Calvert County, Maryland


Calvert County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2010 census, the population was 88,737. Its county seat is Prince Frederick. 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 included in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. It occupies the Calvert Peninsula, which is bordered on the east by Chesapeake Bay and on the west by the Patuxent River.
Calvert County is part of the Southern Maryland region. The county has one of the highest median household incomes in the United States.

History

First colonized as part of Charles County circa 1650, it was renamed. Patuxent County was established in 1654 by an Order in Council. In 1658, the county was renamed Calvert County. It is one of the older counties in Maryland, after St. Mary's, Kent County and Anne Arundel counties.
Once made up primarily of farms and tobacco fields, the county has become a fast-growing exurban 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 towns of Solomons, Chesapeake Beach, and North Beach are notable. Calvert County has a long history of using slave labor in said farms and fields.
According to the local "Trail of Souls" project, at its height prior to the Civil War, there were over 10,000 enslaved people. According to the Maryland Archives Project, "By 1860, the approximately 46,000 slaves in the counties of southern Maryland, outnumbered those found in all other regions of the state combined. However, the southern counties had a relatively small free black population."
The county has numerous properties on the National Register of Historic Places.

Politics and government

Calvert County is governed by a group of five county commissioners, the traditional form of county government in the State of Maryland.
In Presidential elections Calvert County has historically and at present leaned strongly towards the Republican Party. It was won by that party in every election from 1884 to 1936 – with the sequence broken in 1940 due to local support for Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s efforts at helping Britain in World War II – and in modern times no Democratic presidential nominee has won Calvert County since Jimmy Carter did so in 1976.
It is part of the 5th Congressional District, along with much of Southern Maryland. The current representative is Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. It is the smallest county in Maryland by land area and third-smallest by total area.

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 the Chesapeake Bay has a moderating effect on temperatures compared with locales further inland.

Adjacent counties

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 74,563 people, 25,447 households, and 20,154 families residing in the county. The population density was 346 people per square mile. There were 27,576 housing units at an average density of 128 per square mile. 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.
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 the poverty line, including 5.10% of those under age 18 and 5.70% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 88,737 people, 30,873 households, and 23,732 families residing in the county. The population density was. There were 33,780 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was 81.4% white, 13.4% black or African American, 1.4% Asian, 0.4% American Indian, 0.7% from other races, and 2.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.7% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 19.6% were German, 17.6% were Irish, 13.9% were English, 8.4% were Italian, and 7.4% were American.
Of the 30,873 households, 40.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.6% were married couples living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 23.1% were non-families, and 18.1% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.85 and the average family size was 3.23. The median age was 40.1 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $90,838 and the median income for a family was $102,638. Males had a median income of $66,909 versus $49,337 for females. The per capita income for the county was $36,323. About 2.8% of families and 4.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.3% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.
According to the 2010 Census the racial and ethnic make-up of the Calvert County Population was 79.65% Non-Hispanic whites, 13.44% blacks, 0.37% Native Americans, 1.42% Asians, 0.05% Pacific Islanders, 0.12% Non-Hispanics reporting some other race, 2.40% Non-Hispanics reporting multiple races and 2.75% Hispanic.

Economy

is located on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay at Lusby, as is the Cove Point LNG Terminal.
The Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, part of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science is located in Solomons.
A branch of the United States Naval Research Laboratory is located at Chesapeake Beach.
The Patuxent River Naval Air Station is located immediately to the south of Calvert County, in St. Mary's County.

Top employers

According to the County's 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the county are:
#Employer# of Employees
1Calvert County Public Schools2,264
2Calvert County Government1,257
3Calvert Memorial Hospital1,057
4Constellation800
5Wal-Mart500
6Arc of Southern Maryland455
7Giant Food385
8Safeway290
9Chesapeake Beach Resort & Spa230
10Recorded Books230

Education

Calvert County is served by Calvert County Public Schools. The county's education system consists of 13 elementary schools, six middle schools, four high schools, vocational education center, and a variety of other facilities.

Transportation

The main artery serving Calvert County is Maryland Route 4. 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 meets Maryland Route 2 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 the Patuxent River at the Governor 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 L. Goldstein, the former comptroller of Maryland 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. In 2009, a portion of Route 2-4 in Prince Frederick was expanded to three lanes, along with sidewalks added.
Other major roadways in Calvert County include:

Towns

The Census Bureau recognizes the following census-designated places in the county:
Dunkirk, 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 discouraging urban 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 the smart growth planning strategy.

Unincorporated communities

Calvert County has been the setting for several movies and television programs. The opening scene of the 1993 Clint Eastwood movie In the Line of Fire was filmed at Flag Harbor Marina in St. Leonard. More recently, the Calvert County Sheriff's Department has been featured on several reality television programs, including Speeders on the truTV network, MTV's Busted, and is currently featured weekly on A&E's Live PD.