, Samuel Sprigg, and Oden Bowie.  The county was established on April 23, 1696 from Charles and Calvert counties as the 11^th county. 

Prince George’s County government consists of an executive, an administrator, a police chief, and a sheriff (executive).  It has 11 Council Members (legislative.)  Thirty-eight Circuit Court Judges serve Prince George’s Calvert, Caroline, and Saint Mary’s counties and Fifteen District Court Judges, a court clerk and a county attorney serve Prince George’s County (judicial.) The county is in central Maryland directly south and east of Washington, District of Columbia.  The geographical center of Maryland is 4.5 miles northwest of Davidsonville in the county.  The county center is 9 miles Northwest of Upper Marlboro nearer Kettering.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Howard, Anne Arundel, Calvert, and Charles counties, and Virginia and District of Columbia, and Montgomery County. 

The area of the county is 498 square miles.  It is 13 out of 24 in the state.  It ranks 2 out of 24 in population in the state.  It has a density of 1733.78 persons per square mile making it 3 out of 24 in the state.  Prince George’s County has 27.3% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 95 comes northeast to southwest in the county from Howard County to District of Columbia.  United States Highway 1 parallels Interstate Highway 95 from Howard County to District of Columbia.  United States Highway 50 crosses east to west from Anne Arundel County to District of Columbia.  The county is shaped like the hat from Doctor Seuss.  Upper Marlboro is in the southeast near the eastern border.  Bowie is in the northeast also near the eastern border.  Upper Marlboro is the county seat and Bowie is the largest city.  Upper Marlboro is 0.1% of the county population while Bowie is 6.3% of the county population.  The largest city is pronounced BOE-EE.  This county is in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area.