Old Town is an historic neighborhood of

College Park, Maryland College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and is approximately four miles (6.4 km) from the northeast border of Washington, D.C. The population was 34,740 at the 2020 United States Census. It is best known a ...

. It is roughly bounded by the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

campus, the B&O Railroad tracks, and

US Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making i ...

. The area was plotted out in 1889, and built out over the next several decades, its developers seeking to attract commuters to

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

and

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

, and individuals affiliated with the Maryland Agricultural College (as the school was then known). Most of the neighborhood is residential, with

American Foursquare The American Foursquare or American Four Square is an American house style popular from the mid-1890s to the late 1930s. A reaction to the ornate and mass-produced elements of the Victorian architecture, Victorian and other Revival styles popul ...

and

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

style housing predominating. Closer to the university campus, the developers built garden-style apartment houses and other types of housing to cater to the academic community. The major non-residential structures are a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

church, a modern post office and Washington Metro station. The neighborhood was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2012. Due to the close proximity of Old Town to campus, many

fraternity and sorority Fraternities and sororities are social organizations at colleges and universities in North America. Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student, but continues thereafter for life. Some accept gradua ...

chapters from

own houses in this neighborhood.

References

External links

*, including undated photo, at Maryland Historical Trust website
Boundary Map of the Old Town College Park Historic District, Prince George's County
at Maryland Historical Trust Historic districts in Prince George's County, Maryland Queen Anne architecture in Maryland Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Houses in Prince George's County, Maryland Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland National Register of Historic Places in Prince George's County, Maryland {{PrinceGeorgesCountyMD-NRHP-stub