Queen Anne's County, Maryland facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Queen Anne's County
U.S. county
Queen Anne's County Courthouse in Centreville, Maryland
Flag Seal
Location within the U.S. state of Maryland
Maryland's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Maryland
Founded	1706
Named for	Queen Anne
Seat	Centreville
Largest community	Stevensville
Area
• Total	511 sq mi (1,320 km2)
• Land	372 sq mi (960 km2)
• Water	139 sq mi (360 km2)  27%
Population  (2020)
• Total	49,874
• Density	97.60/sq mi (37.68/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	1st

Queen Anne's County is a county located on the Eastern Shore of the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 49,874. Its county seat and most populous municipality is Centreville. The census-designated place of Stevensville is the county's most populous place with a population of 7,442 as of 2020. The county is named for Queen Anne of Great Britain, who reigned when the county was established in 1706 during the colonial period.

Queen Anne's County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA Combined Statistical Area, and is the easternmost in both.

Chesapeake Bay Bridge connects Kent Island in Queen Anne's County across Chesapeake Bay to Anne Arundel County. The American Discovery Trail runs through the county.

History

Queen Anne's County has 265 miles of waterfront, much of that being the shores of Kent Island, which stands out from the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay. From the waters of this county, watermen have harvested oysters, crabs, and terrapin. Migrating waterfowl overwinter here, and hunting for geese and ducks has been an important part of the county's history. The first Anglo-European settlement in Maryland was on Kent Island on August 21, 1631, and included twenty-five settlers in a manor house, a fort, and other buildings. The settlement was referred to as Winston's Island. The first houses were built similar to log cabins. The county has a number of properties on the National Register of Historic Places, but nothing remains of this original settlement. Stevensville, earlier known as Broad Creek, is one of the oldest towns still existing.

Queen Anne's County was organized under a sheriff in 1706, bounded by Talbot, Kent, and Dorchester counties. In 1713, Queen Anne's County became an English postal district; the sheriff was also appointed as the postmaster and would travel to Annapolis, Maryland by boat across the Chesapeake Bay to obtain mail. In 1773 a part of Queen Anne's County, together with a portion of Dorchester County, was taken to form Caroline County. The county now is enclosed by Talbot, Caroline, and Kent counties, as well as the Chesapeake Bay.

By the time of Independence, the county had several churches, a government, school, and a postal system. It was developed for agriculture, and enslaved African Americans worked the fields of plantations. Tobacco was an early commodity crop but it exhausted the soil. By the Revolution, some planters were converting to mixed agriculture, which was less labor-intensive. They sold excess slaves in the domestic trade to the developing cotton plantations of the Deep South.

In 1876, Queen Anne's County had the first printed independent paper called the Maryland Citizen. A bank was located in Centreville; the Centreville National Bank is still operating. A railway was constructed here in 1868; it operated from Baltimore, passing around the top of the Chesapeake Bay down to Queenstown, and connected with other railroads that continued east into Delaware as far as Rehoboth, and southward to the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

In the 20th century, Queen Anne's County was the home of Jimmie Foxx, who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. A statue and small park commemorate him in Sudlersville, where Foxx grew up.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 511 square miles (1,320 km²), of which 372 square miles (960 km²) is land and 139 square miles (360 km²) (27%) is water.

Adjacent counties

• Kent County (north)
• Kent County, Delaware (east)
• Talbot County (south)
• Caroline County (southeast)
• Anne Arundel County (west)

US 50 and US 301 in Queen Anne's County

Major roads and highways

• US 50
• US 301
• MD 8
• MD 18
• MD 19
• MD 213
• MD 290
• MD 300
• MD 302
• MD 303
• MD 304
• MD 305
• MD 309
• MD 313
• MD 404
• MD 405
• MD 456
• MD 481
• MD 544
• MD 552
• MD 656
• MD 662

Demographics

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 47,798 people, 18,016 households, and 13,314 families living in the county. The population density was 128.5 inhabitants per square mile (49.6/km²). There were 20,140 housing units at an average density of 54.2 per square mile (20.9/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 88.7% white, 6.9% black or African American, 1.0% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 1.4% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 3.0% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 25.9% were German, 22.4% were Irish, 15.8% were English, 6.2% were Italian, and 6.1% were American.

Of the 18,016 households, 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.3% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 26.1% were non-families, and 20.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.04. The median age was 42.6 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $81,096 and the median income for a family was $89,188. Males had a median income of $57,218 versus $43,371 for females. The per capita income for the county was $35,964. About 3.8% of families and 5.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.0% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Public schools

Colleges and universities

• Chesapeake College

Communities

Towns

Census-designated places

The Census Bureau recognizes the following census-designated places in the county:

• Chester
• Grasonville
• Kent Narrows
• Kingstown
• Stevensville

Unincorporated communities

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Queen Anne para niños