St. Charles is a

planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

in Charles 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 south-southeast of Washington, D.C., from

northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several County (United States), counties and independent city (United States), independent cities in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. ...

and immediately south of Waldorf, which is the mailing address. (St. Charles comprises nearly all the population of Waldorf's zip code 20602, and much of 20603). At the 2000 census, it was delineated as a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP), with a population of 33,379. It was included in the Waldorf CDP for the 2010 census.

History

Planning for St. Charles was started in 1965 by St. Charles City, Inc. That developer sold the undeveloped land in 1968 to Interstate General Co. (now known as American Community Properties Trust). According to the developer, it is halfway through completion as outlined in its master plan. When completed, St. Charles will comprise five villages — Smallwood and Westlake, which have been completed; Fairway, which is under development; and Piney Reach and Wooded Glen, which remain undeveloped. Each village has three to four neighborhoods. Residents in St. Charles have access to a variety of community amenities, including walking paths, swimming pools, scenic lakes, playgrounds and neighborhood centers. Many residents commute out of the county to work, including military residents who are stationed at Andrews Air Force Base, Bolling AFB, Patuxent River NAS, or the

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...

. Many civilian residents are federal employees. St. Charles Towne Center is a 2-level regional shopping mall serving residents of a large four-county area. It opened in 1988 and was remodeled in 2007. Many sections of St. Charles are still in development, including a retirement community for persons 60 years and older, and several themed restaurants west of U.S. Route 301. Hampshire, Lancaster, Dorchester, Sheffield, Heritage, Bannister, Wakefield, Huntington and Carrington are the already existing neighborhoods of St. Charles. In 2008, St. Charles Parkway was connected with Rosewick Road, providing a new alternative route to the county seat

La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires province, Argentina. According to the 2022 Argentina census, census, the La Plata Partido, Partido has a population of 772,618 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 938,287 inhabit ...

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the CDP had a total area of , of which is land and (1.09%) is water.

Nearby communities

Waldorf (north), Bennsville (west),

(south, but not adjacent)

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 33,379 people, 11,567 households, and 8,628 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 12,064 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP is in flux. As of the 2000 census, the racial makeup was 64.27%

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

, 28.67%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.70% Native American, 2.41% Asian, 0.07%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1.05% from other races, and 2.82% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 3.34% of the population. There were 11,567 households, out of which 46.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.2% were

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

living together, 19.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.4% were non-families. 19.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.86 and the average family size was 3.25. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 31.7% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 36.1% from 25 to 44, 18.1% from 45 to 64, and 5.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.8 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $56,992, and the median income for a family was $60,434. Males had a median income of $41,210 versus $32,024 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the CDP was $21,669. About 4.4% of families and 6.5% 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 6.8% of those under age 18 and 15.6% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The Beddow School's Waldorf Montessori School is in the area that once made up St. Charles CDP. St. Charles High School, known as the home of the Spartans, is located in St. Charles Maryland at 5305 Piney Church Road Waldorf, MD 20602. The school opened in August 2014 and features a 6 lane swimming pool, a 'Science Sphere' and digital classrooms.

References

External links

St. Charles Community website
{{DCMetroArea Populated places established in 1965 Planned communities in the United States Populated places in Charles County, Maryland Former census-designated places in Maryland Washington metropolitan area 1965 establishments in Maryland