La Plata

La Plata is a town in Charles County, Maryland, United States. The population was 10,159 at the 2020 census. The town was named by one Colonel Samuel Chapman, whose family owned 6,000 acres (24 km²) of land. In the 1870s, a section of the Pennsylvania Railroad had been constructed through the town of La Plata, leading to its 1888 incorporation. In November 1926, an F4 tornado killed 17 people, 14 of them in the Laplata Elementary School, which was destroyed. In April 2002, a tornado cut a 24-mile-long (39 km) swath through Charles County. This tornado caused four deaths. In February 2020, the Mayor and Town's Council unanimously adopted the Purple Martin as the official Town bird. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 7.45 square miles (19.30 km²), of which 7.40 square miles of land is land and 0.13 km² of water. The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. The primary method of travel to and from the town is by road, and four state highways serve the town. The most significant of these is U.S. Route 301, which follows Crain Highway through theTown. From La PlATA, US 301 heads south across the Potomac River into Virginia, eventually reaching Richmond. To the north, US301 passes through Waldorf before intersecting Interstate 495 and U.S. Route 50 near Bowie.

History

La Plata is the primary city name, but also Dentsville are acceptable city names or spellings, Laplata on the other hand no longer accepted or obsolete and are no longer used as a designation. The official name is La Plata, Maryland. The town was named by one Colonel Samuel Chapman, whose family owned 6,000 acres (24 km²) of land in Charles County. On November 9, 1926, an F4 tornado killed 17 people, 14 of them in the La Plata Elementary School, which was destroyed. On April 28, 2002, a tornado cut a 24-mile-long (39 km) swath through Charles County, with areas around Laplata damaged most severely. The town has been affected by two major tornadoes in its history. In 1940, the opening of the then Potomac River Bridge (later, the Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge) provided a link to King George, Virginia. The bridge brought long-distance east coast traffic through the town as an alternative to U.S. 1 and, later, Interstate 95. A new La PlATA Town Hall, for example, became Southern Maryland's first LEED-certified building, and an old building considered historic by local residents, which housed a CVS Pharmacy store at the time of the tornado, was rebuilt in a new location after the storm. In 1904, the historic Christ Episcopal Church in Port Tobacco, which dates to 1683 and was reconstructed in 1884, was dismantled and its stones were then transported by oxen and cart to its current lot in LaPlata. In the 1870s, a section of the Pennsylvania Railroad had been constructed through the city, leading to its incorporation in 1888. The current courthouse was built soon after the 1819 Port Tobacco courthouse caught fire in 1895 under suspicious circumstances.

Geography

On February 24, 2020, The Mayor and Town's Council unanimously adopted the Purple Martin as the official Town bird. La Plata is located at 38°323N 76°5824W (38.534258, -76.973377).According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 7.45 square miles (19.30 km²) of which 7.40 square miles is land and 0.05 sq miles (0.13 km²), is water. The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, La PlATA has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps. The town is located on the U.S.-Mexico border and is on the border of the state of New Mexico. It has a population of 2,816. It is the only town in New Mexico with a population over 1,000 in the 2010 Census. The city's population was 2,715 in 2010, and is expected to rise to 2,900 in the 2014 Census. It was the first town in the state to reach 3,000 residents in the 1990s. The population has grown significantly since the mid-1990s, when it reached 2,000. It now stands at 2,100 residents, up from 1,800 in 2000. It also has the highest population growth rate of any U.N. member state.

