Cottage City, officially the Town of Cottage City, is a town in

Prince George's County ) , demonym = Prince Georgian , ZIP codes = 20607–20774 , area codes = 240, 301 , founded date = April 23 , founded year = 1696 , named for = Prince George of Denmark , leader_title = Executive , leader_name = Angela D. Alsobrooks ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 1,335. Cottage City is a small, quiet community lying between Eastern Avenue (the border with

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

), Brentwood,

Colmar Manor Colmar Manor is a town located in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 1,404. As the town developed at the beginning of the 20th century, it assumed a name derived from its proximity t ...

, and the

Anacostia River The Anacostia River is a river in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Channel to empty into the Potomac River at Buzzard Poin ...

. Cottage City was developed, beginning in 1870, under the name of "The Highlands". The area was incorporated in 1924 as Cottage City.

History

Dueling Creek MD & CSX train with containers

Its history dates to pre-revolutionary America; old records indicate that the area was home to several of the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...

Indian tribes. With the coming of European settlers, the area became noted for its deep-water

port, known then as Harrison's Landing. Contributing to the economy of Harrison's Landing was Moyer's Grist Mill located in Yarrow, the very first mill of its type between

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

and

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C. In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...

. Yarrow was renamed several times, but today we know Yarrow as Cottage City. Known as the Dark and Bloody Grounds, the former site of the

Bladensburg Dueling Grounds Bladensburg Dueling Grounds is a small spit of land, a fraction of its original size, along Dueling Creek, formerly in the town of Bladensburg, Maryland, and now within the town of Colmar Manor, just to the northeast of Washington, D.C. ...

was located along

Dueling Creek Dueling Creek is a tributary of the Anacostia River in southern Maryland in the United States, located in the town of Colmar Manor. The Bladensburg Dueling Grounds on the creek was a favorite spot for duels in the 19th Century, and was the site o ...

and

Bladensburg Road Bladensburg can mean: Australia * Bladensburg National Park, a former pastoral station and homestead in Queensland United States * Bladensburg, Maryland, a town in Prince George's County * Bladensburg, Iowa, an unincorporated community in Wapello ...

; the historic location now shares the present-day boundary of the towns of Cottage City and

. Cottage City and Moyer's Mill played a key role in the

Battle of Bladensburg The Battle of Bladensburg was a battle of the Chesapeake campaign of the War of 1812, fought on 24 August 1814 at Bladensburg, Maryland, northeast of Washington, D.C. Called "the greatest disgrace ever dealt to American arms," a British for ...

during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...

. The mill acted as a

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergen ...

for wounded American

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

, as well as an

artillery battery In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to f ...

. American forces were repulsed in a bitter fight in Mr. Moyer's

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of ...

s, an event that resulted ultimately in the burning of the nation's capital. During the post-

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

years, President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union A ...

stayed at a summer retreat known as the

Friendship House Friendship House was a missionary movement founded in the early 1930s by Catholic social justice activist Catherine de Hueck Doherty, one of the leading proponents of interracial justice in the period prior to the mid-20th-century civil rights m ...

located in Cottage City. Friendship House is long gone, replaced in the 1940s by an apartment house located on 38th Avenue and Parkwood Street. During the 1870s, groups of developers began to promote a residential community with large lots and a

grid pattern In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orth ...

of streets, stating the advantages of the community. "The Highlands" would feature

cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide ...

s and

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became ...

s on wide avenues, a good view, nominal taxes, and was close to Washington, D.C., the historic Bladensburg battlefield, spa spring, and dueling ground. The development failed despite the advertising campaign. In 1886, Colonel Gilbert Moyer bought the Highland tract, and incorporated the Highland Company in 1888. The land was re- subdivided into smaller lots, and Moyer promoted the land by including information that a

streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...

line was soon to be developed in the area. This attempt to develop the area also failed. A few houses were developed on the Moyer property beginning in 1904 with broad streets laid out in a grid and trees planted along the street. A single-track trolley line ran through the community from Washington to Bladensburg. Called the Washington, Spa Spring and Gretta Railroad, the trolley was eventually discontinued in 1923, partially due to competition from the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

and the streetcar line in

Mount Rainier Mount Rainier (), indigenously known as Tahoma, Tacoma, Tacobet, or təqʷubəʔ, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With a ...

.Denny, George D., Jr. ''Proud Past, Promising Future: Cities and Towns in Prince George's County''. Brentwood, Maryland: Tuxedo Press, 1997. In 1915, Charles Lightbrown borrowed money and attempted to market the subdivision plat from 1888 with a few minor changes. This attempt succeeded where the two earlier attempts had failed. Lightbrown built most of the housing in the community. Consisting of one-story cottages with four rooms and no running water, the housing was attractive to

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that h ...

s returning from

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

who needed economical homes which were ready to inhabit. Electric service was introduced to the community in 1914. In 1919, the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission installed water service to the town; sewer service was added the following year. The town was incorporated in 1924, taking its name from the uniform cottages built by Charles Lightbrown. The

exorcism of Roland Doe In the late 1940s, in the United States, priests of the Roman Catholic Church performed a series of exorcisms on an anonymous boy, documented under the pseudonym "Roland Doe" or "Robbie Mannheim". The 14-year-old boy was the alleged victim of dem ...

