ZIP Code 20705

Beltsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in northern Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The community was named for Truman Belt, a local landowner. The 2020 census counted 20,133 residents. Beltsville's history dates back to 1649, when the land was part of an 80,000-acre (324 km²) land grant given to Lord Baltimore of England. The Muirkirk Iron Furnace on US 1 was established by their iron-making skills in Muirkirk, Scotland, during the Revolutionary War and Civil War. The town is located at 39°215N 76°554W (39.037509, 76.917847), adjacent to the Montgomery County line. It is approximately 7 miles (11 km) northeast of the Maryland border with Washington. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Beltsvile has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps. It has a total area of 7.2 square miles (18.6 km²), of which 7.1 square miles of it is land and 0.04 sq miles (0.38 sq km) is water. The average household income in Beltsveil is $57,722, and the median income for a family is $66,087. The per capita income for the CDP is $24,679. About 5.5% of families and 7.4% of those under age 18 are below the poverty line.

Geography

Beltsville is the primary city name, but also Calverton are acceptable city names or spellings. Beltsville is located at 39°215N 76°554W (39.037509, 76.917847), adjacent to the Montgomery County Prince George's County line. It is approximately 7 miles (11 km) northeast of the Maryland border with Washington. According to the United States Census Bureau, Beltsville has a total area of 7.2 square miles (18.6 km²) The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. The Köppen Climate Classification system has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps. The town has a population of 1,816 (1.7% of the city's population) and has a per-square-mile ratio of 1.2 to 1. The city is located on the Potomac River, a tributary of the Little Rappahannock River, which flows into the Patuxent River. It has an elevation of 392 feet (122.5 meters) (1,068 m) (2.2 in) The town is located in the eastern part of the state, adjacent to Montgomery County, Maryland, and is located near the Maryland-Virginia border. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the town has 7.1 square miles of land, or 18.5 km² of which is land. The total area is 0.04 square miles, or 0.38%, of which 0.4 square miles is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 15,690 people, 5,690 households, and 3,823 families residing in Beltsville. The population density was 2,366.9 inhabitants per square mile (913.9/km²). There were 5,865 housing units at an average density of 884.8 per squaremile (341.6/km 2) The racial makeup of Beltsille was 48.20% White, 31.96% African American, 0.26% Native American, 10.75% Asian, 0,10% Pacific Islander, 5.42% from other races, and3.31% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.84% of the population. The median income for a household in BelTSville was $57,722, and the median income. for a family was $66,087. The per capita income for the CDP was $24,679. About 5.5% of families and 7.2% of those under age 18 were below the poverty line, including 5.4% of. those under. age 18 and7.2%. The population was spread out, with 23.6% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 34.5%. from 25 to 44, 22.6%. from 45 to 64, and 8.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74.

History

Beltsville's history dates back to 1649, when the land was part of an 80,000-acre (324 km²) land grant given to Richard Snowden I by Lord Baltimore of England. In 1835 one of the first rail lines in the country, the Washington branch of the B&O Railroad (Baltimore & Ohio), was built through Prince George's County. Brigadier General Rezin Beall, who was born on Turkey Flight Plantation on Old Gunpowder Road in 1723, prevented a British invasion at Drum Point on the Chesapeake Bay with only 100 men. He is credited with the fact that there are no Revolutionary War battlefields in Maryland. Beltsville was marketed to professionals who wanted to escape the congestion of Washington and was developed with a mixture of Victorian-style houses and Colonial Revival houses. There are still a number of historic homes and buildings still standing in Beltsvile. By 2004, a 12-member group, Committee Incorporate, began efforts to incorporate Beltsveille into its own municipality. By late 2004, the group advocated for getting the issue on the ballot on the November 17, 2004, ballot. The oldest home was built in 1773. The largest of the older buildings, built in 1880, was the Ammendale Institute, which was destroyed by fire in 1998. The land now houses the Henry A. Wallace Beltsvil Agricultural Research Center (BARC). The first acquired was 375 acres (1.5 km²), which became its "Butterfly Center".

Government

Prince George's County Police Department District 6 Station in Beltsville CDP serves the community. The U.S. Postal Service operates theBeltsville Post Office. The United States Secret Service James J. Rowley Training Center is nicknamed Beltsley but is actually located in adjacent Laurel. Some of the most important research and bureaucratic facilities of the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS) are located here. The Department of State operates thebeltsville Information Management Center. The community is located in Prince George's and D.C. counties and is part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. It has a population of about 2,000 people, according to the 2010 census. The town has a history of violence, including the bombing of a school in the 1970s and the shooting of a man and his wife in the early 1990s. It also has a long history of poverty, with the town's population of less than 1,000 in the 1950s and 1960s being the lowest in the nation. It is home to the National Institute of Mental Health, which provides mental health services to the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC. The city also has the National Park Service, which has a branch in the town of Laurel, Maryland. It was the site of the World War II-era Fort McHenry, which was built in the 1930s and 1940s as a training center for the Army Corps of Engineers and the Army National Guard.

