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College Park is perhaps
best known as home to the flagship campus of the University of
Maryland. The city and the university straddle U.S. Route 1 just
south of the Capital Beltway. University sports, academic
conferences and competitions, and cultural events draw thousands
of visitors to College Park each year.
The institution that eventually evolved into the University
of Maryland at College Park, Maryland Agricultural College, was
chartered in 1856 on 428 acres previously owned by Charles B.
Calvert, a prime mover in planning and securing the college.
After Calvert died in 1864, his remaining estate was divided
among his heirs. Part of that land was platted and developed as
the subdivision named College Park, which today is the Old Town
neighborhood.
College Park grew as a series of neighborhoods. Beyond the
busy pace of Route 1, the city’s “Main Street,” there are 12
distinct residential neighborhoods that help to create the
overall atmosphere of a small town. Families take advantage of
neighborhood playgrounds, a skating rink, athletic fields,
swimming pools, a community center, and Lake Artemesia. An
evolving series of hiker-biker trails links many of those
amenities to each other and to the University.
A significant chapter in early aviation history began in 1909
in College Park at what is the world’s oldest continuously
operating airport. Wilbur Wright trained military officers to
fly the government’s first airplane there, and the first Army
Aviation School was established there in 1911. Today, an
aviation museum depicts the role of the College Park Airport in
many firsts of American flight.
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