__NOTOC__ Piscataway is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Prince George's County,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, United States. It is one of the oldest European-colonized communities in the state. The Piscataway Creek provided sea transportation for export of

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

. It is located near the prior Piscataway tribe village of Kittamaqundi. Piscataway was created in 1706 when the colonial Maryland Legislature authorized surveying and laying out the towns of Queen Anne Town, Nottingham, Mill Town, Piscataway, Aire (also known as Broad Creek) and Upper Marlboro (then known as Marlborough Town). In 1747, the legislature tried to improve the quality and the method of marketing

, then the major crop of the area. It established a formal system of tobacco inspection and quality control. The town was home to one of seven state tobacco warehouses built in Prince George's County. A "

Committee of Correspondence The committees of correspondence were a collection of American political organizations that sought to coordinate opposition to British Parliament and, later, support for American independence during the American Revolution. The brainchild of S ...

" plotted local actions for the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

in Piscataway. One famous resident was

William Marbury William Marbury (November 7, 1762 – March 13, 1835) was an American businessman and one of the " Midnight Judges" appointed by United States President John Adams the day before he left office. He was then the plaintiff in the landmark 1803 Sup ...

, involved in a famous early

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

case. During

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

in the 1920s, the area was known for the production and sale of

moonshine Moonshine is alcohol proof, high-proof liquor, traditionally made or distributed alcohol law, illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of distilling the alcohol (drug), alcohol at night to avoid detection. In the first decades of the ...

. Some of the product was moved by boat to other areas along the Chesapeake Bay. The creek is now silted in and no longer navigable. The St. Mary's Catholic Church, school, and cemetery are a prominent feature of the community. The complex includes the small 1904 church and a larger 1988 sanctuary. Its parish boundaries include portions of five separate postal towns/communities, giving it the largest territory of any parish in the Archdiocese of Washington. A number of historic houses still survive in the middle of the little town, including a former hotel/tavern, although the last business (the John Wood store) closed in the 1970s. A large development called "The Preserve" is partially opened and is eventually planned to have 1,100 single-family homes. A short bypass road recently opened around the community. The central part of the historic village, centered on a stretch of Floral Park Road, has been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. The poem " The Sot-Weed Factor," by Ebenezer Cooke, mentions details of life in Piscataway during the early colonial period. The same subject was the subject of a novel by the same name by

John Barth John Simmons Barth (; May 27, 1930 – April 2, 2024) was an American writer best known for his postmodern and metafictional fiction. His most highly regarded and influential works were published in the 1960s, and include '' The Sot-Weed Facto ...

."The Sot-Weed Factor," Renaissance Edition
/ref>

Notable people

Michael Shiner Michael G. Shiner (c. 1805–1880) was an African-American Washington Navy Yard, Navy Yard worker and diarist who chronicled events in Washington D.C. for more than 60 years, first as a Slavery in the United States, slave and later as a Free negro ...

, diarist *

, plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court case

Marbury v. Madison ''Marbury v. Madison'', 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that established the principle of judicial review, meaning that American courts have the power to strike down laws and statutes they find ...

References

External links

*, including undated photo, at Maryland Historical Trust website
Boundary Map of the Piscataway Village Historic District, Prince George's County
at Maryland Historical Trust

Notable people

See also

References

External links

Further reading