Mount Rainier is a city 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, bordering Washington D.C. The population was 8,333 at the 2020 census. Mount Rainier is contained between the

Northwest Branch Anacostia River Northwest Branch Anacostia River is a free-flowing stream in Montgomery County and Prince George's County, Maryland. It is a tributary of the Anacostia River, which flows to the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. Course The headwaters of t ...

, Cedar Lane Alley, and 34th Street to the north, 37th Street and 37th Place to the northeast, Upshur Street and Queens Chapel Road to the west, the Cargo Train tracks to the east, and Eastern Avenue NE to the south. Mount Rainier got its start as a

streetcar suburb A streetcar suburb is a residential community whose growth and development was strongly shaped by the use of streetcar lines as a primary means of transportation. Such suburbs developed in the United States in the years before the automobile, when ...

, when tracks were laid for the 82 Streetcar Line. According to local tradition, surveyors from the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...

named the town, giving the streets names such as Shasta and

Cascade Cascade, Cascades or Cascading may refer to: Science and technology Science *Cascade waterfalls, or series of waterfalls * Cascade, the CRISPR-associated complex for antiviral defense (a protein complex) * Cascade (grape), a type of fruit * Bioc ...

. Historic

U.S. 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 ...

runs through the center of the town and serves as the main street and central business district.

Adjacent areas

* Brentwood (to the north) * Cottage City (to the east) * Avondale (to the west) *

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 ...

(to the northeast) * Woodridge, Washington D.C. (to the south)

Geography

Mount Rainier is located at (38.941594, -76.963696). 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 city has a total area of , all land.

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 8,080 people, 3,344 households, and 1,735 families residing in the city. 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 3,601 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 19.9%

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 ...

, 52.8%

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 ...

, 0.6% Native American, 2.3% Asian, 20.9% 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 3.6% 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 31.4% of the population. There were 3,344 households, of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 25.9% were married couples living together, 18.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 7.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 48.1% were non-families. 39.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 3.27. The median age in the city was 32.7 years. 22.9% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 35.5% were from 25 to 44; 24.5% were from 45 to 64; and 6.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.4% male and 50.6% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 8,498 people, 3,487 households, and 1,858 families residing in the city. The

was 13,038.5 people per square mile (5,047.8/km). There were 3,756 housing units at an average density of 5,762.8 per square mile (2,231.1/km). The racial makeup of the city was 20.20%

, 62.06%

, 0.33% Native American, 2.31% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 10.65% from

, and 4.42% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 18.30% of the population. There were 3,487 households, out of which 28.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 25.6% were married couples living together, 19.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.7% were non-families. 36.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.27. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.8% under the age of 18, 11.8% from 18 to 24, 37.2% from 25 to 44, 19.2% from 45 to 64, and 7.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $35,920, and the median income for a family was $39,060. Males had a median income of $30,500 versus $27,441 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 city was $17,558. About 9.3% of families and 13.0% 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 15.6% of those under age 18 and 13.6% of those age 65 or over. Mount Rainier has attracted a significant gay and lesbian population. In 2000, same-sex couples accounted for 1.0 percent of households, almost double the national average.

Government

Mount Rainier has a council-manager form of government with a city manager who oversees each of the city's departments and day-to-day operations of the city. Mount Rainier's city council consists of five members, the mayor who runs city-wide, and four council members (two from each of the city's two wards). The current mayor is Celina Benitez (elected in 2021). The current Ward 1 council members are Luke Chesek (elected in 2017) and a currently open seat (due to the election of Celina Benitez as Mayor, who occupied this seat since 2019). The current Ward 2 council members are Jarrett Stoltzfuss (elected in 2021) and Scott Cecil (elected in 2019). The mayor and city council members serve four-year terms. Prince George's County Police Department District 1 Station in

serves Mount Rainier.

Education

Mount Rainier is a part of the Prince George's County Public Schools system. Schools that serve Mount Rainier include: * Elementary schools: ** Mount Rainier Elementary School *** Mount Rainer began its

English as a second language English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EFL ...

(ESOL) program circa 2004. By that year the school administration was translating communications for parents into Spanish. ** Thomas Stone Elementary School * Hyattsville Middle School (in the city of

) * Northwestern High School (Hyattsville) In the 1940s, when schools in PG County legally were segregated by race, black high school students attended Lakeland High School in College Park.Lakeland Community Heritage Project Inc. ''Lakeland: African Americans in College Park''.

Arcadia Publishing Arcadia Publishing is an American publisher of neighborhood, local, and regional history of the United States in pictorial form.(analysis of the successful ''Images of America'' series). Arcadia Publishing also runs the History Press, which publ ...

, September 18, 2012. , 9781439622742.

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

br>PT37

Fairmont Heights High School Fairmont Heights High School (est.1950) is an American public comprehensive secondary school located in Landover, Maryland,Fairmount Heights, replaced it in 1950. In 1964, legal racial segregation of PG County schools ended.

Transportation

Roads and highways

is a major north-south roadway running through Mount Rainier, serving as the main street in the downtown area. It leads to College Park and

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 ...

to the north and Washington, D.C. to the south. Two other state highways serving Mount Rainier are

Maryland Route 500 Maryland Route 500 (MD 500) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The highway starts at the District of Columbia boundary at Avondale. It is a continuation of Washington D.C.'s Michigan Avenue. As Queens Chapel Road, MD 500 conti ...

and

Maryland Route 501 Maryland Route 501 (MD 501) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known as Chillum Road, the state highway runs from MD 212 in Chillum east to MD 500 in Mount Rainier. MD 501, which is the main east–west highway through Chil ...

