La Plata, Maryland

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For the Argentine city see La Plata.

La Plata is a town in Charles County, Maryland, United States. The population was 6,551 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Charles County^GR6. Although the town's name appears to be derived from Spanish, it is pronounced IPA /ləˈpleɪɾə/ listen, unlike the famous river in Argentina.

1 History
2 Attractions
3 Tornado
4 Geography
5 Demographics
6 References
7 External links

[edit] History

According to legend, the town was given its name by Colonel Samuel Chapman, whose family owned 6,000 acres of land in Southern Maryland, including what would become the areas of La Plata and Port Tobacco. The Colonel traveled to Central and South America with his son George, who had contracted tuberculosis, in search of a cure. In his travels, the Colonel was impressed with the La Plata River in Argentina, so he decided to name a portion of his property "La Plata" after the river. ^[1]

The town was founded approximately 1895 after the river flowing into the previous County seat, Port Tobacco (a few miles to the west), silted up, ending that town's utility as a port. At the same time, a new railroad line made La Plata attractive as a new county seat location and so the Courthouse was built there. Christ Episcopal Church was dismantled stone by stone and rebuilt in La Plata. In 1935, the opening of the 2-mile-long Harry Nice Memorial Bridge, which carries U.S. Highway 301 over the Potomac River, provided a link to Virginia and brought many long-distance east coast thru-travelers through the town as an alternative to using urban U.S. Route 1 and, later, the often-congested Interstate 95.

[edit] Attractions

La Plata is largely a housing city, with many residents working for the Charles County government while others commute to Waldorf or the Washington, D.C. area for work. The town is experiencing a transformation into a thriving business and commercial center, thanks to development of office buildings and the town's recent reconstruction (more below).

Historic Mount Carmel, the oldest Catholic convent in the United States, is just outside La Plata near the community college (College of Southern Maryland). La Plata has county offices; the (Civista Medical Center), which added a major expansion in 2006; two high schools; a growing community theater (Port Tobacco Players); a Wal-Mart store; two supermarkets; a CVS drugstore; a Wawa; and a farmers' market on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Restaurants run the spectrum from fast food to upscale fare, including one of the Washington, D.C., region's top-rated restaurants. A Lowe's home-supply store is planned, a Giant supermarket is also planned, as well as a Target department store. A road connecting LaPlata's Washington Avenue with St. Charles Parkway in the adjacent large city Waldorf and paralleling U.S. Route 301 is being constructed in stages and when finished it should relieve local traffic on busy Route 301.

[edit] Tornado

On April 28, 2002, an F4 tornado cut a 24-mile-long swath through Charles County, with areas around La Plata damaged most severely [[1]]. This tornado caused four deaths. New public buildings have risen over the storm-damaged area downtown. Many would notice that the old historic CVS building has moved. For more details, see Midwest to Mid-Atlantic United States tornado outbreak of 2002. A large amount of the credit for La Plata's recent growth goes to new construction efforts following the tornado.

La Plata previously had suffered an F4 tornado on November 9, 1926, which had a death toll of 17 people, 14 of them in a Catholic school that was destroyed.

[edit] Geography

La Plata is located at 38°32′3″N, 76°58′24″W (38.534258, -76.973377)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 18.0 km² (6.9 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 6,551 people, 2,223 households, and 1,578 families residing in the town. The population density was 363.9/km² (942.7/mi²). There were 2,308 housing units at an average density of 128.2/km² (332.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 72.72% White, 23.69% African American, 0.52% Native American, 1.56% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.38% from other races, and 1.08% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.30% of the population.

There were 2,223 households out of which 37.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.5% were married couples living together, 17.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.0% were non-families. 23.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.10.

In the town the population was spread out with 25.7% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 31.0% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 93.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.6 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $56,490, and the median income for a family was $66,288. Males had a median income of $42,492 versus $32,125 for females. The per capita income for the town was $24,669. About 8.3% of families and 10.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.0% of those under age 18 and 18.1% of those age 65 or over.