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Upper Marlboro is among
the oldest of the surviving southern Maryland towns with
histories dating back to colonial times. The area was settled
around 1695 and named after the first Duke of Marlborough (an
ancestor of Winston Churchill). It was established as a port
town for tobacco ships in 1706, when the western branch of the
Patuxent River was still navigable there. It has been the county
seat of Prince George’s County since 1721.
The town is the birthplace of John Carroll, the first
Catholic Archbishop in America and founder of Georgetown
University, and of his brother Daniel, a signer of the U.S.
Constitution. Throughout its history, Upper Marlboro has been
the home or place of work of prominent national, state, and
local figures. In recent times, it was the home of the late
Lansdale G. Sasscer, Sr., Maryland State Senator, 1922–1938, and
U.S. Congressman, 1939–1953.
Changing economics have changed the face of the town over the
years. Its stature as the main shopping center for a large rural
area has been diminished by malls and commercial developments
that are closer to its former shoppers. The fields of tobacco
that once dominated the countryside have given way to
residential and commercial developments; only a few farms remain
in the increasingly urban landscape.
Upper Marlboro now hosts the administrative bustle of a
county seat by day and relaxes into a quiet country town by
night. Though many of its historic structures have been lost
through demolition, the remaining old homes and streets reflect
the grace and beauty for which the town was known in its earlier
days. Retention of that old-town country atmosphere is a
continuing resolve of the townspeople and the town commission as
they strive to meet the challenges presented by governmental,
residential, and commercial development.
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