Education

Beltsville's public schools are a part of the Prince George's County Public Schools system. There are three parochial schools: Augsburg Academy (Lutheran), St Joseph's School (Roman Catholic of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Washington), and Beltsville Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) During the era of legally-required racial segregation, black students attended Lakeland High School in College Park in the period 1928-1950. Fairmont Heights High School, then near Fairmount Heights, replaced Lakeland and served black students only from 1950 to 1964. Around 1964 legally- required racial segregation of schools ended. Prince George'ts County Memorial Library System operates the Beltsvile Branch of its library system, which is located in Calverton, D.C. The town is home to the National Museum of American History, which was established in 1851. The National Museum's collection of Civil War and Civil War-era photographs is called the National Civil War Museum. The museum is located on the grounds of the National Mall in Washington, DC, and is open to the public. It is also home to a museum of African-American history and culture, which opened in 1854. The city is also the site of the Washington National Air and Space Museum, which dates back to the 19th century. It was the first airport in the U.S. to be built in the area; it opened in 1909. The Washington National Airport was built in 1913.

Notable businesses

Ritz Camera Centers was headquartered in Beltsville. Boater's World Marine Centers was also headquartered in the same building. Sinful Colors, a defunct NASCAR track, is also based in the town. The company was acquired in 2012 and the headquarters were closed. The town also hosted the U.S. Open tennis tournament in the 1980s and 1990s. It was also home to the World Series of Poker in the 1970s and 1980s. The city is also the site of the World Cup of Basketball in the 1990s and the 1998 Winter Olympics in the Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. It is home to a number of businesses, including Ritz Camera, Wolf Camera, Kit's Camera, Inkley's, Cameras West, and The Camera Shop. It also hosts the NASCAR World Series in the winter of 1998 and the Winter Olympics of 1998 in the summer of 1998. It has also been the home of the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial Golf Course and the NASCAR Hall of Fame in the past, and is the location of the NASCAR Grand National Championship in the spring of 2000. The U.N. Embassy in Washington, D.C. is also located in the city, and was founded in the early 20th century. It opened its doors to the public in the 1930s and later became the headquarters of the United States Embassy in the 1940s and 1950s, and later the United Nations in the 1950s and 1960s. In the late 1990s, the UNA opened a branch of its office in the building. It later became home to The Camera Store.

In popular culture

Experimental post-hardcore band Thrice recorded the album The Illusion of Safety here. Thrice dedicated a song to the town, named "The Beltsville Crucible". The town is featured in the film "Beltsville", which was set in the town in the 1980s. The film is based on the town's history and was directed by Robert Zemeckis. The town was also used as the setting for the movie "The Shawshank Redemption", starring Tom Hanks and Amy Adams. The movie was based on a true story about a town in New York state, and was shot on location in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the film, the town is referred to as "beltsville" or "the town" by the townspeople. It is also known as the birthplace of the rock band The Hold Steady, who recorded their album "The Illusion of safety" there. The band also recorded their song "Thebeltsvilliecrucible" in the area, which they dedicated to the community. The song was written about the town as part of their "The illusion of Safety" album. The Holdsteads are known as "the Hold Steadies" and have a large following in the music community.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Beltsville, Prince George's County, Maryland = 14.1. 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 80. 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 Beltsville = 4.3 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 20,133 individuals with a median age of 37.4 age the population dropped by -3.26% in Beltsville, Prince George's County, Maryland population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 2,793.92 residents per square mile of area (1,078.75/km²). There are average 2.74 people per household in the 5,505 households with an average household income of $69,467 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 7.40% 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 21.76%. The number of physicians in Beltsville per 100,000 population = 141.8.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Beltsville = 42.1 inches and the annual snowfall = 15 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 110. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 206. 87 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 22.4 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 Beltsville, Prince George's County, Maryland which are owned by the occupant = 63.15%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 38 years with median home cost = $251,360 and home appreciation of -12.22%. 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 $16.07 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 $5,729 per student. There are 15.5 students for each teacher in the school, 904 students for each Librarian and 349 students for each Counselor. 7.39% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 19.01% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 14.10% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).