Place:Charles, Maryland, United States

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NameCharles
Alt namesCharlessource: Getty Vocabulary Program
TypeCounty
Coordinates38.483°N 76.983°W
Located inMaryland, United States     (1658 - )
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Charles County is a county in Southern 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-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Southern Maryland region.

Contents

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Charles County was created in 1658 by an Order in Council. There was also an earlier Charles County from 1650 to 1653, sometimes referred to in historic documents as Old Charles County.

In April 1865, John Wilkes Booth made his escape through Charles County after shooting President Abraham Lincoln. He was on his way to Virginia. He stopped briefly in Waldorf (then called Beantown) and had his broken leg set by local Doctor Mudd, who was later sent to prison for helping him. Boothe then proceeded to hide in the Zekiah Swamp in Charles County, avoiding search parties for over a week until he and his accomplice were able to successfully cross the Potomac River.

In 1926, a tornado ripped through the county leaving 17 dead (including 13 schoolchildren). On April 28, 2002, another tornado (rated an F-4) destroyed much of downtown La Plata killing 3 and injuring over 100 people.

The county has numerous properties on the National Register of Historic Places. Among them are Green Park and Pleasant Hill, home of the Green and Spalding Families.

On December 4, 2004, an arson took place in the development of Hunters Brooke, a few miles southeast of Indian Head. The Hunters Brooke Arson was the largest residential arson in Maryland history.

Timeline

Date Event Source
1658 County formed Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1658 Land records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1790 First census Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990
1790 No significant boundary changes after this year Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990

Population History

source: Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990
Census Year Population
1790 20,613
1800 19,172
1810 20,245
1820 16,500
1830 17,769
1840 16,023
1850 16,162
1860 16,517
1870 15,738
1880 18,548
1890 15,191
1900 17,662
1910 16,386
1920 17,705
1930 16,166
1940 17,612
1950 23,415
1960 32,572
1970 47,678
1980 72,751
1990 101,154

Research Tips

External links

  • Outstanding guide to Charles County family history and genealogy resources (FamilySearch Research Wiki). Birth, marriage, and death records, wills, deeds, county histories, cemeteries, churches, newspapers, libraries, and genealogical societies.
  • www.charlescounty.org


This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Charles County, Maryland. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.