, both of which skim the northwestern edge of the city.

Public transportation

Bus service in the city is operated by the

WMATA The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA was created by the United States Con ...

Metrobus through several lines along US 1 and Maryland Route 500 (Queens Chapel Road). Additional bus service is provided by the Prince George's County Department of Public Works & Transportation (DPW&T) The Bus, which also has several lines along the smaller roads.

History of Mount Rainier

(Drawn from "History of Mount Rainier".) In 1891, the City of Mount Rainier was named by a group of developers after the famous mountain in the state of

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 ...

. In 1899, the streetcar lines were extended from Washington D.C. through Hyattsville, Maryland. The Mount Rainier stop was located at the intersection of what is now known as

Rhode Island Avenue Rhode Island Avenue is a diagonal avenue in the Northwest and Northeast quadrants of Washington, D.C. and the capital's inner suburbs in Prince George's County, Maryland. Paralleling New York Avenue, Rhode Island Avenue was one of the original ...

and 34th Street. It was called the District Line Station. With the stop at Mount Rainier, it was easier to attract developers and prospective buyers because now the city offered easy access to get into and out of Washington. Houses started to be built near the District Line Station after 1902. The homes in Mount Rainier were considered affordable, ranging from $2,000 to $5,000. The business district aggregated around the streetcar station. In addition to the station, there were shops, grocery stores, a barbershop, laundry, and dry good stores. The first post office was established in 1904. In 1910, the residents in the area around the streetcar station petitioned the Maryland State Legislature to incorporate Mount Rainier, and the city was incorporated by a charter granted on April 14, 1910. In January 1912, the Mount Rainier volunteer fire department was created. The fire department was first located in a frame building and later moved to a brick structure located on 34th at Shepherd St. In 1913, the Women's Civic League of Mount Rainier formed. In 1923, the first public school of Mount Rainier was constructed, and in the same year, the town hired its first paid police officer because of its growing population. In 1929, the town acquired of land, and in the following year, the Mount Rainier High School opened there. In 1939, a new terminal was built at 34th St and Rhode Island Ave. because of a change in streetcar services. In the 1940s, Kaywood Garden apartments were constructed along Eastern Ave., raising the population of Mount Rainier. In 1952, a library was built. In 1956, a privately operated community pool opened. n 1958, streetcar services stopped and were replaced by bus service. In the 1970s and 1980s, the population of the city declined. Today, a large area of Mount Rainier is considered a historic district by the National Register of Historic Places. In the present day, Mount Rainier still has many of the charms and attractive features that it had in the early 1900s. Residents of Mount Rainier are served by the Rhode Island Avenue & Brookland - CUA Metro Station and West Hyattsville Metro Station.

Points of interest

Mount Rainier has been listed as a historic area due to its history as a primary streetcar suburb of

and the vast number of Sears houses and Craftsman-style homes, many of which have been restored. There is a lively arts district in the town, which has made a point to provide affordable housing for artists and to showcase their work. Mount Rainier Day, held in May, is one day in which the entire community opens its doors to the public. The town has become a haven for freelance workers in the world of theater, including scenic designers, artistic directors, lighting designers, and stage directors, several of whom have received the highest DC theater honor, the

Helen Hayes Award The Helen Hayes Awards are theater awards recognizing excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are named in tribute of Helen Hayes, who is also known as the "First Lady of American Theatre." They ar ...

. Mount Rainier is home to the alternative folk music duo Emma's Revolution and Joe Brewer, lead singer of the rock band elvet/ owner of Brewer's Arcade, which is a museum quality private collection featuring vintage 1980s era classic arcade and pinball machines. The renown

Washington Glass School The Washington Glass School was founded in 2001 by Washington, DC area artists Tim Tate and Erwin Timmers. The school teaches classes on how to make kiln cast, fused, and cold worked glass sculptures and art. It is the second largest warm glas ...

moved their sculptural glass studio to Mount Rainier in 2006. Glut, a vegetarian, worker-owned organic

food cooperative A food cooperative or food co-op is a food distribution outlet organized as a cooperative, rather than a private or public company. Food cooperatives are usually consumer cooperatives, where the decisions regarding the production and distribution of ...

has existed since the 1960s and draws people from all over the area. According to some sources, in 1949 at 33rd Street and Bunker Hill Road in Mount Rainier lived a child (see Robbie Mannheim) who allegedly became possessed by the devil. A local priest, Edward Hughes, took part in the

exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...

. This incident became the basis for the 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, ...

''. Local citizens have no recollection of this child being a resident of Mount Rainier, and a journalist eventually traced the youth to nearby Cottage City.

Notable people

* William Henry Vanneman, first fire chief and first mayor of Mount Rainier * Harry Chappas, shortstop for

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

in the 1970s, born in Mount Rainier *

Andre Norton Andre Alice Norton (born Alice Mary Norton, February 17, 1912 – March 17, 2005) was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy, who also wrote works of historical and contemporary fiction. She wrote primarily under the pen name ...

, science fiction author, once owned a bookstore in Mount Rainier

References

External links

City of Mount Rainier official website
{{authority control Cities in Maryland Washington metropolitan area Cities in Prince George's County, Maryland Streetcar suburbs Populated places established in 1910 1910 establishments in Maryland