, the story that was the basis for the 1971 novel and 1973 film ''

The Exorcist ''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 The Exorcist (novel), novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, ...

'', has its roots in Cottage City. In 1999, Cottage City, Bladensburg, and

were lauded by the Joint Center for Sustainable Communities for their collaboration with Prince George's County for the Port Towns Revitalization Initiative, which created a common ''Port Towns'' identity for the towns; encouraged businesses development through infrastructure and façade improvements; acquisition of historic properties and plans for their reuse; and reconstruction of the Bladensburg waterfront and

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or ...

. Today, Cottage City is a small, ethnically mixed community with old cottage-style homes that sit on tree-lined streets. The community is an active and enthusiastic partner with the county in the Port Towns Redevelopment Plan, an effort to revitalize the neighborhoods while preserving their historic heritages. The riches that the town hopes to gain by this effort are an improved environment and an improved quality of life for its citizens.

Geography

Cottage City is located at (38.936261, -76.950606). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the town has a total area of , all land.

Bordering areas

* Washington, D.C. (south) *

(southeast) * Brentwood (southwest) * North Brentwood (west) *

(southwest)

Demographics

2020 census

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.''

2010 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2010, there were 1,305 people, 467 households, and 263 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

was . There were 500 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 20.7%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 46.6%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 1.7% Native American, 6.9% Asian, 19.2% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 4.9% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 34.4% of the population. There were 467 households, of which 31.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

living together, 18.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 43.7% were non-families. 36.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.67. The median age in the town was 38.7 years. 22.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.2% were from 25 to 44; 31.5% were from 45 to 64; and 10.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 48.0% male and 52.0% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 1,136 people, 465 households, and 248 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 503 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 28.61%

, 54.75%

, 0.88% Native American, 4.05% Asian, 7.57% from

, and 4.14% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 13.29% of the population. There were 465 households, out of which 24.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.7% were

living together, 17.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.5% were non-families. 41.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.39. In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.7% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 28.4% from 25 to 44, 26.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.5 males. The median income for a household in the town was $38,594, and the median income for a family was $47,639. Males had a median income of $33,438 versus $34,519 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the town was $17,166. About 11.0% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 7.8% of those under age 18 and 23.8% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Prince George's County Police Department District 1 Station in

Hyattsville Hyattsville is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and also a close, urban suburb of Washington, D.C. The population was 21,187 at the 2020 United States Census. History Before Europeans reached the area, the upper A ...

serves Cottage City.

Transportation

Two state highways serve Cottage City. The more significant one is U.S. Route 1 Alternate. US 1 Alternate follows Bladensburg Road along Cottage City's border with Colmar Manor, connecting the town to Washington, D.C. and Bladensburg.

Maryland Route 208 Maryland Route 208 (MD 208) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The highway runs from U.S. Route 1 Alternate (US 1 Alt.) in Cottage City north to MD 500 in Hyattsville. MD 208 connects the northwestern Prince George's County sub ...

is the other state highway in the town, connecting US 1 Alternate to Brentwood via 38th Avenue.

Education

Cottage City is zoned to Prince George's County Public Schools: * Rogers Heights Elementary School * William Wirt Middle School *

Bladensburg High School Bladensburg High School is a public high school located in Bladensburg, Maryland, United States. The school, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Prince George's County Public Schools district. The school serves: the towns of Bl ...

Notable people

* Elizabeth Magie. In 1904, Elizabeth Magie received a patent for her Landlord's Game, a leftwing teaching tool that would come to be known by millions as the board game Monopoly. However, Magie reportedly received a mere $500 for her creation, no royalties, and, until recently, little credit.'' * Ronald Hunkeler, a.k.a. Roland Doe or Robbie Mannheim, alleged demonically possessed boy who inspired

William Peter Blatty William Peter Blatty (January 7, 1928 – January 12, 2017) was an American writer, director and producer. He is best known for his 1971 novel, ''The Exorcist'', and for his 1974 screenplay for the film adaptation of the same name. Blatty won ...

to write the fictionalized book, ''

References

External links

*
Cottage City History

"Mr. Satan's Neighborhood: After 50 years of silence, Cottage City finally lets go of its demons," by Eddie Dean
''

Washington City Paper The ''Washington City Paper'' is a U.S. alternative weekly newspaper serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The ''City Paper'' is distributed on Thursdays; its average circulation in 2006 was 85,588. The paper's editorial mix is focu ...

'', February 26, 1999 {{authority control Towns in Maryland Washington metropolitan area Towns in Prince George's County, Maryland Populated places established in 1924 1924 establishments in Maryland