Transportation

The primary method of travel to and from La Plata is by road, and four state highways serve the town. The most significant of these is U.S. Route 301, which follows Crain Highway through town. US 301 heads south across the Potomac River into Virginia, eventually reaching Richmond. Maryland Route 6 is the main east-west highway serving La PlATA, following Port Tobacco Road and Charles Street through town and continuing east to Charlotte Hall. The main north-south highway is Maryland Route 225, following Hawthorne Road westward from US 301. Finally, Maryland Route 488 follows Laplata Road northeast from MD 6 to Maryland Route 5 near Bryantown. The town is located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and the Maryland-Virginia border. It has a population of about 2,000, making it one of the smallest towns in the state. It is also the only town in Maryland to be on the National Highway System, which runs from D.C. to New Jersey. It was the first town in the United States to join the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s. The first U.N. post in the region was opened in the 1960s, and it is the only one to be located in the Eastern Seaboard region of Maryland. It also is the first to be part of the National Park Service, which was established in the 1970s. It runs through the town's historic downtown area, as well as the town of Waldorf.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 8,753 people, 3,062 households, and 2,091 families in the town. The median income for a household was $56,490, and the median family income was $66,288. The racial makeup of the town was 66.3% White, 26.7% African American, 0.5% Native American, 2.7%; 0.1% Pacific Islander, and 3.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.2% of the population. The town is located on the U.S. Turnpike, which runs through the town and connects to New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire via the New Hampshire Turnpikes. The Turnpix is located at the junction of the New Jersey Turnpines and the New York Turnpiked. The turnpike is the main route between New Hampshire and New Jersey. It was built in the late 1800s and early 1900s as a way to get to the New England coast. It is the only town in the state to be completely surrounded by water. The water supply is largely self-sustaining, with the exception of a few small streams and rivers. It also provides a source of drinking water for the town, which is used by the town's residents as well as for the nearby town of N.C. and its surrounding areas. It has a population of 8,754, with 3,234 housing units.

Attractions

La Plata is largely a residential community. Some residents work for the Charles County government, while others commute to Waldorf or the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore areas for work. The town is experiencing a transformation into a thriving business and commercial center. Mount Carmel Monastery (1790), a Catholic convent, is just outside La Plata, near the main campus of the College of Southern Maryland. There is a community theater (Port Tobacco Players), a large outdoor athletic complex, two nursing homes, and a host of stores, churches, and restaurants, in addition to a twice-weekly farmers' market. At the north edge of town are Walmart and Target department stores, three supermarkets, a Lowe's home-improvement store, and an all-night drugstore. Public schools in Laplata include La Plima High School, Milton Somers Middle School, Walter Mitchell Elementary, and Mary Matula Elementary. There are also La PlATA Train Station Museum. The portion of town west of Route 301 is zoned for James Craik and Maurice J. McDonough schools. It is near Andrews Air Force Base and Naval Air Station Patuxent River. It also is near the University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center, which is home to the college's main campus. It's near St. Charles Parkway to adjacent Waldorf, providing drivers an alternative to using U.S. Route 301. It is also near the U.N. Peacekeeping Museum.

Mayors

1963-1967 Lowell E. Hawthorne, Jr. and Raymond T. Tighlman were the last two Mayors to serve in the 1960s and 1970s. The current mayor is Roy G. Hale, who took office in 2017. The previous mayor was Eugene Ambrogio, who served in the 1970s and 1980s. Jeannine E. James was the first female mayor in the city's history, taking office in 1973. She was followed by Victor B. Bowling, Jr., in 1983, and William F. Eckman, in 2005. The city's current mayor, Roy Hale, was elected in 2017 and will serve until 2018. The mayor's office is located in downtown Los Angeles, California, and has a budget of $1.2 billion. It is the largest city in the state with a population of more than 1.5 million people. It also has one of the highest crime rates in the country, with more than 40 arrests per 100,000 residents in the last three years, compared to the U.S. average of 13 per cent. It's the second-largest city in Los Angeles County, behind only the city of Los Angeles. It has the highest per capita crime rate in the United States, with nearly 40 per cent of residents living below the poverty line, according to the city’s 2013 crime statistics. It was the fourth-highest in the nation, after San Francisco and New York City, and the third-largest in the State of California.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in La Plata, Charles County, Maryland = 17.6. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 53. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 99. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in La Plata = 4.2 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 10,159 individuals with a median age of 36.5 age the population grows by 33.27% in La Plata, Charles County, Maryland population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 1,372.10 residents per square mile of area (529.79/km²). There are average 2.54 people per household in the 3,118 households with an average household income of $73,282 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 6.10% of the available work force and has dropped -5.42% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 23.06%. The number of physicians in La Plata per 100,000 population = 84.4.

Weather

The annual rainfall in La Plata = 42.7 inches and the annual snowfall = 17.3 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 111. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 204. 86 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 25.6 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 42, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in La Plata, Charles County, Maryland which are owned by the occupant = 65.05%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 19 years with median home cost = $305,320 and home appreciation of -5.93%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $10.17 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $5,540 per student. There are 16.9 students for each teacher in the school, 451 students for each Librarian and 386 students for each Counselor. 8.12% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 12.26% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 9.89% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).